Watershed Modeling for Improved Surface Water Predictions in the

Tennessee and Mobile Bay Basins

Jairo N. Diaz, William H. McAnally, James L. Martin, John H. Cartwright, Vladimir J. Alarcon, and

Mary L. Tagert

Alabama Water Resources ConferenceOrange Beach, September 6-7, 2007

Objectives

• Introduce the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI)

• Introduce three projects focused on Mobile river basin

• Report on the progress and conclusions of these projects to date

• Solicit input on basin data and resource management needs

Northern Gulf Institute (NGI)

A NOAA-sponsored cooperative institute led by Mississippi State University in partnership with:

University of Southern Mississippi

Louisiana State University

Florida State University

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

http://www.ngi.msstate.edu/

Northern Gulf Institute (NGI)

• NGI Themes– Ecosystem Management– Geospatial Data Integration and Visualization– Climate Change & Variability– Coastal Hazards

• Common to Themes– Water Quantity– Water Quality– Ecosystem Responses– Tools Needed– Basin-wide Perspective

Three 1st Year Projects Focused on Mobile Basin

• Watershed Modeling Improvements to Enhance Coastal Ecosystems

• Spatial Technology and High Performance Computing - Improving Water Quality Prediction

• Modeling Mobile Bay Sediments and Pollutants with New Technologies

Study Area

Mobile Bay

Courtesy of Tim Wool EPA Region 4

Mobile Bay

• Drains waters in 4 states: AL, GA, MS, TN with 7 major subbasins and 32 8-Digit HUCs

• 6th largest basin in the U.S. (based on area) at 44,000 square miles; 350 miles long with a maximum width of 250 miles

• Shipping channel in the middle of the bay and heavy barge traffic into Mobile, AL and upstream transport of coal and goods

People

• Investigators– Civil and Environmental Engineering (4)– Biology (1)– Landscape and Geospatial (3)– USACE Vicksburg (3)

• Graduate Students– Civil and Environmental Engineering (4 master, 2

Ph.D.)– Computer Sciences (1 master)– Biology (1 Ph.D.)

Watershed Modeling Improvements to Enhance Coastal Ecosystems

• Goal– Decision support for resource management agencies

improved watershed-wide– Investigate additional data products to improve the

performance of the BASINS models

• Plan– Fully engage Mobile Basin stakeholders and

technology partners– Water budget for the Basin– Validated watershed models using standard models

and inputs

Watershed Modeling Improvements to Enhance Coastal Ecosystems

Stakeholder and Resource Agency Meetings

• May 2007– EPA and Tetra Tech modelers (HSPF, WASP, and EFDC)

• June 2007 – Deputy Director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program– Technical Interagency Committee (TIC) Members for The Alabama Coastal Area

Management Program– USACE modelers (WMS, GSSHA, SMS, CEQUAL-W2)– EPA and Tetra Tech modelers (Grid Based Mercury Model - GBMM) – Dauphin Island Sea Lab modelers (EFDC)– USACE Regional Sediment Management Team

• July 2007– Big Black/Tenn Tom Basin Coordinator for MDEQ

• August 2007– Alabama Department of Environmental Quality

Watershed Modeling Improvements to Enhance Coastal Ecosystems

• Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF)– Conceptual model (water balance + empirical

relations)– Lumped parameter model (homogeneous areas)– Water quantity and water quality simulations– Event and continuous simulations– Supported by EPA– Evaluated in U.S., Europe, Africa, Caribbean, Asia

Watershed Modeling Improvements to Enhance Coastal Ecosystems

• Study areas:– Luxapallila Creek Watershed

– Mobile River Watershed

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Luxapallila Creek Watershed

• Summary of the Luxapallila Creek simulation studies using the HSPF model – Hydrology and water quality (sediments, DO, WT)– Land use databases (MODIS, GIRAS, NLCD)– Rainfall databases (gauge and radar)– Topographic databases (300 vs 30 mts resolution)– Parameter uncertainty (Monte Carlo simulation and

Probabilistic Point Estimate Methods – Harr and Li)– Parameter sensitivity (Monte Carlo Simulation)– Channel property variability (RF1 and USGS data)– Potential evapotranspiration data sensitivity

Luxapallila Creek Watershed

• Application of the Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model

physically base

distributed-parameter model

supported by the USACE

DEM

Soils

Land Use

Grid

Grid

Mobile River Watershed

Rainfall spatial distribution using Thiessen polygons

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54 Sub-basin delineation and USGS flow stations

Spatial Technology and High Performance Computing - Improving Water Quality Prediction

Goal: Develop and demonstrate advanced technologies to predict water quality impacts of management actions.

3-D Models

HPC

GIS

Integrated Solutions

HPC

GIS

3-D Models

Graphics by GRI, NASA, and USACE

Modeling Mobile Bay Sediments and Pollutants with New Technologies

Goal: A management model for sediment, mercury and DDT in Mobile Bay and Tributaries.

Clay flocs (above) sorb contaminants. NASA Image

Summing Up

• Three interlocking projects on Mobile Basin

• Goal: Contribute to better water resources management in the basin – More and better observed data– Improved models– Improved data analysis and

visualization– System-wide perspective

HPC

GIS

3-D Models

Solicit Input

• Basin data needs?

• Resource management needs?

Questions!

Contact Information

William H. McAnallymcanally@cee.msstate.edu

James L. Martinjmartin@cee.msstate.edu

Jairo N. Diazjd216@msstate.edu

http://www.ngi.msstate.edu/