IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i3p851-d136728.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Calibration of a Field-Scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) Model with Field Placement of Best Management Practices in Alger Creek, Michigan

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine R. Merriman

    (U.S. Geological Survey Central Midwest Water Science Center, Urbana, IL 61801, USA)

  • Amy M. Russell

    (U.S. Geological Survey Central Midwest Water Science Center, Urbana, IL 61801, USA)

  • Cynthia M. Rachol

    (U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Lansing, MI 48911, USA)

  • Prasad Daggupati

    (School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

  • Raghavan Srinivasan

    (Spatial Science Laboratory, Ecosystem Science and Management Department, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Brett A. Hayhurst

    (U.S. Geological Survey New York Water Science Center, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA)

  • Todd D. Stuntebeck

    (U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Middleton, WI 53562, USA)

Abstract

Subwatersheds within the Great Lakes “Priority Watersheds” were targeted by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to determine the effectiveness of the various best management practices (BMPs) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service National Conservation Planning (NCP) Database. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is created for Alger Creek, a 50 km 2 tributary watershed to the Saginaw River in Michigan. Monthly calibration yielded very good Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) ratings for flow, sediment, total phosphorus (TP), dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), and total nitrogen (TN) (0.90, 0.79, 0.87, 0.88, and 0.77, respectively), and satisfactory NSE rating for nitrate (0.51). Two-year validation results in at least satisfactory NSE ratings for flow, sediment, TP, DRP, and TN (0.83, 0.54, 0.73, 0.53, and 0.60, respectively), and unsatisfactory NSE rating for nitrate (0.28). The model estimates the effect of BMPs at the field and watershed scales. At the field-scale, the most effective single practice at reducing sediment, TP, and DRP is no-tillage followed by cover crops (CC); CC are the most effective single practice at reducing nitrate. The most effective BMP combinations include filter strips, which can have a sizable effect on reducing sediment and phosphorus loads. At the watershed scale, model results indicate current NCP BMPs result in minimal sediment and nutrient reductions (<10%).

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine R. Merriman & Amy M. Russell & Cynthia M. Rachol & Prasad Daggupati & Raghavan Srinivasan & Brett A. Hayhurst & Todd D. Stuntebeck, 2018. "Calibration of a Field-Scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) Model with Field Placement of Best Management Practices in Alger Creek, Michigan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-23, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:851-:d:136728
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/851/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/851/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gassman, Philip W. & Reyes, Manuel R. & Green, Colleen H. & Arnold, Jeffrey G., 2007. "The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical Development, Applications, and Future Research Directions," ISU General Staff Papers 200701010800001027, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Avay Risal & Prem B. Parajuli, 2022. "Evaluation of the Impact of Best Management Practices on Streamflow, Sediment and Nutrient Yield at Field and Watershed Scales," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(3), pages 1093-1105, February.
    2. Vivek Venishetty & Prem B. Parajuli, 2022. "Assessment of BMPs by Estimating Hydrologic and Water Quality Outputs Using SWAT in Yazoo River Watershed," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Zohreh Hashemi Aslani & Vahid Nasiri & Carmen Maftei & Ashok Vaseashta, 2023. "Synergetic Integration of SWAT and Multi-Objective Optimization Algorithms for Evaluating Efficiencies of Agricultural Best Management Practices to Improve Water Quality," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Timothy P. Neher & Michelle L. Soupir & Rameshwar S. Kanwar, 2021. "Lake Atitlan: A Review of the Food, Energy, and Water Sustainability of a Mountain Lake in Guatemala," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Egbendewe-Mondzozo, Aklesso & Swinton, Scott M. & Bals, Bryan D. & Dale, Bruce E., 2011. "Can Dispersed Biomass Processing Protect the Environment and Cover the Bottom Line for Biofuel?," Staff Paper Series 119348, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Andersson, Jafet C.M. & Zehnder, Alexander J.B. & Rockström, Johan & Yang, Hong, 2011. "Potential impacts of water harvesting and ecological sanitation on crop yield, evaporation and river flow regimes in the Thukela River basin, South Africa," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(7), pages 1113-1124, May.
    3. Hongxing Liu & Wendong Zhang & Elena Irwin & Jeffrey Kast & Noel Aloysius & Jay Martin & Margaret Kalcic, 2020. "Best Management Practices and Nutrient Reduction: An Integrated Economic-Hydrologic Model of the Western Lake Erie Basin," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 96(4), pages 510-530.
    4. Alan F. Hamlet & Nima Ehsani & Jennifer L. Tank & Zachariah Silver & Kyuhyun Byun & Ursula H. Mahl & Shannon L. Speir & Matt T. Trentman & Todd V. Royer, 2024. "Effects of climate and winter cover crops on nutrient loss in agricultural watersheds in the midwestern U.S," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(1), pages 1-21, January.
    5. Yates, Andrew J. & Doyle, Martin W. & Rigby, J.R. & Schnier, Kurt E., 2013. "Market power, private information, and the optimal scale of pollution permit markets with application to North Carolina's Neuse River," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 256-276.
    6. Eini, Mohammad Reza & Salmani, Haniyeh & Piniewski, Mikołaj, 2023. "Comparison of process-based and statistical approaches for simulation and projections of rainfed crop yields," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    7. Jeong, Hanseok & Kim, Hakkwan & Jang, Taeil & Park, Seungwoo, 2016. "Assessing the effects of indirect wastewater reuse on paddy irrigation in the Osan River watershed in Korea using the SWAT model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 393-402.
    8. Lingcheng Li & Liping Zhang & Jun Xia & Christopher Gippel & Renchao Wang & Sidong Zeng, 2015. "Implications of Modelled Climate and Land Cover Changes on Runoff in the Middle Route of the South to North Water Transfer Project in China," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(8), pages 2563-2579, June.
    9. Roy Brouwer & Rute Pinto & Jorge Garcia‐Hernandez & Xingtong Li & Merrin Macrae & Predrag Rajsic & Wanhong Yang & Yongbo Liu & Mark Anderson & Louise Heyming, 2023. "Spatial optimization of nutrient reduction measures on agricultural land to improve water quality: A coupled modeling approach," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(3-4), pages 329-353, September.
    10. Ramesh P. Rudra & Balew A. Mekonnen & Rituraj Shukla & Narayan Kumar Shrestha & Pradeep K. Goel & Prasad Daggupati & Asim Biswas, 2020. "Currents Status, Challenges, and Future Directions in Identifying Critical Source Areas for Non-Point Source Pollution in Canadian Conditions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-25, October.
    11. Chen Cao & Miaomiao Ying, 2025. "Assessing Water Resource Vulnerability in an Agricultural Basin for Climate Change Adaptation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 39(1), pages 179-205, January.
    12. Javier Senent-Aparicio & Sitian Liu & Julio Pérez-Sánchez & Adrián López-Ballesteros & Patricia Jimeno-Sáez, 2018. "Assessing Impacts of Climate Variability and Reforestation Activities on Water Resources in the Headwaters of the Segura River Basin (SE Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, September.
    13. Elias Bekele & H. Knapp, 2010. "Watershed Modeling to Assessing Impacts of Potential Climate Change on Water Supply Availability," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(13), pages 3299-3320, October.
    14. Gao, Jie & Xie, Pengxuan & Zhuo, La & Shang, Kehui & Ji, Xiangxiang & Wu, Pute, 2021. "Water footprints of irrigated crop production and meteorological driving factors at multiple temporal scales," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    15. N. Maier & J. Dietrich, 2016. "Using SWAT for Strategic Planning of Basin Scale Irrigation Control Policies: a Case Study from a Humid Region in Northern Germany," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(9), pages 3285-3298, July.
    16. Ribaudo, Marc & Savage, Jeffrey, 2014. "Controlling non-additional credits from nutrient management in water quality trading programs through eligibility baseline stringency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 233-239.
    17. Lin Ye & Nancy Grimm, 2013. "Modelling potential impacts of climate change on water and nitrate export from a mid-sized, semiarid watershed in the US Southwest," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 419-431, September.
    18. Panagopoulos, Y. & Makropoulos, C. & Baltas, E. & Mimikou, M., 2011. "SWAT parameterization for the identification of critical diffuse pollution source areas under data limitations," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(19), pages 3500-3512.
    19. Mudassar Iqbal & Jun Wen & Muhammad Masood & Muhammad Umer Masood & Muhammad Adnan, 2022. "Impacts of Climate and Land-Use Changes on Hydrological Processes of the Source Region of Yellow River, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.
    20. Vinit Sehgal & Venkataramana Sridhar & Luke Juran & Jactone Arogo Ogejo, 2018. "Integrating Climate Forecasts with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for High-Resolution Hydrologic Simulations and Forecasts in the Southeastern U.S," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-27, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:851-:d:136728. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.