introduction to basins

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BASINS Better Assessment Science Integrating
point and Non-point Sources Tools for Watershed
and Water Quality Assessment
GISHydro99 1999 ESRI User Conference
Andrew T. Battin U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Office of Water
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Mission of EPAs Office of Science and Technology

• Mission Highlights
• To provide technical assistance and support to
  the Agencys Effluent Guidelines and to the Water
  Quality Criteria and Standards Program
• To develop guidance on specific water quality
  issues
• Develop methods, models, procedures to support
  nationwide watershed studies

Problem Solving and Technical Tools
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BASINS Development Team

• EPA
• Russell Kinerson
• Andrew Battin
• Bill Tate
• Paul Cocca
• Marjorie Wellman
• Aqua Terra Consultants
• Tetra Tech Inc.
• USDA ARS Texas AM (Blacklands Research Center)

• Mimi Dannel
• Ed Partington
• Hira Biswas
• Bryan Goodwin
• David Wells

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Examples of Watershed Management Programs
Supported by EPA

• Water quality assessment and analysis
• Watershed management
• Source water protection
• TMDL program

Varying problems - similar approaches
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Commonalities of Watershed Management Programs

• Characterization understand the big picture.
  What is contained with the watershed? What are
  the activities, uses, sources, and resources?
• Source identification what potential sources
  are within the watershed? Identify location and
  spatial distribution, potential magnitude of
  loading/stress, location/type of impacted
  resources.

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Commonalities of Watershed Management Programs

• Develop and evaluate management alternatives
  taking action requires an evaluation of the
  alternatives, consideration of the benefit/cost.
  Analysis considers what, where and how to
  control/manage pollutants/stressors.
• Communicate watershed information to the public
  present, describe, teach, and summarize
  environmental information and actions for the
  public stakeholders.

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The Clean Water Act and TMDLs

• Goal of CWA
• Ensure that the Nations waters protect aquatic
  life, wildlife and human health
• Tools
• TMDLs are one of many tools authorized by the CWA
  to implement applicable water quality standards
• Primary CWA Tool
• NPDES permits for point sources - Nonpoint
  sources are not subject to NPDES permits
• NPDES Permits
• Contain effluent limits on pollution discharged,
  including water quality-based effluent limits
  when necessary to achieve water quality standards

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303(d) List of Waters

• Each state shall assemble and evaluate all
  existing and readily available water quality data
  and information to develop the Section 303(d)
  list of waters.
• Each state shall identify those water
  quality-limited segments requiring TMDLs.
• Water quality-limited segment
• Any segment where it is known that water quality
  does not meet applicable WQS, even after the
  application of effluent limits by the CWA.

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303 (d) Summary of Key Points

• List includes only those waters where
  technology-based limitations or other required
  actions are not expected to implement WQS.
• List is based on existing and readily available
  data.
• List is dynamic and changes over time to reflect
  new information, current practices, and new
  control activities.
• Prioritization is not necessarily by waterbody,
  but can be prioritized by class (e.g., type of
  pollutant).

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The TMDL Program
TMDL ? WLAi ? LAi MOS
? WLAi Sum of waste loads (point sources)
? LAi Sum of loads (non point sources)
MOS Margin Of Safety
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Problem Statement 1Point Source
Criteria/standard
(Allowable Capacity)
C mg/l
Cb
Impaired reach
Miles
P1
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Problem Statement 2 Non-point Source
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The TMDL Program

• Five key steps for TMDL development
• Problem statement
• Definition of endpoint
• Source identification
• Linkage between source and receiving water
• AllocationAnalytical tools can be used to
  support each step of the TMDL process

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Analytical Needs to Support Water Quality
Management Programs

• Monitoring data
• Represents condition of system
• Provides the backbone for most analysis and
  modeling
• Spatial/locational data
• Point sources, highly erodible areas,
  construction areas...
• Statistical analysis and mapping tools
• Water quality trends, waterbody comparisons,
  proximity of impaired water quality to potential
  sources
• Assessment and modeling tools
• What are the relative contributions of the
  various pollution sources?
• What will happen if we develop the watershed?
• How can we evaluate planning and
  managementalternatives?

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Analytical Needs (cont.)

• Spatial analysis capabilities
• Ability to relate causes and effects through
  mapping/overlays
• Compilation, management, and facilitated access
  to historical data
• Trend in land use changes, point source loadings,
  monitoring
• Population growth - how much? Where? ...
• Source characterization and quantification
• Inventory of sources
• Magnitude and significance of sources
• Prediction of future conditions and implications
  of management
• What is the best solution to meet objectives and
  regulatory requirements?

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Watershed
Small Area Studies
Land Use Units
Rivers/Streams
Subwatersheds
Sub 1
Urb
Sub 2
Urban landuse with BMPs
Sub 3
Ag
Sub 4
Receiving Water
Rural landuses with BMPs
Sub 5
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BASINS V2.0 System Overview
Nationally Available Data Base Cartographic Da
ta Environmental Background Data Environmental
Monitoring Data Point
Source/Loadings Data

• Models
• HSPF - NPSM
• QUAL2E
• TOXIROUTE

Assessment Tools Target Assess Data
Mining Watershed Reporting
Target
Assess
DM
Decision-Making Analysis Watershed
Management . TMDLs . Source Water
Protection . Stormwater
State and Local Data
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Overview of BASINS Data Products
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GIS DataData Categories

• Base Cartographic Data
• Environmental Data

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Base Cartographic Data

• Definition
• Data that enhances the ability to interpret maps
  by providing a known frame of reference
• Examples
• EPA regional boundaries
• Major roads
• Populated place locations
• State and county boundaries
• Urbanized area boundaries

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BASINS Environmental Data

• Data capturing information on spatial and
  temporal changes in environmental conditions

GIS
Physical Data (Landscape Features)
Monitoring Data (Environmental Response)
Pollution Sources (Environmental Stressors)
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BASINS Data ProductsEnvironmental Data

• Pollution sources
• Permitted dischargers (PCS)
• Toxic Release Inventory sites (TRI)
• Industrial Facility Dischargers (IFD)
• Mineral Industry Locations
• Superfund sites (NPL)
• Land Use/ Land Cover
• Population centers

GIS

Landscape


Sources
Monitoring
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BASINS Data ProductsEnvironmental Data

• Physical landscape features
• USGS Watershed boundaries
• RF1 and RF3 Stream networks
• Land Use/ Land Cover
• Elevation (DEM)
• Dam locations
• Soil characteristics

GIS

Landscape


Sources
Monitoring
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BASINS Data ProductsEnvironmental Data

• Environmental monitoring
• Water Quality station summaries (STORET)
• Bacteria station summaries (STORET)
• Water Quality Observation Data
• National Sediment Inventory (NSI)
• USGS Stream flow (gaging stations)
• Fish and Wildlife Advisories
• Shellfish Contamination Inventory
• Clean Water Needs Survey
• Meteorological (477 station locations)

GIS

Landscape


Sources
Monitoring
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Meteorological Data in BASINS
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BASINS Assessment Tools
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BASINS Project View
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Types of Tools Included in BASINS(3 Categories
of Tools)

• Spatial analysis and overlays (GIS capability)
• Facilitate examination of multiple types of
  information
• Access to full functionality of ArcView
• BASINS custom suite of integrated tools
• Targeting
• Assessment
• Data Mining
• Watershed Reporting
• BASINS utilities
• Import new or local data sets (watersheds,
  landuse)
• Re-classify landuse, DEM
• Watershed Delineation

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Custom Tools included with BASINS

• Target Provides broad-based evaluation of
  watershed water quality and point source
  loadings.
• Assess Watershed-based evaluation of specific
  water quality stations and/or dischargers and
  their proximity to waterbodies.
• Data Mining Dynamic link of data elements using
  a combination of tables and maps. Allows for
  visual interpretation of geographic and
  historical data.
• Watershed Reporting Automated summary report
  system. Allows users to select types of
  information to be included. Automated generation
  of associated graphics and tables.

Regional Level
Watershed Level
Station Level
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Target
Overall summary of monitoring data
Select Target option from menu
Ranking of watershed
Distribution of monitoring data by CU
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Assess
Distribution of monitoring stations by CU
Select Assess option from menu
Average condition for selected pollutant by CU
Station summaries for selected pollutant
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Data Mining
Spatial distribution of monitoring stations
WQ stations
WQ parameter and code
WQ summaries
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BASINS Custom Tool Watershed Report

• Information available
• Administrative and locational report
• Point source discharge summary
• Dam locations
• State soil series data
• Land use summary
• Stream system inventory
• Toxics (NSI, TRI)
• STORET water quality monitoring

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An Example of Watershed Report
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BASINS Utility Tool Import

• The import tool gives users the capability to add
  their own data into the BASINS system
• Watershed boundaries (8-digit or smaller)
• Landuse
• Stream Networks
• Elevation (DEM) Polygons
• Water Quality Observation Data

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BASINS Utility Tool Landuse Re-classification

• Users can re-classify part of the landuse theme
  or the entire theme interactively
• Users can re-classify their imported landuse data
• Re-classification to various levels of detail
• Anderson Level 1 to Level 2
• Create more detailed levels
• Weigh the potential significance of land use
  changes on water quality

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BASINS Utility Tool Watershed Delineation

• Allows users to interactively subdivide a USGS
  8-digit watershed into smaller sub-watersheds
  using mouse point-and-click inputs.
• Sub-delineated watersheds and underlying data are
  then available for more detailed modeling.
• It provides capability to modify the previous
  delineations.

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An Example of Delineated Watersheds using DEM,
RF3, and RF1
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Modeling Process
Need to plan ahead and follow a structured
modeling plan
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Modeling Strategy

• Need to define a suitable level of segmentation

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Overview of Model Categories

• Landscape models
• Runoff of water and dissolved materials on and
  through the land surface
• Erosion of sediment, and associated constituents,
  from the land surface
• Receiving water models
• Flow of water through streams, into lakes and
  estuaries
• Transport, deposition, and transformation in
  receiving waters

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BASINS Modeling System

• NPSM (HSPF v11)
• Integration of Point and Non-Point Source
  Modeling
• Instream flow routing and water quality
• Specialized agricultural chemical modeling
• Pesticides
• Nutrients
• Other Chemicals
• Metals
• BOD/DO
• Pathogens
• Sediment
• Air Deposition (under development)
• Continuous hydrologic simulation - Hourly time
  step

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How NPSM fits into BASINS
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NPSM Interface - Data Editor
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NPSM Landuse Editor
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NPSM Pollutant Selection
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RF3 Watershed Delineation
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RF3 Watershed Delineation
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Nonpoint Source Modeling with RF3 Network
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Reach Visualization Tool
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Reach Visualization Tool
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Reach Cross Section Visualization
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Hydraulic Function Table Graph
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Interpretation of Modeling Results for Better
Decisions

• Graphing Capabilities
• Spatial and temporal representation of data
• Analysis of magnitude and significance of sources
• Model calibration (observed vs. modeled)

• Statistical Functions
• Graphical representation of geometric and
  arithmetic means
• Statistics related to exceedances of a
  user-defined limit

• Comparative analysis
• Evaluation of various management alternatives
• Developing Allocation Scenarios
• Consensus building with stakeholders

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Graphing CapabilitiesAn example of Calibration
User-defined x- and y- axis scales
NPSM output
USGS data

Selected plot
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Statistical Functions Related to Threshold
Exceedances
Plot of geometric or arithmetic mean
Selected statistical function
Table of exceedance information
User-defined step length
and exceedance limit
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Comparative AnalysisFor developing Allocation
Scenarios
Output from 1st simulation
Load reduction for selected landuse
Output from 2nd simulation

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BASINS Models continued

• QUAL2E
• Low flow euthrophication modeling
• Point source impact evaluation
• BOD/DO, nutrients, bacteria
• Steady State/Dynamic water quality modeling
• Spatial representation of chemical concentrations
  in the stream

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QUAL2E Output
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Future Directions - System

• Redesign of System
• Lifecycle Development - System, Data, Models,
  etc.
• DBMS
• Formalized Database Management Scheme -
  maintainable, updateable, and reusable
• Default Data - physiographic and other hydrologic
  data
• Management of all spatial and non-spatial data
• Away from flat files, towards RDBMS and in some
  instances ODBMS

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Future Directions - Tools

• Pursuit of a client/server architecture
• Partitioning of labor
• Component-based approach on the client
• Development of discrete tools that can be
  extended
• Modular and maintainable software construction
• Emphasis on Better Data Management and Reuse
• Build capacity to address long term needs
• Minimize effects of employee turnover and
  learning curve
• Move modeling investigations towards a
  production environment

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Future Directions - New Models

• Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)
• Modified Version of Generalized Watershed Loading
  Function (GWLF) Model
• Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) Model

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Future Directions Standardized Data Interchange
Spatial Data Preprocessing
GIS Tools

• Watershed Delineation
• Reach Network
• Soils Extraction
• Land Cover Extraction
• Other (physical aspect, slope)
• Meteorologic

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Future DirectionsStandardized Output Processing

• Time series analysis
• Source significance
• Investigate alternatives
• Comparative analysis

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SWAT Main Interface
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Primary Watershed and Reach Delineation Tool
Specify DEM Source
Superimpose RF-x Layer
Threshold to control drainage density
Modify sub-watershed outlets
Derive spatial attributes required for modeling!
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Results from Sample Watershed Delineation
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Sample Land Cover
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Sample STATSGO Soil Polygons
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Interface to SWAT model populated automatically
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Add Point Sources Reservoirs
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Define Landuse and Soil Characteristics
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GWLF

• Based on the original model by Haith, D., Mandel,
  R., and Wu, R. (Cornell, 1992).
• Represents an intermediate step to continuous
  simulation watershed models like HSPF and SWAT.
• Being modified to simulate loadings of bacteria,
  in addition to flow, sediment, and nutrients.

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GWLF Tool Features

• Model being rewritten in Java (Javabeans).
• Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) to
  manage all data.
• Postprocessor to visualize model outputs in
  several different presentation styles.
• Model GUI will allow user to enter project
  related information.
• Automated report generation tool (inputs,
  results, scenarios, comparative results and
  discussion points).

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EFDC Toolkit Basic Goals

• Create a suite of tools to facilitate
  multi-dimensional hydrodynamic water quality
  modeling analyses.
• Minimize labor intensive activities.
• Reinforce good modeling practice.
• Provide a robust data management scheme to
  maximize the reuse and sharing of data.
• Facilitate team approach to modeling
  investigations.

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EFDC Toolkit Features

• Open client/server architecture.
• GIS neutral.
• Targeted to MS WindowsR and NTR .
• Component-based architecture (Java Swing).
• GUI for grid generator and interface to EFDC.
• Post-processor for visualizing model output.
• RDBMS to manage all aspects of model input data -
  eventually to be migrated to open ODBMS.
• Model-to-Model linkages (HSPF -gt EFDC).

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EFDC Toolkit

• Three principal components
• GUI interface to EFDC grid generator to setup
  physical domain
• GUI interface to EFDC model
• Visualization tool

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EFDC Toolkit
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Data Shoreline Import facility
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Grid Specification
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Generated Cartesian Grid Scheme
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Imported Bathymetric Data and Editing
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Processed Bathymetric Data
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Final Grid Scheme Exported to Text File
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Conclusion

• We need to promote better tool organization and
  reusability, component interchange, and
  standardized data exchange formats.
• Strive for open client/server, component-based
  architectures.
• RDBMS to manage all aspects of model input data -
  eventually to be migrated to open ODBMS.
• Model-to-Model linkages (HSPF -gt EFDC).
• Move modeling towards a more industrialized
  process while maintaining quality of analyses.

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www.epa.gov/ost/BASINS