Keywords
landscape modelling, diffuse pollution, phosphorus, participatory modelling
Start Date
1-7-2006 12:00 AM
Abstract
Diffuse (non-point source) pollution from urban stormwater and agricultural runoff are among the leading causes of water pollution in the United States. Currently, most management plans that address diffuse pollution are driven by dissociated economic, political and ecological interests that are difficult to reconcile. Integrated watershed management aims to protect and improve water resources while considering economic and social concerns in the community. Participatory environmental management requires tools, such as landscape models, that can be used to visualize and evaluate the possible outcomes of various management strategies. The overall objective of this project is to develop and implement a framework to examine the effectiveness of proposed solutions to diffuse phosphorus pollution. The Landscape Modeling Framework, implemented within the Spatial Modeling Environment, is used to build a hydro-ecological model from modular components, which captures both spatial relationships and temporal dynamics of urban and agricultural processes. Model development as well as watershed monitoring, necessary to calibrate and validate various modules, requires participation from many stakeholders in the community representing various governmental agencies, the agricultural community, the watershed association, and concerned citizens. This approach is being tested in the St. Albans Bay watershed, a small heterogeneous watershed, to determine the relative importance of different diffuse sources of phosphorus and to examine proposed policy scenarios to achieve Total Maximum Daily Load phosphorus reduction targets. Although the project is still a work in progress, preliminary results have identified specific areas of the watershed (both agricultural and developed) in need of attention. In addition, the systems approach taken in participatory model development have led to a better understanding of the entire hydro-ecological system and have created, we believe, a more cooperative approach to solving the problem
Landscape Modeling and Spatial Optimization of Management Practices to Restore Water Quality in the St. Albans Bay Watershed, Vermont
Diffuse (non-point source) pollution from urban stormwater and agricultural runoff are among the leading causes of water pollution in the United States. Currently, most management plans that address diffuse pollution are driven by dissociated economic, political and ecological interests that are difficult to reconcile. Integrated watershed management aims to protect and improve water resources while considering economic and social concerns in the community. Participatory environmental management requires tools, such as landscape models, that can be used to visualize and evaluate the possible outcomes of various management strategies. The overall objective of this project is to develop and implement a framework to examine the effectiveness of proposed solutions to diffuse phosphorus pollution. The Landscape Modeling Framework, implemented within the Spatial Modeling Environment, is used to build a hydro-ecological model from modular components, which captures both spatial relationships and temporal dynamics of urban and agricultural processes. Model development as well as watershed monitoring, necessary to calibrate and validate various modules, requires participation from many stakeholders in the community representing various governmental agencies, the agricultural community, the watershed association, and concerned citizens. This approach is being tested in the St. Albans Bay watershed, a small heterogeneous watershed, to determine the relative importance of different diffuse sources of phosphorus and to examine proposed policy scenarios to achieve Total Maximum Daily Load phosphorus reduction targets. Although the project is still a work in progress, preliminary results have identified specific areas of the watershed (both agricultural and developed) in need of attention. In addition, the systems approach taken in participatory model development have led to a better understanding of the entire hydro-ecological system and have created, we believe, a more cooperative approach to solving the problem
