This project aims to harmonize water resources infrastructure, such as reservoirs and levees, with agricultural land management across the U.S., presenting nature-based solutions for improved water quality. Our objectives include identifying potential integration areas, modeling at least one such system based on stakeholder preferences, testing a nature-based solution within the selected system, devising methods to replicate learning and emulate modeling techniques, and then applying the findings to demonstrate the potential of this integrated approach across different U.S. basins.
Accomplishments
We have forged a beneficial collaboration with researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Texas A&M that has connected our team with a CE-QUAL-W2 model for our case study and important information needed to link USDA’s SWAT model with CE-QUAL-W2. We have also built a robust team comprising approximately 20 members from ERDC, ERDC, USACE Districts, and the University of Arkansas. The team includes a trained graduate scholar and postdoctoral scholar at ASU. Our team has published one peer-reviewed journal paper. Another paper is in review. We have presented six presentations at academic conferences, one of which was by invitation. Moreover, we have developed and calibrated SWAT model for water quantity (watershed runoff) and a CE-QUAL-W2 model for water quantity and quality. All dams in the National Inventory of Dams (NID) are now backed by delineated contributing areas, with the capability to update this as the NID evolves.
