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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Landscape and Watershed Processes

Modeling Phosphorus in the Lake Allatoona Watershed Using SWAT: I. Developing Phosphorus Parameter Values

^a Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
^b Dep. of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, ND 58108
^c Dep. of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
^d Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602

^* Corresponding author (zhulu.lin{at}ndsu.edu).

Received for publication March 1, 2007. Lake Allatoona is a large reservoir north of Atlanta, GA, that drains an area of about 2870 km² scheduled for a phosphorus (P) total maximum daily load (TMDL). The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model has been widely used for watershed-scale modeling of P, but there is little guidance on how to estimate P-related parameters, especially those related to in-stream P processes. In this paper, methods are demonstrated to individually estimate SWAT soil-related P parameters and to collectively estimate P parameters related to stream processes. Stream related parameters were obtained using the nutrient uptake length concept. In a manner similar to experiments conducted by stream ecologists, a small point source is simulated in a headwater sub-basin of the SWAT models, then the in-stream parameter values are adjusted collectively to get an uptake length of P similar to the values measured in the streams in the region. After adjusting the in-stream parameters, the P uptake length estimated in the simulations ranged from 53 to 149 km compared to uptake lengths measured by ecologists in the region of 11 to 85 km. Once the a priori P-related parameter set was developed, the SWAT models of main tributaries to Lake Allatoona were calibrated for daily transport. Models using SWAT P parameters derived from the methods in this paper outperformed models using default parameter values when predicting total P (TP) concentrations in streams during storm events and TP annual loads to Lake Allatoona.

Abbreviations: AER, anion exchange resin • DRP, dissolved reactive phosphorus • GAEPD, Georgia Environmental Protection Division • HRU, hydrological response unit • SS, suspended sediment • STP, soil test phosphorus • SSURGO, Soil Survey Geographic • STATSGO, State Soil Geographic • SWAT, Soil and Water Assessment Tool • TMDL, total maximum daily load • TP, total phosphorus

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Z. Lin, D. E. Radcliffe, L. M. Risse, J. J. Romeis, and C. R. Jackson Modeling Phosphorus in the Lake Allatoona Watershed Using SWAT: II. Effect of Land Use Change J. Environ. Qual., January 13, 2009; 38(1): 121 - 129. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]