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Integrated Watershed Management Modeling

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Resources Management, Policy and Governance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 16415

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Science and Technology, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada
Interests: multidisciplinary modeling; watershed modeling; ecosystem modeling; renewable energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
University of Guelph, ON, Canada
Interests: integrated watershed modeling; climate change; urban hydrology and hydraulics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Watersheds consist of terrestrial and aquatic systems. Natural biogeochemical and hydrological processes interact with social and economic drivers through land-use change and human activities at different scales. Social scientists and economists have different approaches to studying land-use and land-use change. Policymakers and social scientists have together identified the need to explore the potential indicators of how human activities and climate change affect land-use change and associated impacts, such as sediment, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and toxic substances transferred by the agriculture and industry to the river, and hydrological and weather extremes. Therefore, tranditional approaches are insufficient to understand a river basin system for sustainable development and watershed management. Using an integrated model, greater levels of realism can be incorporated to analyze and evaluate how biogeochemical, hydrological, and social processes interact. We are now facing the challenge of developing integrated modeling frameworks to provide quantitative evidence for policymakers on water management issues. This Special Issue of Water invites innovative scientific contributions that tackle integrated watershed modeling and management for policy identification and assessment, including quantifying the response of watersheds to policy interventions; land-use change or climate change; addressing the nexus between water, energy, food, climate change, and the environment; characterizing the role of modeling in decision making; formalizing their interactions; or improving the theoretical understanding of complex adaptive systems. We invite contributions that address these and other challenges with a focus on watershed modeling and management from local, regional, or global perspectives.

Prof. Junye Wang
Dr. Narayan Kumar Shrestha
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Watershed modeling
  • Watershed management
  • Water quality modeling
  • Integrated modeling
  • Water resource assessment
  • Nonpoint pollution
  • Ecohydrology
  • Climate change
  • Greenhouse gas emmisions

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 3649 KiB  
Article
Spatial Analysis of a Chesapeake Bay Sub-Watershed: How Land Use and Precipitation Patterns Impact Water Quality in the James River
by Kristina A. Delia, Christa R. Haney, Jamie L. Dyer and Varun G. Paul
Water 2021, 13(11), 1592; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13111592 - 4 Jun 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3824
Abstract
Changes in land cover throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, accompanied by variability in climate patterns, can impact runoff and water quality. A study was conducted using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the James River watershed in Virginia, the southernmost tributary [...] Read more.
Changes in land cover throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, accompanied by variability in climate patterns, can impact runoff and water quality. A study was conducted using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the James River watershed in Virginia, the southernmost tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, from 1986 to 2018, in order to evaluate factors that affect water quality in the river. This research focuses on statistical analysis of land use, precipitation, and water quality indicators. Land cover changes derived from satellite imagery and geographic information system (GIS) tools were compared with water quality parameters throughout that timeframe. Marked decreases in forest land cover were observed throughout the watershed, as well as increased residential development. Our findings suggest strong links between land cover modification, such as residential development, and degraded water quality indicators such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. In addition, we note direct improvements in water quality when forest land areas are preserved throughout the watershed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Watershed Management Modeling)
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20 pages, 4358 KiB  
Article
Using the InVEST Model to Assess the Impacts of Climate and Land Use Changes on Water Yield in the Upstream Regions of the Shule River Basin
by Peijie Wei, Shengyun Chen, Minghui Wu, Yanfang Deng, Haojie Xu, Yinglan Jia and Fang Liu
Water 2021, 13(9), 1250; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091250 - 29 Apr 2021
Cited by 58 | Viewed by 6059
Abstract
Water yield is a key ecosystem function index, directly impacting the sustainable development of the basin economy and ecosystem. Climate and land use/land cover (LULC) changes are the main driving factors affecting water yield. In the context of global climate change, assessing the [...] Read more.
Water yield is a key ecosystem function index, directly impacting the sustainable development of the basin economy and ecosystem. Climate and land use/land cover (LULC) changes are the main driving factors affecting water yield. In the context of global climate change, assessing the impacts of climate and LULC changes on water yield in the alpine regions of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) is essential for formulating rational management and development strategies for water resources. On the basis of the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, we simulated and analyzed the spatiotemporal variations and the impacts of LULC and climate changes on water yield from 2001 to 2019 in the upstream regions of the Shule River Basin (USRB) on the northeastern margin of the QTP. Three scenarios were designed in the InVEST model to clearly analyze the contributions of climate and LULC changes on the variation of water yield. The first scenario integrated climate and LULC change into the model according to the actual conditions. The second scenario was simulation without LULC change, and the third scenario was without climate change. The results showed that (1) the InVEST model had a good performance in estimating water yield (coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.986; root mean square error (RMSE) = 3.012, p < 0.05); (2) the water yield significantly increased in the temporal scale from 2001 to 2019, especially in the high altitude of the marginal regions (accounting for 32.01%), while the northwest regions significantly decreased and accounted for only 8.39% (p < 0.05); (3) the spatial distribution of water yield increased from the middle low-altitude regions to the marginal high-altitude regions; and (4) through the analysis of the three scenarios, the impact of climate change on water yield was 90.56%, while that of LULC change was only 9.44%. This study reveals that climate warming has a positive impact on water yield, which will provide valuable references for the integrated assessment and management of water resources in the Shule River Basin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Watershed Management Modeling)
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Review

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19 pages, 1056 KiB  
Review
Modelling Watershed and River Basin Processes in Cold Climate Regions: A Review
by Junye Wang, Narayan Kumar Shrestha, Mojtaba Aghajani Delavar, Tesfa Worku Meshesha and Soumendra N. Bhanja
Water 2021, 13(4), 518; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040518 - 17 Feb 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4593
Abstract
Watersheds in cold regions provide water, food, biodiversity and ecosystem service. However, the increasing demand for water resources and climate change challenge our ability to provide clean freshwater. Particularly, watersheds in cold regions are more sensitive to changing climate due to their glaciers’ [...] Read more.
Watersheds in cold regions provide water, food, biodiversity and ecosystem service. However, the increasing demand for water resources and climate change challenge our ability to provide clean freshwater. Particularly, watersheds in cold regions are more sensitive to changing climate due to their glaciers’ retreat and permafrost. This review revisits watershed system and processes. We analyze principles of watershed modelling and characteristics of watersheds in cold regions. Then, we show observed evidence of their impacts of cold processes on hydrological and biogeochemical processes and ecosystems, and review the watershed modeling and their applications in cold regions. Finally, we identify the knowledge gaps in modeling river basins according to model structures and representations of processes and point out research priorities in future model development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Watershed Management Modeling)
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