Assessing the Impact of BMPs on Water Quality and Quantity in a Flat Agricultural Watershed in Southern Ontario

Peter Miele, Rituraj Shukla (), Shiv Prasher, Ramesh Pal Rudra, Prasad Daggupati, Pradeep Kumar Goel, Katie Stammler and Anand Krishna Gupta
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Peter Miele: Department of Bioresources Engineering, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Canada
Rituraj Shukla: School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Shiv Prasher: Department of Bioresources Engineering, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Canada
Ramesh Pal Rudra: School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Prasad Daggupati: School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Pradeep Kumar Goel: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, Etobicoke, ON M9P 3V6, Canada
Katie Stammler: Essex Region Conservation Authority, 360 Fairview Ave. W, Essex, ON N8M 1Y6, Canada
Anand Krishna Gupta: Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

Resources, 2023, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: Non-point source pollution poses a continuous threat to the quality of Great Lakes waters. To abate this problem, the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (GLASI) was initiated in Ontario, Canada, with the primary aim of reducing phosphorus pollution. Therefore, a case-study analysis of the Wigle Creek watershed, one of the six priority watersheds under the GLASI program, was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of various existing and potential future Best Management Practices (BMPs) and to identify BMPs that might aid in mitigating the watershed’s contribution to phosphorus loads reaching Lake Erie. Given the watershed’s very flat topography, hydrological/nutrient modeling proved an extremely challenging exercise. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used in this evaluation. Several digital elevation model (DEM) options were considered to accurately describe the watershed and represent flow conditions. A 30 m resolution DEM, implementing a modified burning in of streams based on ground truthing, was finally employed to develop the SWAT model’s drainage framework. The model was first calibrated for flow, sediment, and phosphorus loads. The calibrated model was used to evaluate the ability of potential BMPs (minimum tillage, no-till, retiring croplands into pasture, retiring croplands into forest, winter wheat cover crop, and vegetative filter strips) to reduce phosphorus loads compared to implemented practice. Converting all croplands into pasture or forest significantly decreased P loads reaching Lake Erie. Comparatively, a winter wheat cover crop had minimal effect on reducing phosphorus loading.

Keywords: BMPs; SWAT; watershed modeling; phosphorus pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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