GIS Hydro '99 - Water Quality
Water Quality Analysis Module
Center for Research in Water Resources, The University of Texas
at Austin
Introduction
Water quality in rivers, lakes and estuaries are influenced by pollutants
entering the water from various sources. These sources may be located at
a point such as an oil refinery, or spread out over a whole region as in
the case of agrichemical waste products. The chemical constituents also
undergo dispersion and decay as they are transported downstream in the
water bodies. This module contains 5 masters theses and a PhD dissertation
describing the development and use of GIS based tools for modeling water
quality due to point and nonpoint sources, and for modeling the transport
of constituents in water bodies.
A masters thesis prepared by Patrice
Melancon describing the modeling of nonpoint source pollution in
Tillamook Bay in Oregon. The predominant land use in the bay is dairy farming,
and consequently, water quality problems manifest themselves in the form
of high fecal coliform counts and suspended sediments. A GIS based model
is used to calculate annual loadings of fecal coliforms and suspended sediment
entering the bay. This thesis builds on prior work in nonpoint source pollution
modeling by William Saunders,
Ferdinand Hellweger, Ann Quenzer
and Christine Dartiguenave.
A masters thesis prepared
by Andrew Romanek describes the development of a "digital facility
description" and its use as an effective environmental risk assessment
tool. The digital facility description is the collection of physical, chemical,
geological, and hydrogeological information that has been spatially referenced
in a geographic information system (GIS). The digital facility description
is used in conjunction with a surface runoff and ground water model to
support environmental risk assessment activities, such as map-based modeling
and exposure analysis.
Resources on this CD
Programs:
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COC Transport Extension: An
ArcView extension that enhances surface water models to predict downstream
concentrations based on user defined inputs (point sources or area sources).
The only extension requirements are Spatial Analyst, a flow direction grid,
and knowledge of the system inputs. Click on this link for documentation
of the COC Transport extension.
Presentation:
Reports:
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Melancon, P.A., D.R.Maidment, A Watershed
Analysis System for Tillamook Bay, Oregon. A masters thesis submitted
to the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin, May 1999.
It documents the process of determining nonpoint source loading of bacteria
and sediment in the bay, and the effects of implementing BMPs given the
level of effectives and extent of implementation.
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Romanek, A.P., L.Hay Wilson and
D.R.Maidment, Building the foundation for Environmental Risk Assessment
at the Marcus Hook Refinery Using GIS: CRWR Online Report 99-2.
This is a documentation of a digitially-based methodology for approaching
environmental risk assessments at large and complex industrial facilities,
using the Marcus Hook Refinery in Pennsylvania as a case study.
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Koerner, L.N., L.Hay Wilson, A.P.Romanek,
J.R.Rocco, S.L.Sharp and R.B.Gilbert, Maximizing the Value of Information
in Risk-Based Decision-Making: Challenges and Solution. This paper
was submitted for the American Nuclear Society Conference which was held
from the 5th to 8th of April,1999, in Redlands, WA. It discusses the development
of a GIS application to compile and manage information and a Decision Analysis
Framework to use this information in making risk-based decisions for corrective
action.
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Quenzer, A.M., D.R.Maidment,
A GIS Assessment of the Total
Loads and Water Quality for the Corpus Christi Bay National Estuary Program,
CRWR Online Report 98-1. This is Ann Quenzer's masters thesis
report. It documents her research efforts for modeling water quality in
the Corpus Christi Bay system.
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Dartiguenave, C., D.R.Maidment,
Water Quality Master Planning for Austin, CRWR Online Report 97-6.
This is Christine Dartiguenave's master's thesis report. It documents
her research efforts in modeling water quality for the city of Austin,
TX.
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Mizgalewicz, P.J. and D.R.Maidment,
Modeling Agrichemical Transport in Midwest Rivers Using Geographic Information
Systems, CRWR Online Report 96-6. This is a documention of
Pawel Mizgalewicz's PhD dissertation research. It is aimed at generalizing
the results of small watershed scale water quality research to the river
basin scale by providing a map-based simulation model for monthly flows,
concentrations, and loads. The application region of this methodology
is the Iowa-Cedar Basin in the Midwestern United States.
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Saunders, W.K., and D.R. Maidment,
A GIS Assessment of Nonpoint Source Pollution in the San Antonio - Nueces
Coastal Basin, CRWR Online Report 96-1. It documents initial research
efforts into the use of a GIS based analysis to determine nonpoint source
pollution loading in a large river basin.
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Benaman, J., N.E. Armstrong,
and D.R.Maidment, Modeling of Dissolved Oxygen in the Houston Ship Channelusing
WASP5 and Geographic Information Systems, CRWR Online Report 96-2.
This report shows how to construct mean annual pollutant loadings from
the land surface in the City of Houston and to model their impacts on receiving
waters in the Houston Ship Channel. It uses a linkage of input and output
files between Arcview and WASP5 to achieve the water quality modeling in
a GIS framework.
Primary Contact
These materials may be used for study, research, and education, butplease
credit the authors and the Center for Research in Water Resources,The University
of Texas at Austin. All commercial rights reserved. Copyright1999 Center
for Research in Water Resources.
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