Project Goals/Objectives: Microbial contamination from human, pet, wildlife, and livestock fecal nonpoint and point sources from urban, agricultural, and silvicultural land uses is a water quality concern in many Texas streams, rivers, and reservoirs. TSSWCB needs an easily used and scientifically based method/platform to evaluate, compare, and assess potential sources and amounts of microbial contamination in watersheds statewide. The method/platform should use public data sources and methods and should be capable of supporting analyses not only of microbial contamination but also of other types of water quality concerns, including sediment and nutrients (N and P forms). The method/platform should be free, open-source, internet-accessible, and use a point-and-click interface and powerful output visualization tools.
The overall objective of this project is to incorporate the Spatially Explicit Load Enrichment Tool (SELECT) into the Hydrologic and Water Quality System (HAWQS) SWAT-based hydrologic and water quality modeling platform. BREC will modify HAWQS for Texas using the best available weather, soils, topography, land use, and related livestock, wildlife, pet, and human fecal deposition data through this project. With input by TSSWCB, BREC will make changes in HAWQS input and output utilities required to adapt the software for the needs in Texas.
Project Location: Statewide
Project Partners: TSSWCB and Blackland Research and Extension Center
Total Costs: $204,000 (Non-Federal); $204,000 (Total)
Project Workplan: 21-51