5/21/2015  |   15:30 - 15:45   |  103C

PRIORITIZING WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS ON AGRICULTURAL LANDS USING LiDAR ELEVATION DATA The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Water Quality has developed the Erosion Vulnerability Assessment for Agricultural Lands (EVAAL) toolset to support the prioritization and implementation of agricultural best management practices for improving surface water quality. It evaluates locations of relative vulnerability to sheet, rill and gully erosion using information about topography, soils, rainfall and land cover. The use of detailed LiDAR elevation data allows for the deprioritization of internally drained areas that are not directly hydrologically connected to surface waters. This tool enables watershed managers to prioritize and focus field-scale data collection efforts, thus saving time and money while increasing the probability of locating fields with high sediment and nutrient export for implementation of best management practices.

Theresa Nelson (Primary Presenter/Author), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, theresa.nelson@wisconsin.gov;


Aaron Ruesch (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Aaron.Ruesch@wi.gov;

5/21/2015  |   15:45 - 16:00   |  103C

DATABASE APPROACHES FOR RAPID CONSTRUCTION OF SPATIALLY EXPLICIT WATER QUALITY MODELS Understanding landscape drivers of water quality requires analysis within a spatial context. Site-specific water quality rarely depends only on the physical properties at the sampling location, but rather a multi-scale combination of site-specific and cumulative upstream drivers. A major barrier in modeling landscape drivers of water quality lies in the time and energy required to compile multi-scale data. Ongoing efforts are currently underway to gain efficiencies in water resources modeling by compiling databases where these attributes have been pre-processed, the most well-known being NHDPlus. Here, we present a Wisconsin-specific database of site-specific and cumulative characteristics to enhance the spatial resolution and number of watershed attributes available to modelers. Using scalable cloud computing to process large quantities of data, we pre-processed watershed and riparian characteristics and stored the resulting data in a light database format that enables easy extraction of thousands of attributes. The database format opens new frontiers for data storage, sharing, and analysis, resulting in efficient construction of numerous insightful models and the ability to conduct analyses across the Internet.

Aaron Ruesch (Primary Presenter/Author), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Aaron.Ruesch@wi.gov;


Matt Diebel (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Matthew.Diebel@wisconsin.gov;


Diane Menuz (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Utah Geological Survey, dmenuz@utah.gov;

5/21/2015  |   16:00 - 16:15   |  103C

OPTIMIZING WATERSHED FLUX ESTIMATES: THE R PACKAGE ‘LOADFLEX’ Insights into the function of rivers and watersheds often emerge when we quantify riverine solute fluxes. Many flux estimation methods are available, and the best method for each dataset may depend on the solute of interest, the land use and hydrology of the watershed, and the site position within the river network. Here we present a new R software package called loadflex that implements several prominent methods for flux estimation, including regressions, period-weighted methods, and a recently developed approach called the composite method. To demonstrate, we use loadflex to quickly analyze data from the Lamprey River, New Hampshire, where two large floods in 2006-7 are hypothesized to have driven a long-term shift in nitrate fluxes. Several competing estimation methods each give believable flux estimates, and yet (1) they yield different answers for whether and how the floods altered nitrate fluxes, and (2) the best method differs for main-stem versus tributary sites. Our R package simplifies the process of comparing flux estimation methods and drawing conclusions such as these, ultimately allowing researchers to estimate riverine fluxes with greater ease and accuracy.

Alison Appling (Primary Presenter/Author), US Geological Survey, alison.appling@gmail.com;


Miguel Leon (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Pennsylvania, leonmi@sas.upenn.edu;


William H McDowell (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of New Hampshire, bill.mcdowell@unh.edu;

5/21/2015  |   16:15 - 16:30   |  103C

LANDSCAPE APPROACHES TO NUTRIENT AND SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT IN STREAMS: PAST RESEARCH AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Scientific investigation of excess nutrient and sediment contributions has emphasized various aspects of management problems, including sources, transport and transformation dynamics, potential storage and sinks, and management techniques for mitigating impacts of widespread and intensifying human activity. Source characterization has ranged from plot-level measurement to watershed-scale yield estimates. Likewise sinks and potential storage zones have been described with increasing levels of precision across space and time, often revealing surprising variability and hotspot/moment behavior. Substantial advances in geographic representation and analysis provide watershed-scale perspectives of the broader context in which nutrient or sediment loading and processing occurs. Increased sophistication has heightened understanding, but will advances in knowledge translate to more effective management? Recent work has emphasized precision targeting and prioritization in space, but additional progress may result from understanding interactions through time. Further, management prioritization benefits from explicit integration of a menu of mitigation options that avoids “once size fits all” approaches. Investigators can aid the efficiency of management decisions by integrating uncertainty about different mitigation strategies and practices into predictions, and emphasizing first principles in policy-relevant communication.

Matthew Baker (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Maryland Baltimore County, mbaker@umbc.edu;

5/21/2015  |   16:30 - 16:45   |  103C

LANDSCAPE APPROACHES TO NUTRIENT AND SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT IN STREAMS: PAST RESEARCH AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Scientific investigation of excess nutrient and sediment contributions has emphasized various aspects of management problems, including sources, transport and transformation dynamics, potential storage and sinks, and management techniques for mitigating impacts of widespread and intensifying human activity. Source characterization has ranged from plot-level measurement to watershed-scale yield estimates. Likewise sinks and potential storage zones have been described with increasing levels of precision across space and time, often revealing surprising variability and hotspot/moment behavior. Substantial advances in geographic representation and analysis provide watershed-scale perspectives of the broader context in which nutrient or sediment loading and processing occurs. Increased sophistication has heightened understanding, but will advances in knowledge translate to more effective management? Recent work has emphasized precision targeting and prioritization in space, but additional progress may result from understanding interactions through time. Further, management prioritization benefits from explicit integration of a menu of mitigation options that avoids “once size fits all” approaches. Investigators can aid the efficiency of management decisions by integrating uncertainty about different mitigation strategies and practices into predictions, and emphasizing first principles in policy-relevant communication.

Matthew Baker (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Maryland Baltimore County, mbaker@umbc.edu;