Water Resources and Land Use and Cover in a Humid Region: The Southeastern United States

Nagy, R. Chelsea; Lockaby, B. Graeme; Helms, Brian S.; Kalin, Latif; Stoeckel, Denise

doi:10.2134/jeq2010.0365

Cited by 49 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 84 publications

(159 reference statements)

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“…Lake TDS is indicative of dissolved salts (including minerals) and organic residue present in the water column (Cole 1983;Dodds 2002). These constituents enter lake systems through weathering and erosion from upland sources and irrigation water and are transported in runoff to the lake (Dodds 2002;Zeng and Rasmussen 2005;Anning 2011;Nagy et al 2011). Beasley Lake median TDS concentrations from 1996 to 2009 ranged from 44 to 91 mg L -1 (0.0059 to 0.0122 oz gal -1 ) with no distinct seasonal patterns evident (figure 6).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of integrated watershed-scale agricultural conservation practices on lake water quality

Lizotte¹,

Knight²,

Locke³

et al. 2014

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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Watershed-scale management efforts to improve conservation of water resources in agricultural watersheds depend upon the effectiveness of integrated multiple agricultural best management practices (BMPs). To more comprehensively assess the effectiveness of combined BMPs on water quality requires large-scale, long-term (>10 year) studies measuring key water quality parameters. One such suite of critical water quality parameters includes water clarity, total suspended solids (TSS), and total dissolved solids (TDS). To address this, Beasley Lake, a 25 ha (62 ac) oxbow lake located in a 915 ha (2,261 ac) watershed of intensive row crop agricultural activity, was studied. The lake was sediment impaired when monitoring was initiated in 1995 and was a candidate to assess the effectiveness of watershed-wide BMPs on lake water clarity (as Secchi depth), TSS concentrations, and TDS. A variety of BMPs within row crop fields, at field edges throughout the watershed, and enrollment of 112 ha (277 ac) into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) between 1997 to 2006 focused on reducing soil erosion and concomitant sediment runoff. Selected parameters were measured approximately biweekly from 1996 to 2009. During this 14-year period, changes in row crop management and BMP implementations and alterations were observed and recorded in conjunction with targeted water quality parameters. While annual improvement in water quality occurred, distinct seasonal effects were noticeable. Observed changes in water clarity and TSS concentrations were greatest during spring and least in winter in association with increased BMPs, vegetated buffer strips west of the lake, and CRP north of the lake. Observed decreases in TDS concentrations were greatest during summer and fall in association with implemented CRP north of the lake. Reductions in spring TSS by >60% often directly increased spring water clarity by >100%. Results of this study indicate clear improvement in lake water quality with watershed-wide implementation of integrated multiple agricultural BMPs, and these improvements, manifested most strongly during spring, will assist to promote a healthy, sustainable lake ecosystem.Key words: best management practices-oxbow lake-Secchi depth-total dissolved solids-total suspended solids Intensive row crop agriculture under conventional farming practices utilizes most available arable land. While necessary to feed and clothe a continually growing human population, these practices can often lead to significant soil erosion (Bennett and Chapline 1928) and surface runoff during rainfall events that produce increased loads of suspended sediment and dissolved solids, and decrease water clarity (Dodds and Whiles 2004;Renwick et al. 2008). Despite decades of research and considerable efforts to mitigate suspended sediment loading, suspended sediment continues to be one of the most pernicious pollutants and a significant cause of water quality impairment globally. Suspended sediment has long been known to cause problems in physical terms th...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of integrated watershed-scale agricultural conservation practices on lake water quality

Lizotte¹,

Knight²,

Locke³

et al. 2014

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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“…Alteration of river hydrology by flashy urban stormwater generally increases the vulnerability of an ecosystem. Recent studies indicate that the health of stream biota is closely related to the surrounding hydrologic environment at the catchment scale (Wang et al, 2001;Nagy et al, 2011;Schoonover et al, 2006).…”

Section: Effects Of Urbanization and Climate Change On Stream Health mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Urbanization and Climate Change on Stream Health in North-Central Texas

2014

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Estimation of stream health involves the analysis of changes in aquatic species, riparian vegetation, microinvertebrates, and channel degradation due to hydrologic changes occurring from anthropogenic activities. In this study, we quantified stream health changes arising from urbanization and climate change using a combination of the widely accepted Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) and Dundee Hydrologic Regime Assessment Method (DHRAM) on a rapidly urbanized watershed in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in Texas. Historical flow data were split into pre-alteration and post-alteration periods. The influence of climate change on stream health was analyzed by dividing the precipitation data into three groups of dry, average, and wet conditions based on recorded annual precipitation. Hydrologic indicators were evaluated for all three of the climate scenarios to estimate the stream health changes brought about by climate change. The effect of urbanization on stream health was analyzed for a specific subwatershed where urbanization occurred dramatically but no stream flow data were available using the widely used watershed-scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The results of this study identify negative impacts to stream health with increasing urbanization and indicate that dry weather has more impact on stream health than wet weather. The IHA-DHRAM approach and SWAT model prove to be useful tools to estimate stream health at the watershed scale.

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“…In addition to these unique features of sand‐bed streams of this ecoregion, increases in human population growth are predicted (reviewed in Nagy et al. ); thus, there is a strong need to characterize the state of the HGM reference condition in this burgeoning ecoregion as a basis for biotic conservation in sand‐bed streams.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stream biota in the SE Plains strongly differ compositionally from that in upland ecoregions, likely reflecting contrasting instream habitat conditions (Feminella 2000;Kosnicki et al 2014). In addition to these unique features of sand-bed streams of this ecoregion, increases in human population growth are predicted (reviewed in Nagy et al 2011); thus, there is a strong need to characterize the state of the HGM reference condition in this burgeoning ecoregion as a basis for biotic conservation in sand-bed streams.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogeomorphic Reference Condition and Its Relationship with Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in Southeastern U.S. Sand Hills Streams

Sefick

Kosnicki

Paller

et al. 2018

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Defining stream reference conditions is integral to providing benchmarks to ecological perturbation. We quantified channel geometry, hydrologic and environmental variables, and macroinvertebrates in 62 low‐gradient, SE United States (U.S.) Sand Hills (Level IV ecoregion) sand‐bed streams. To identify hydrogeomorphic reference condition (HGM), we clustered channel geometry deviation from expectations given watershed area (Aws), resulting in two HGM groups discriminated by area at the top of bank (Atob) residuals <0.6 m2 and >0.6 m2 predicted to be HGM reference/nonreference streams, respectively. Two independent partial least squares discriminate analyses used (1) hydrologic/environmental variables and (2) macroinvertebrate mean trait values (mT) on 10 reference/nonreference stream pairs of similar Aws for classification validation. Nonreference streams had flashier hydrographs and altered flow magnitudes, lower organic matter, coarser substrate, higher pH/specific conductivity compared with reference streams. Macroinvertebrate assemblages corresponded to HGM groupings, with mT indicative of multivoltinism, collector‐gatherer functional feeding groups, fast current‐preference taxa, and lower Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera richness and biotic integrity in nonreference streams. HGM classifications in Sand Hills, sand‐bed streams were determined from channel geometry. This easily implemented classification is indicative of contemporary hydrologic disturbance resulting in contrasting macroinvertebrate assemblages.

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Water Resources and Land Use and Cover in a Humid Region: The Southeastern United States

Cited by 49 publications

References 84 publications

Influence of integrated watershed-scale agricultural conservation practices on lake water quality

Influence of integrated watershed-scale agricultural conservation practices on lake water quality

Effects of Urbanization and Climate Change on Stream Health in North-Central Texas

Hydrogeomorphic Reference Condition and Its Relationship with Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in Southeastern U.S. Sand Hills Streams

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