An Open Source GIS‐Based Decision Support System for Watershed Evaluation of Best Management Practices |
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| Authors: | Hui Shao Wanhong Yang John Lindsay Yongbo Liu Zhiqiang Yu Anatoliy Oginskyy |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Geography, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada;2. Civica Infrastructure, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada;3. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Economic costs, water quantity/quality benefits, and cost effectiveness of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) at a watershed scale are increasingly examined using integrated economic‐hydrologic models. However, these models are typically complex and not user‐friendly for examining the effects of various BMP scenarios. In this study, an open source geographic information system (GIS)‐based decision support system (DSS), named the watershed evaluation of BMPs (WEBs), was developed for creating BMP scenarios and simulating economic costs and water quantity/quality benefits at farm field, subbasin, and watershed scales. This DSS or WEBs interface integrated a farm economic model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and an optimization model within Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools (GAT), an open source GIS software. The DSS was applied to the 14.3‐km2 Gully Creek watershed, a coastal watershed in southern Ontario, Canada that drains directly into Lake Huron. BMPs that were evaluated included conservation tillage, nutrient management, cover crop, and water and sediment control basins. In addition to assessing economic costs, water quantity/quality benefits, and cost effectiveness of BMPs, the DSS can be also used to examine prioritized BMP types/locations and corresponding economic and water quantity/quality tradeoffs in the study watershed based on environmental targets or budget constraints. Further developments of the DSS including interface transfer to other watersheds are also discussed. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series. |
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| Keywords: | Soil and Water Assessment Tool integrated economic‐hydrologic modeling best management practice evaluation open source GIS decision support system |
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