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Oral

Watershed

Quantifying Hydrologic and Water Quality Responses from Plot-Scale Replicate Watersheds Using Modeling Tools in the Mississippi Delta

Monday, May 19, 2025
3:30 PM – 3:45 PM Alaska Daylight Time (AKDT)
Room: Room 4
Abstract Submission: Hydrologic and water quality models have been frequently used to estimate how management practices affect water quality and quantity at a watershed scale after calibration and validation. However, data required for model calibration and validation are often lacking, which limits the effectiveness of the model. The overall goal of this project was to assess the potential impact of reduced tillage, no-tillage, and cover crops on water quality and quality in the Lower Mississippi River Basin. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has been developed and used extensively for hydrologic and water quality simulations at different spatial scales to assess the potential impact of management strategies on water quality, while SWAT+ is an enhanced version of SWAT. In this study, data collected from 12 experimental watersheds will be used to calibrate and validate SWAT+. These watersheds were established in 2003 by USDA-ARS at Mississippi State University Delta Research and Extension Center, Stoneville, MS, to assess the effects of conservation practices on surface runoff. Each watershed was 150 m long and 8 m wide. Runoff from each watershed was collected in automated samplers, and runoff water quality was assessed. To better understand how hydrologic patterns affect the runoff produced, and subsequently pollutant transport, this presentation focuses on quantifying how rainfall intensity and antecedent moisture conditions affect runoff in continuous cotton systems of the Mississippi Delta. These results may be helpful for subsequently water quality and quantity modeling.

Learning Objectives/Expected Outcome (Optional) :