WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSAL
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSAL
Project ID: 2004VI18B
Title: Hydrology Modeling in Turpentine Run, St. Thomas
Project Type: Research
Focus Categories: Hydrology, Non Point Pollution, Water Quality
Keywords: Hydrology Modeling, Nonpoint Source Pollution
Start Date: 03/01/2004
End Date: 02/28/2005
Federal Funds: $30,206
Non-Federal Matching Funds: $0
Congressional District: VI
Principal Investigators:
R. Heath Kelsey
University of South Carolina
Henry H. Smith
University of the Virgin Islands
Abstract
This project seeks to develop a detailed hydrologic model for the Turpentine Run watershed located on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Turpentine Run may be an important source of land based nutrient, sediment, and bacterial pollution from nonpoint sources to the Brenner Bay and Mangrove Lagoon marine systems. The importance of this watershed as a pollution source is difficult to assess, however, without an accurate hydrologic model. The development of a hydrology model for the Turpentine Run watershed will enable future research and assessment of contaminant transport and loading into these important marine systems. Model devlopment will take into account the spatial variability of rainfall and the transient nature of pulsed flow in the Turpentine Run Gut system, by employing rainfall and water level monitoring equipment with data logging capabilities at four appropriate locations within the watershed study area.