Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2010TX363B

Watershed Protection Plan Development for the Geronimo Creek Watershed

Institute: Texas
Year Established: 2010 Start Date: 2010-03-01 End Date: 2011-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,000

Principal Investigators: Kyna McKee, Kyna McKee

Project Summary: The Spatially Explicit Load Enrichment Calculation Tool (SELECT) and Load Duration Curves (LDCs) will both be used to develop watershed protection plans for the Geronimo Creek watershed that is impaired due to E. coli bacteria. Watershed protection plans are difficult to implement in rural watersheds because stream flow and water quality data are often sparse and not distributed across the watershed. SELECT is an automated Geographical Information System (GIS) tool that can assess pathogen loads in watersheds using spatial factors such as land use, topography, source-population density, and soil type. LDCs will be used to determine the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) under different stream flow conditions. The U.S Geological Survey (USGS) program LOAD ESTimator (LOADEST) will be used to estimate the E. coli loads in each stream at each monitoring location in relation to flow rate. The LOADEST loads will then be compared with the TMDLs and observed loads to calculate percent reduction for each flow condition. SELECT will be used to identify the non-point sources most likely contributing to E. coli bacteria contamination.