Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2016DC178B

Performance evaluation of urban stream restoration using process-based modeling

Institute: District of Columbia
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2017-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $9,920 Total Non-Federal Funds: $23,872

Principal Investigators: Arash Massoudieh

Abstract: Stream restoration projects have been widely used to improve the quality of impaired waters and also to reduce the peak flow entering receiving water bodies. Many factors related to the hydraulic nature and fate and transport behavior of these systems can potentially influence the project outcomes. The goal of this project is to gain understanding of both hydrological, and hydrochemical performance of stream restoration, in a small sub-watershed of the Anacostia River, by using pre- and post- implementation monitoring data and a detailed process-based numerical modeling. Pre and post-restoration monitoring data is currently being collected by the District Department of Environment and as part of this project we will develop a mechanistic model describing the hydraulic and contaminant and nutrient fate and transport model representing the pre and post-restoration of the stream. The model will consider the reactive advective-dispersive transport of multiple components including DO, P species, nitrogen species, sediments and heavy metals entering the stream both in the water column and in bed sediments. Rigorous inverse modeling techniques then will be used to estimate the parameters on the model including hydraulic parameters such as roughness, seepage, hyporheic flow rates and also the rates and stoichiometry of the reaction parameters. The efficacy of the stream restoration to remove P and heavy metals through adsorption and burial and nitrogen species through denitrification in the sediments will be evaluated using the model. The model then will be used to evaluate the impact of different design parameters on the long-term hydraulic and water quality effectiveness of stream restoration practices.