MODELING FOR TMDL DEVELOPMENT, AND WATERSHED BASED PLANNING, MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: NEW
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0215731
• Project No.: FLA-ABE-004760
• Multistate No.: S-1042
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2007
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2012

Project Director
Kiker, G.

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611

Performing Department
Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Non Technical Summary
The primary research outlook for this project will focus on providing a useful and integrated model/decision tool set that can be used by local stakeholders and decision-makers to structure, iterate and adaptively manage complex environmental problems at both smaller and larger scales. While development of agro-ecological and hydrological models are a critical part of this effort, the intended use of the information within complex decision-making must also be designed and implemented along with the modeling components. Developing a practical, integrated modeling and decision framework is the focus of the research covered in this project.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
112	0210	2050	50%
112	0320	2050	50%

Knowledge Area
112 - Watershed Protection and Management;

Subject Of Investigation
0320 - Watersheds; 0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
2050 - Hydrology;

Keywords

model

object oriented model

java

Goals / Objectives
Develop, improve and evaluate process based models and geospatial tools for watershed based planning and management. Develop tools (standards, framework, or protocol) to link the physical modeling with the economic aspects of watershed planning and management. Develop tools with social scientists and other project partners to help accelerate implementation of watershed planning and management through behavior change. Facilitate usability of watershed management planning models.

Project Methods
Model development for traditional agro-hydrological models such as ACRU2000 follows an object-oriented model design structure. Most modeling systems are composed of two sections, the designs and the subsequent code development. New modules (defined as groups of objects with a common overall purpose) are added in a systematic and orderly fashion with minimal impact on existing code modules. To achieve this goal, a methodology has been formulated to systematically guide potential developers through the various stages from preliminary cooperation to object designing to final code generation, testing and validation. The methodology in developing new objects and modules is shown by the following steps: (1)Define partnership roles between development groups, 2)Define the problem and objectives of the module addition, (3)Propose objects to be included in the model, (4)Review relevant existing UML designs in ACRU2000,(5) Propose additions to current model designs, (6) Implement design additions in the model language,(7) Test new objects for correct operation,(8)Validate the model with observed data. This methodology is not a linear one where each step is started and then completed before moving on to the next phase. All of the stages are iterative in that as a group learns and modifies its modeling approach, certain steps may be re-visited to sharpen the overall product. As the ACRU2000 development methodology is made to be cycled and revised, it is easy to improve and change designs to meet changing demands.

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: My efforts have focused on education of both undergraduate and graduate teaching: AOM 4643 Principles and Issues in Environmental Hydrology: This is a basic course in Environmental Hydrology intended for Agricultural and Natural Resource Scientists and Managers. The first half of the course covers scientific principles of the hydrologic cycle including precipitation, evapotranspiration, infiltration, groundwater flow, and surface runoff. The second half of the course examines issues concerning the impacts of agricultural and urban development on both the quantity and quality of water in the hydrologic cycle. International case studies and participatory role-play projects of the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint River basin figure prominently in this section. ABE-6254 Simulation of Agricultural Watershed Systems: This course addresses the characterization and simulation of agricultural watershed systems including land and channel phases, hydrologic processes and pollutant transport processes. Significant time is given to development of computer algorithms and code for computational watershed hydrology as well as the investigation of the structure and capabilities of current agricultural watershed computer models. The students have an opportunity for "hands-on" use of some currently available watershed models for both domestic and international applications. PARTICIPANTS: Nathan Johnson, Masters Student University of Florida, Agr. and Bio. Engineering Mr Steve Leitman, consultant for the ACF basin TARGET AUDIENCES: A major stakeholder group that we have been working actively with is the ACF stakeholders group (http://acfstakeholders.org/) which is working actively within the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint River basin. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Each Fall semester over 70 students complete the live and distance education sections of AOM4643. Each odd year, 12 students take the PhD level course (ABE 6254).

Publications

• Lagerwall, G., Kiker, G.A.., Munoz-Carpena, R., Convertino, M., James,A., and Wang, N. 2012. A Spatially Distributed, Deterministic, Approach to Modeling Typha domingensis (Cattail) in an Everglades Wetland. Ecological Processes 2012, 1:10.
• Carey,R.O., Migliaccio,K.W., Li,Y.C., Schaffer,B., Kiker,G.A., and Brown,M. 2011. Land Use Disturbance Indicators and Water Quality Variability in the Biscayne Bay Watershed,Florida. Ecol. Ind. v11 p. 1093-1104
• Johnson, N.T., Martinez, C.J., Kiker, G.A. and Leitman, S. 2012. Pacific and Atlantic Ocean influences on streamflow in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin. [IN PRESS] Journal of Hydrology.

Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Outputs concerning the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint River Basin: Johnson N.T., G. Kiker, C. Martinez, and S. Leitman, 2010. Model Evaluation and Climate Variability Application to the Systems Dynamic STELLA model of the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint (ACF) Basin. Poster presented at the Biannual Meeting of the Southeast Climate Consortium, May 2010, Raleigh, NC. Johnson N.T., G.A. Kiker, C. Martinez, and S. Leitman. 2010. Model Evaluation and Climate Variability Application to the Systems Dynamic STELLA model of the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint (ACF) Basin. Biennial Water Institute Symposium (Honorable Mention: Top Poster Award), February 2010, Gainesville, FL. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: ACF Stakeholders Group (http://acfstakeholders.org/) PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Results from the ACF basin were used to develop a teaching case study for the UF Bob Graham Center for Public Service. "Development of a Water Conflict and Role Playing Case Study for the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint River basin."

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1. I was invited to special Environmental - Office of Research and Development closed meeting to discuss the implementation of decision analysis concepts for EPA research and Regional Operations. One of 10 people invited including other national decision analysis experts from universities and government. March 31-April 1, 2009 2. I was invited to Johns Hopkins (Ron White) to give invited seminar on environmental risk analysis. Approximately 30 students in attendance(Dec 8, 2009). 3. Kiker, G. A. 2008. Development of Ecological and Hydrological Models for Adaptive Management: Lessons from Southern Africa. Lecture at the University of Connecticut. Dept of Biosystems Engineering. October 2-3, 2008. (invited lecture). 4. Johnson, N., Kiker, G.A., Fraisee, C., Graham, W., and Leitman, S. 2008. Forecasting Water Wars. South Eastern Climate Consortium, Fall Meeting, Orlando, FL Nov 18-20. PARTICIPANTS: Palm Beach County Water Department (West Palm Beach, Florida), Post Buckley Schuh & Jernigan Inc. (Orlando, FL). TARGET AUDIENCES: Water managers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Development of a Dynamic Decision Support System (D2S2) for Water Supply Planning. This project incorporated six, three hour stakeholder meetings for Palm Beach County water Dept to integrate the WEAP model with decision analysis methods to explore climate change issues in their capital improvement plan. Ten stakeholders participated in the sessions.

Publications

• Fitz, H.C., Kiker, G.A. and Kim, J.B. 2009 (in press). Integrated Ecological Modeling and Decision Analysis within the Everglades Landscape. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology.
• Pandey,V., Kiker, G.A., Campbell, K.L., Williams, M.J. and Coleman, S.W. (2009). Analysis of Cattle Location Data in Complex Agro-Ecosystem of South Florida. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 25(4):1-12.
• Kiker,G.A. and Thummapalli, R.(2008). How2QnD: Design and Construction of a Game-Style, Environmental Simulation Engine and Interface Using UML, XML and Java. (Chapter in Papajorgji , P.J. and Pardalos, P.M. (Eds). Advances in Modeling Agricultural Systems. Springer. Netherlands.
• Kiker, G.A., Munoz-Carpena, R.. Wolski, P., Cathey, A., Gaughn, A. and Kim, J. (2008). Incorporating Uncertainty into Adaptive, Transboundary Water Challenges: a conceptual design for the Okavango River Basin. International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 10(4):312-338.
• Kiker, G.A., Bridges, T.S., Kim, J. (2008). Integrating Comparative Risk Assessment with Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to Manage Contaminated Sediments: An Example From New York/New Jersey Harbor. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 14/3: 495-511.
• Martinez, C. J., Campbell, K. L., Annable, M. D. & Kiker, G. A. (2008). An object oriented hydrologic model for humid, shallow water table environments. Journal of Hydrology. 351/3-4:368-381.