Progress 12/15/22 to 12/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is agricultural producers, water management agencies, and the scientific community who are impacted by uncertain water availability and prolonged droughts. In Year 2 of our project, we continued to interact with agency representatives and agricultural producers to guide our modeling and monitoring efforts. Changes/Problems:We faced a number of problems as we made progress with salinity monitoring in the Upper Red River Basin. A groundwater salinity measurement equipment was damaged by cattle in one of the sites. However, the equipment was repaired and deployed at another site where equipment damage is less likely while allowing the research team to generate the required observational data. The team will have access to data recorded at the previous monitoring site as it is being monitored by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Two monitoring sondes were buried under sediment after flood events. We have made appropriate adjustments to our deployment method, using a plastic pipe to deploy the sondes. The sonde in one of the stream monitoring sites was tampered with by unknown persons, which prevented the generation of continuous monitoring data. We plan to move the sonde to a safer site to ensure data continuity. We had some incidences of equipment failure. For example, a wiper on one of the stream monitoring sondes stopped working. We are working with the manufacturer to fix the problem and redeploy the sonde. Low water levels caused the sondes at some sites to sit out of the water part of the time, making them incapable of recording salinity data. However, this issue will be addressed with the adjusted deployment method. A member of our Oklahoma field monitoring team moved to a different institution. The vacancy at Oklahoma State University was filled by hiring Dr. Josephus Borsuah to ensure timely progress on field monitoring objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided experimental learning opportunities to one Biosystems Engineering PhD student (Kasra Khodkar). The PhD student gained experience in sampling water for water quality measurement purposes and monitoring stream water and groundwater salinity using sondes, sensors, and data loggers. The PhD student also attended several scientific community meetings/conferences to present the research methodology and results obtained to date. Additionally, the project offered the PhD student an opportunity to learn watershed-scale salinity simulation using the SWAT-Salt model. The project has also provided opportunities for learning model programming, data analysis, data science, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty analysis for a post-doctoral fellow (Salam Abbas). The post-doc has attended several scientific conferences to present project results to date. The post-doc has developed extensive hydrologic modeling and analysis skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Preliminary results were disseminated to our target audiences through presentations at professional meetings (e.g., the 2023 Annual International Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, the 2023 Oklahoma Governor's Water Conference, American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, CSU Hydrology Days, UCOWR annual conference), meeting with agricultural producers in southwestern Oklahoma, and meeting with representatives from government agencies (e.g., Oklahoma Water Resources Board, United States Geological Survey, US Bureau of Reclamation, and Lugert-Altus Irrigation District). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we plan to: Finalize the calibration of the SWAT-Salt model, using the observational data and generated synthetic salinity data Use the SWAT-Salt model to investigate watershed-scale salinity dynamics under a range of scenarios of augmenting agricultural water supply through conjunctive use of freshwater and saltwater. Advance the site suitability analysis to identify candidate areas for conjunctive freshwater saltwater management in the Upper Red River Basin. Initiate the calibration of the MODFLOW model for the Oklahoma Study Area. Continue monthly grab sampling to assess salinity fluctuations throughout the year. Retrieve continuous salinity observations from monitoring sites at streams and groundwater wells. Test the SWAT+ salinity model for the Arkansas River Basin in Colorado. Use the model to investigate scenarios of conjunctive use of freshwater and saltwater on water resources availability and crop yield.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
(1) incorporate salinity equilibrium chemistry in SWAT-MODFLOW, an existing coupled surface water-groundwater modeling framework, to develop and test SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt for watershed-scale spatially distributed coupled simulation of surface water-groundwater salt fate and transport, accounting for different irrigation water sources and salt buildup in the stream network, soil, and aquifer, and effect on crop yield; A site suitability analysis was initiated to explore the potential sites for using saline water to augment irrigation water supply. Generated a continuous sequence of synthetic water salinity data by data-driven prediction methods and available hydrologic, climatologic, and observed water salinity data. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed hydrology model was developed for the study region in the Upper Red River Basin. A preliminary SWAT-Salt model was built to simulate the salinity dynamics in the basin utilizing the developed SWAT model. Calibrated and tested SWAT+ hydrologic models for the 13 8-digit watersheds that compose the Arkansas River Basin in Colorado, using monthly streamflow and annual water table measurements, from USGS gages and monitoring wells. Created a salinity module for the SWAT+ model. This involved the creation of 35 new subroutine files within the SWAT+ Fortran code. Constructed a SWAT+ salinity model for the 13 8-digit watersheds in the Arkansas River Basin in Colorado. Currently testing the model for Fountain Creek watershed, one of the main tributaries to the Arkansas River. (2) conduct field monitoring of major salt ions and minerals in surface water, soil, and groundwater to calibrate and validate SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt; Stream salinity monitoring was initiated at seven sites originally and is being actively continued at four sites in the Oklahoma Study Area. Groundwater salinity was actively monitored in two wells on the Blaine aquifer and two wells on the Salt Fork aquifer. Planned to purchase more stream salinity monitoring sondes to extend the number of stream monitoring sites. (3) conduct a comprehensive model-based analysis of CFSM as an adaptation strategy to reduce reliance on freshwater resources; •No major activities to report in Yr. 2 since our project is in its early stages. Activities related to this objective will be conducted in later stages of the project, which build on the activities described under Objectives 1 and 2. (4) assess potential agroecosystem impacts (i.e., soil and stream salinity changes) and underdeveloped scenarios of irrigation water sources in CFSM during wet and dry climate cycles. •No major activities to report in Yr. 2 since our project is in its early stages. Activities related to this objective will be conducted in later stages of the project, which build on the activities described under Objectives 1 and 2.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Khodkar, K., Mirchi, A., Sadler, J. M. 2023. Gap Filling of Stream Salinity data via Artificial Intelligence-based Prediction Intervals. American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2023, San Francisco, California.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Khodkar, K., Mirchi, A., Bailey, R., Sadler, J. M., Kaghazchi, A., Alderman Ph., Samimi, M., Taghvaeian, S. 2023. Prediction and Uncertainty Quantification of Synthetic Stream Salinity Data using Artificial Intelligence-Based Models. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), Annual International Meeting 2023, Omaha, Nebraska, July 11, 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Khodkar, K., Mirchi, A. 2023. Prediction and Uncertainty Quantification of Synthetic Stream Salinity Data using Artificial Intelligence-Based Models, 3rd Annual South Dakota Student Water Conference 2023, Brookings, South Dakota, October 10, 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Khodkar, K., Mirchi, A., Wagner, K. 2023. Water Salinity Monitoring in the Upper Red River Basin. Oklahoma Governors Water Conference 2023, Norman, Oklahoma, November 29, 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Khodkar, K. 2023. Conjunctive Freshwater Saltwater Management Project, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Oklahoma Section Meeting 2023, Stillwater, Oklahoma.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Abbas, S.A. et al. 2023. Implications of Water Management Representations for Watershed Hydrologic Modeling in Lower Arkansas River Basin. CSU Hydrology Days, Fort Collins, CO. April 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Hosseini 2023. Assessment of salinity impact on crops green and blue water footprints in a semi-arid agricultural watershed using SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt. University Council on Water Resources conference; June 2023, Fort Collins, CO.
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Progress 12/15/21 to 12/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audiences are agricultural producers, water management agencies, and the scientific community who are impacted by uncertain water availability and prolonged droughts. In Yr 1 of our project, we interacted with agency representatives and agricultural producers in the Upper Red River Basin study region to guide our modeling and monitoring efforts. Key agencies included the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, United States Geological Survey, US Bureau of Reclamation, and Lugert-Altus Irrigation District. Changes/Problems:We faced changes/problems related to the move of one of the Co-PDs to a new institution, as well as supply chain issues. Co-PD Saleh Taghvaeian moved to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Necessary arrangements were made to continue to use the irrigation engineering expertise of Co-PD Taghvaeian on this project. Due to supply chain issues, the arrival of the conductivity probes and sondes was significantly delayed. However, monthly grab sampling proceeded. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided experiential learning opportunities for one Environmental Science PhD student (Jack Edwards), one Biosystems Engineering PhD student (Kasra Khodkar), and one Water Center staff member (Austin Phillippe) at Oklahoma State University (OSU). The Environmental Science PhD student gained experience in instream sampling. Water Center staff member (Austin Phillippe) and Biosystems Engineering PhD student gained experience in watershed modeling using SWAT and continuous instream and groundwater salinity monitoring using sondes. Additionally, the project offered experiential learning opportunities in watershed modeling for a post-doctoral researcher (Salam Abbas) at Colorado State University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project is in its early stages, and results have yet to be disseminated extensively. To date, results have been disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal article, one conference paper, and two conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue making progress in different areas of tool development /testing and model application (objective 1), monitoring (objective 2), and model-based scenario analyses (objectives 3 & 4). We will test the salinity module for the SWAT+ modeling code. The module is written in Fortran and simulates the fate and transport of major salt ions in land surface, soil, aquifer, and channel systems within an irrigated watershed system. Salt sources include salt minerals, atmospheric deposition, fertilizer, soil amendments, and road salt. The module currently is undergoing testing and willbe applied to the Lower Arkansas River Basin, Colorado (Objective 1). A soil and water assessment tool (SWAT)- Salt model will be calibrated for the Upper Red River Basin study area under two scenarios of (1) using limited discrete observed salinity data, and (2) using the continuous salinity data. We will conduct a model-based experiment to determine whether the accuracy of the SWAT-Salt model will be improved as a result of using continuous salinity data in the calibration (Objective 1). On the monitoring front, we will employ continuous conductivity monitoring and monthly grab sampling to assess salinity fluctuations throughout the year (Objective 2). We will conduct a site suitability analysis for the implementation of conjunctive freshwater saltwater management (CFSM) in the Upper Red River Basin. We will employ a geospatial analysis approach to determine the suitability of agricultural lands to implement CFSM. This step will tie into scenario development for model-based analysis under objectives 3 and 4.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. Incorporate salinity equilibrium chemistry in SWAT-MODFLOW, an existing coupled surface water-groundwater modeling framework, to develop and test SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt for watershed-scale spatially distributed coupled simulation of surface water-groundwater salt fate and transport, accounting for different irrigation water sources and salt buildup in the stream network, soil, and aquifer, and effect on crop yield; 1. Salinity equilibrium chemistry module has been incorporated in SWAT-MODFLOW. The new SWAT-MODFLOW Fortran code is available for download at: https://github.com/RyanTBailey/SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt. 2. SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt has been tested for the study region in the Lower Arkansas River Valley, Colorado. Tested against soil salinity, crop yield, groundwater salt ion concentrations, and in-stream salt ion concentrations and loading. 3. Salinity equilibrium chemistry module has been created for the SWAT+ modeling code. Whereas SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt will be applied to the small study region in the Lower Arkansas River Valley in Colorado, the SWAT+ modeling code (with the new salinity module) will be applied to the entire Lower Arkansas River Basin, Colorado, which includes hundreds of irrigation canals, thousands of groundwater pumping wells, and thousands of irrigated fields. 4. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed hydrology model was developed for the study region in the Upper Red River Basin. 5. Generated a continuous sequence of synthetic water salinity data by data-driven prediction methods and available hydrologic, climatologic, and observed water salinity data. 6. Initiated SWAT-Salt model development for the Upper Red River Basin study area Objective 2. Conduct field monitoring of major salt ions and minerals in surface water, soil, and groundwater to calibrate and validate SWAT-MODFLOW-Salt; Primary activities conducted to date include identification of surface water and groundwater monitoring sites, monthly surface water sampling and analysis of samples for major ions and conductivity, purchase of data sondes for continuous monitoring, and installation of the sondes. Objective 3. Conduct a comprehensive model-based analysis of CFSM as an adaptation strategy to reduce reliance on freshwater resources; No major activities to report in Yr. 1 since our project is in its early stages. Activities related to this objective will be conducted in later stages of the project, which build on the activities described under Objectives 1 and 2. Objective 4. Assess potential agroecosystem impacts (i.e., soil and stream salinity changes) and underdeveloped scenarios of irrigation water sources in CFSM during wet and dry climate cycles. No major activities to report in Yr. 1 since our project is in its early stages. Activities related to this objective will be conducted in later stages of the project, which build on the activities described under Objectives 1 and 2.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Bailey, R.T. and Hosseini, P., 2023. Comprehensive simulation of salinity transport in irrigated watersheds using an updated version of SWAT-MODFLOW. Environmental Modelling & Software, 159, p.105566.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Abbas, S.A. and Bailey, R.T. (2023), Implications of water management representations for watershed hydrologic modeling in Lower Arkansas River Basin , Proceedings of the 43rd American Geophysical Union Hydrology Days, Fort Collins, CO, March 21-22, 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Khodkar, K., Kaghazchi, A., Alderman, A., Mirchi, A. (2022). Gap-filling of river salinity data to improve the simulation of watershed scale dynamics. Oklahoma Governors Water Conference 2022, Midwest City, Oklahoma, December 7-8, 2022.
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