2017 SWCS Annual Conference July 30-August 2, 2017 Monona Terrace Convention Center

1. Hui Shao (Shawn), Wanhong Yang, Yongbo Liu, John Lindsay,
Zhiqiang Yu, and Anatoliy Oginskyy
Dept. of Geography
University of Guelph
Aug 1st, 2017
SWCS 72th International Annual Conference
@Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A
© U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
http://www.mentorworks.ca/blog/government-funding/gf2-ontario-
business-grants-processors-eligibility-07-201/

2. 2
 Non-point pollutants e.g. TP
Annual Total Phosphorus Load to Lake Erie. From Scavia et al. (2014).
Interim TP target
2011 Algal Bloom, Lake Erie, Western Basin
Cyanobacterial biomass for western Lake Erie based on measurement from satellite.
(Updated from Stumpf et al. 2012)
Problems
Nutrients challenges

3. 3
 Conflict benefits
 Robust research results needed
 How to cooperate
 Requires lots of efforts and investments
 Cooperation between federal government, local
government, third parties, etc.
 Subsidies
 Efficiency
 Lots of choices, most cost-benefit practices
 Where and when to apply, e.g. critical source area
Problems
BMP management challenges

4. 4
Problems
Simulation challenges
 Not user friendly
 Hard to carry out scenario analysis
 Outputs are in text file and hard to interpret on the map
 Not designed for policy makers or farmers to use
 Difficult to implement BMPs and test their impacts on/off site
 Models are complex
 Requires lots of background knowledge to use, e.g. soil science,
hydrology, etc.

5. 5
Decision support system
Solution
Open
User
friendly
Stakeholder
driven
 Open source model
 Open source GIS tool
 Free
 Run the model on the fly
 Easy to see the results on
the map and chart
 Policy makers
 Farmers
 Researchers

6. 6
WEBs interface framework
Solution
Information
Part 1
 Geological data
 Hydrological data
 Climate data
 Input conversion
tools
Watershed evaluation of BMPs interface
Scenario
Part 2
Model
Part 3
Display
Part 4
 Multiple BMPs
 Field level
 Scenarios
comparison
 Policy scenario
 SWAT model
 Economic model
 Integrated (cost-
effective) model
 Database functions
 SWAT output
 Economic output
 Integrated (cost-
effective) output
 Live view output

7. 7
Gully creek watershed application
Solution
7

8. 8
WEBs interface demo video
Solution
YouTube: WEBs Interface Demonstration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=humXbiy_UOk

9. 9
 An open source GIS-based decision support system (DSS), named the Watershed
Evaluation of BMPs (WEBs) interface, was developed for creating BMP scenarios
and simulating economic costs and WQQ benefits at field and watershed scales
 The DSS can examine prioritized BMP types/locations and corresponding economic
and environmental tradeoffs based on environmental targets and economic
constrains
 Further improvements, such as system structure, database management, system
transfer and scale-up will be needed
Conclusions
& Future
Conclusions & future directions
WASCoB
www.wcswcd.org
Red clover
www.enerhealthbotanicals.com
Conservation tillage
www.climatetechwiki.org

10. 10
Acknowledgement
Watershed Evaluation Group @ UoG
Dr. Wanhong Yang
Dr. John Lindsay
Dr. Yongbo Liu
Dr. Zhiqiang Yu
Dr. Anatoliy M. Oginskyy
H.L. Hutt Building @ UoG
Funding and support
Canadian Water Network
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority
Publication
Shao, Hui, Wanhong Yang, John Lindsay, Yongbo Liu, Zhiqiang Yu, and Anatoliy Oginskyy, 2017.
An Open Source GIS-Based Decision Support System for Watershed Evaluation of Best
Management Practices. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1-11.
DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.12521

11. Hui Shao (Shawn)
shaoh@uoguelph.ca
University of Guelph
Downtown Guelph
http://www.silencesounds.ca/news/