Rio Blanco Watershed
The Rest of the Story
Physical Characteristics
• Located Northwest of Guadalajara, Mexico
Physical Characteristics
• Main river is about 14 miles long
• Watershed area of roughly 65 mi2
• Approximately 100,000 residents within
watershed boundary
• Water was used as a culinary source
before it became so polluted
• Water is currently used for agriculture
Watershed Problems
• Pesticides and fertilizers from agriculture
• Residential wastewater is not treated prior
to discharge
• Waste from cattle, pork, and poultry farms
• Small, local factories
• Dead animals
• Garbage
Suds from detergents in Rio Blanco
Little Hispanic Girl for Scale
Residential Discharge
Why Nothing has Been Done
• Money
• Social apathy
• Lack of funds
• Lack of government support
• No cash
Project Goals
• Water quality analysis of the watershed
• Suggest possible solutions
• Create WMS/GIS model of watershed
Project Snags
• Watershed delineation
• Communication
• Lack of a clear definition of objectives
from the beginning
• Lack of data
• Different classification systems
Initial Delineation from Supplied
DEM’s
Initial delineation compared to
Mexico’s given delineation
Initial
Delineation
Mexico’s
Delineation
Closer look at differences
Examining the differences
Initial
Delineation
Mexico’s
Delineation
Water Quality Analysis Using
QUAL2Kw
QUAL2K and QUAL2Kw
• QUAL2K is a computer model developed by Greg Pelletier and Steve
Chapra
• It is used to simulate water quality in streams and rivers
• QUAL2K was preceded by QUAL2E, which was originally developed
in 1987
• QUAL2K expands on the capabilities of QUAL2E by adding:
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Functionality to segment river systems into river reaches
Input of carbonaceous BOD (CBOD) as slowly or rapidly oxidizing forms
Specify algae growth, PH, pathogen quantities
A user interface integrated into Microsoft Excel
• QUAL2Kw is related to QUAL2K and simply adds greatly functionality
• QUAL2Kw is available from the Washington State Department of
Ecology
QUAL2Kw Uses
• Simulate the variation of water quality parameters
•
•
– Along the length of stream
– Over the course of a day
Can create a water quality model for a river, which can
then be verified through validation and sensitivity
analyses
If the model gives good results in the validation and
sensitivity analyses, it then can be used for forecasting
QUAL2Kw Parameters
The most sensitive parameters are:
1. Head water Info
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Lat/long and elevation (location info)
Temperature
Dissolved Oxygen
BOD
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Alkalinity
pH
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Lat/Long and Elevation
Hydraulic Model (Weir Overrides Rating Curves; Rating
Curves Override Manning Formula)
Algal Info
2. Reach Info
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QUAL2Kw Parameters (contd..)
3.
4.
5.
6.
Air Temperature (Better if hourly)
Dew point temperature (Better if hourly)
Wind speed and day light info
Source info
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Inflow rate and quality (point or distributed)
Outflow rate and quality (point or distributed)
7. Rates for various chemical reactions
Input Parameters
We assumed
We had
• Lat/Long, elevation
• Channel cross section
• Manning’s n
• Suspended solid, Nitrogen
• Temperature
• Wind speed
(Air and Dew Point)
• pH
• BOD
• Inorganic Solids
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Phosphorus
• Phytoplankton
• Alkalinity
• Cloud cover and hours of
sunshine
• Amount and quality of
inflow sources
• All the reaction rates
Graphs
RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
90.000
80.000
70.000
60.000
50.000
40.000
30.000
20.000
10.000
0.000
30
25
20
15
ka,20, /d
10
5
0
Graphs
RioBlonco
RioBlonco
(8/17/2004)
(8/17/2004)
Mainstem
- Reach 5 (element 1)
25
25.0
20
20.0
15
15.0
10
10.0
5
5.0
0
30.00
0.0
25.00
0
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
10 Mean Temp-data
15
20 Temp(C) Minimum
25
Temp(C) 5
Average
Temp(C) Maximum
Temp-data
Maximum
Temp-data
Tempw(C) Minimum
Temps(C)
Temp Water (C)
data
0.00
30
Graphs
RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
30.0
25.0
20.0
DO(mgO2/L)
DO(mgO2/L) Max
DO sat
15.0
DO (mgO2/L) data
Minimum DO-data
10.0
5.0
DO(mgO2/L) Min
Maximum DO-data
0.0
Graphs
RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
300.00
250.00
200.00
150.00
100.00
50.00
0.00
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
CBODs (mgO2/L)
CBODs (mgO2/L) Min
10.0
5.0
CBODs (mgO2/L) data
CBODs (mgO2/L) Max
0.0
Graphs
RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
30
25
NO3 (ugN/L) data
NO3(ugN/L) Max
20
15
NO3(ugN/L)
Minimum NO3-data
10
5
NO3(ugN/L) Min
Maximum NO3-data
0
Graphs
RioBlonco
(8/17/2004)
Mainstem
RioBlonco
(8/17/2004)
- Reach 5 (element 1)
10.0
7.01
9.0
7.01
8.0
7.01
7.0
7.01
6.0
7.00
5.0
7.00
4.0
7.00
3.0
7.00
2.0
7.00
1.0
6.99
0.0
30
25
6.99
0
pH
pH data
20
5
pH Min
10
15
pH Max
pH
10
15
20
Minimum pH-data
pH data
5
25
0
30
Maximum pH-data
pH
Graphs
RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
500.0
450.0
400.0
350.0
300.0
250.0
200.0
150.0
100.0
50.0
0.0
30
25
TSS (mgD/L)
20
15
TSS (mgD/L) data
10
TSS Min
5
TSS Max
0
In Order to Improve Our Model
• The following data is needed:
– Sufficient channel geometry data
– Water quality info
– Reaction rates
– Climatological data
– Inflow/Outflow locations, rates and quality
info