『Abstract
Steamboat Creek, Washoe County, Nevada, is considered the most
polluted tributary of the Truckee River, therefore the reduction
of nutrients from the creek is an important factor in reducing
eutrophication in the lower Truckee River. Restoration of the
wetlands along the creek has been proposed as one method to improve
water quality by reducing nutrient and sediments from non-point
sources. This study was aimed to design a simulation model wetlands
water quality model (WWQM) that evaluates nitrogen, phosphorus,
and sediments retention from a constructed wetland system. WWQM
is divided into four submodels: hydrological, nitrogen, phosphorus,
and sediment. WWQM is virtual Visual Basic 6.0 program that calculates
hydrologic parameters, nutrients, and sediments based on available
data, simple assumptions, knowledge of the wetland system, and
literature data. WWQM calibration and performance was evaluated
using data sets obtained from the pilot-scale constructed wetland
over a period of four and half years. The pilot-scale wetland
was constructed to quantify the ability of the proposed wetland
system for nutrient and sediment removal. WWQM simulates nutrient
and sediments retention reasonably well and agrees with the observed
values from the pilot-scale wetland system. The model predicts
that wetlands along the creek will remove nitrogen, phosphorus,
and sediments by 62, 38, and 84％, respectively, which would help
to reduce eutrophication in the lower Truckee River.
Keywords: Wetland modeling; Nutrients; Total suspended solids;
Simulation model』
1. Introduction
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Description of study area
3. Sample collection and analyses
4. Modeling approach
4.1. Model assumptions
4.2. General model description
4.2.1. Hydrological submodel
4.2.2. Nitrogen submodel
4.3. Total suspended solids submodel
4.4. Phosphorus submodel
5. Model calibration
6. Statistical analysis
7. Model application and performance
8. Sensitivity analysis
9. Conclusions and recommendations
Acknowledgements
References