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Collaborative Calibration of a Water Quality Model of an Urbanized River

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  TMDL 2010: Watershed Management to Improve Water Quality Proceedings, 14-17 November 2010 Hyatt Regency Baltimore on the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland USA  711P0710cd.(doi:10.13031/2013.35734)
Authors:   Nicholas O von Stackelberg, Bethany T Neilson, Hilary N Arens
Keywords:   QUAL2Kw, water quality, dissolved oxygen, organic matter, model calibration, TMDL

The Jordan River flows 51.5 miles from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake through the urbanized Salt Lake Valley in Utah. Several segments of the river have been listed by the Utah Division of Water Quality (UDWQ) as impaired for temperature, total dissolved solids (TDS), and dissolved oxygen (DO). The DO impairment in the Jordan River has been linked to high organic loads in the water column and sediments, modification of the river channel resulting in low re-aeration rates, high water temperature due to limited riparian shading and long travel times, and excessive algal growth due to high nutrient concentrations. A QUAL2Kw water quality model was developed and calibrated to support decisions on waste load allocations for the Jordan River TMDL. Four seasonal synoptic sampling surveys were conducted for use in calibrating and validating the model. The relative error of the mean daily temperature (4.9%), conductivity (3.5%) and DO (7.2%) for the four synoptic surveys was considered appropriate.

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