Terrestrial fate and transport processes of E. coil can be complicated by human activities like urbanization or livestock grazing. There is a critical need to address contributing sources of bacterial contamination, properly assess the management of critical sources, and ultimately reduce E. coli concentrations in impaired water bodies. In particular, characterization of wildlife animal contributions and other "background" input sources of microbial pollution are highly uncertain and data are scarce. This study attempts to identify critical sources of E. coil and the efficacy of conservation practices for mitigating E. coil concentrations in the Arroyo Colorado watershed, Texas, using a process-based hydrologic and water quality model. We propose to incorporate a bacterial source tracking assessment into the modeling framework to fill the gap in data on wildlife and human contribution. In addition, other sources identified through a GIS survey, national census, and local expert knowledge were incorporated into the model as E. coil sources. Results suggest that simulated distribution of E. coil sources significantly improved after incorporating this enhanced data on E. coil sources into the model (R-2 = 0.90) compared to the SWAT result without BST (R-2 0.59). Scenario assessments indicate that wildlife contributions may remain significant despite land use change and urbanization, expected to mostly occur in agricultural and range lands. A combination of nonpoint source management measures, voluntary implementation of advanced treatment by wastewater plants where possible, and installation of aerators in the zone of impairment were demonstrated to be effective measures for restoring the recreation and aquatic life uses of the Arroyo Colorado. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1.Texas A&M Univ, Texas A&M AgriLife Res, Blackland Res Ctr, 720 East Blackland Rd, Temple, TX 76502 USA 2.Oklahoma State Univ, Oklahoma Water Resources Ctr, 139 Ag Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078 USA 3.Texas Water Resources Inst, 2260 TAMU, College Stn, TX 77843 USA 4.Texas Commiss Environm Qual, 2100 Pk 35 Circle, Austin, TX 78753 USA 5.Univ Florida, Inst Food & Agr Sci, Ctr Trop Res & Educ, Agr & Biol Engn Dept, Homestead, FL 33031 USA
Recommended Citation:
Jeong, Jaehak,Wagner, Kevin,Flores, Jaime J.,et al. Linking watershed modeling and bacterial source tracking to better assess E. coli sources[J]. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2019-01-01,648:164-175