Comparing the Selection and Placement of Best Management Practices in Improving Water Quality Using a Multiobjective Optimization and Targeting Method

Abstract

Suites of Best Management Practices (BMPs) are usually selected to be economically and environmentally efficient in reducing nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants from agricultural areas in a watershed. The objective of this research was to compare the selection and placement of BMPs in a pasture-dominated watershed using multiobjective optimization and targeting methods. Two objective functions were used in the optimization process, which minimize pollutant losses and the BMP placement areas. The optimization tool was an integration of a multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) and a watershed model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool—SWAT). For the targeting method, an optimum BMP option was implemented in critical areas in the watershed that contribute the greatest pollutant losses. A total of 171 BMP combinations, which consist of grazing management, vegetated filter strips (VFS), and poultry litter applications were considered. The results showed that the optimization is less effective when vegetated filter strips (VFS) are not considered, and it requires much longer computation times than the targeting method to search for optimum BMPs. Although the targeting method is effective in selecting and placing an optimum BMP, larger areas are needed for BMP implementation to achieve the same pollutant reductions as the optimization method.

Using site-specific soil samples as a substitution for improved hydrological and nonpoint source predictions

“…Thus, soil properties are typically determined at the state or province levels for soil geographic databases; however, the aggregation of soil properties could provide an inaccurate description of site-specific soil physicochemical characteristics (Geza andMcCray 2008, Wang andMelesse 2006). Moreover, some soil parameters are derived indirectly from basic soil properties by using the Soil Plant Atmosphere Water (SPAW) model or other software (Chiang et al 2014, Moltz et al 2010. For example, saturated hydraulic conductivity is simulated based on soil texture, including the percentages of sand, silt, and clay (Mapfumo et al 2004, Ye et al 2011.…”

Developing a stochastic conflict resolution model for urban runoff quality management: Application of info-gap and bargaining theories

“…Jia et al (2013), for example, developed a multi-criteria index ranking system for selecting LIDs for urban storm water management. Chiang et al (2014) compared the selection and placement of LIDs in Lincoln Lake CEAP 1 watershed, using multi-objective optimization and targeting methods. Objective functions in their optimization model were minimizing LID placement areas and pollutant losses.…”

Non-Point Source Pollution Simulation and Best Management Practices Analysis Based on Control Units in Northern China

“…It has gradually become an indispensable tool in water resources and water environmental protection management planning and is commonly used to assess the long-term impact of land management models on water flows, sediment, and agricultural nutrients in complex watersheds [13]. With the application and development of model research, the SWAT model has gradually become an important tool for simulating runoff processes, NPS pollution loads, spatio-temporal characteristics, and critical source areas and evaluating different measures at the basin scale [14]. Best Management Practices (BMPs) were a series of measures proposed by the United States in the mid-1970s to generate environmentally beneficial natural processes such as hydrology, soil erosion, ecology, and nutrient cycling in river basins, to avoid pollution in water environments of the river basin caused by agricultural production [15][16][17].…”