Watershed Management Decision Support System (WAMADSS)

Background

While integrated management is widely supported, the spatial information on socioeconomic and biogeophysical processes needed for comprehensive evaluation of integrated resource management plans is not readily accessible to local decision makers. Advances in remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), multiple criteria decision making, risk management and biogeophysical simulation make it possible to develop user-friendly, interactive, decision support systems for integrated resource planning and management.

Objectives

The objectives of this study are: (1) develop a user-friendly, interactive watershed management decision support system (WAMADSS) that identifies the relative contribution of sub-watershed areas to agricultural non-point source pollution and evaluates the effects of alternative land use/management activities and practices (LUMAPs) on farm income, soil erosion and surface water quality at the watershed scale; and (2) demonstrate the utility of WAMADSS in identifying and evaluating LUMAPs for controlling soil erosion and surface and ground water pollution in Goodwater Creek watershed.

(Click on the image to view the full version)

Methods

WAMADSS is a knowledge-based computer system which integrates data, information, physical simulation and economic analysis to identify alternative LUMAPs for solving specific watershed problems. It has three major components: a graphical user interface (GUI), a GIS and a modeling system.

1. Graphical User Interface (GUI):
   • Composed of visual subjects such as menus, buttons and input fields.
   • Provides access to the GIS and modeling system.
   • Provides interactive interface for developing model inputs and entering parameters.
   • Allows the user to select LUMAPs, parameters and evaluation criteria desired.
2. Geographic Information System (GIS)
   • ARC/INFO software is used.
   • Manages spatial and tabular database, generates model parameters and presents water quality /economic results of baseline and alternative LUMAPs.
   • ARC Macro Language (AML) generates the GUI.
3. Modeling System
   • Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Model (AGNPS)
   • Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)
   • Cost and Return Estimator (CARE)

Major Findings

WAMADSS makes complex and technical information and knowledge available to decision makers in a user-friendly graphical user interface. It allow users to organize information based on existing data and scientific knowledge, design alternatives and assess consequences of new watershed management plans or policies, and evaluate and compare alternative watershed schemes. The use of GIS minimizes the time involved to manually enter or manipulate the large amount of input data required to describe the spatial detail of a watershed. It also minimizes human error and inconsistencies in distinguishing landscape characteristics across a watershed that would otherwise be collected by conventional methods

Yan Barnett works on WAMADSS - photo by Ryan Donnell

Publications and Presentations

Zhou, Yan, and Chris Fulcher, 1997. A Watershed Management Tool Using SWAT and ARC/INFO. Proceedings of Seventeenth Annual ESRI User Conference, San Diego, CA July 8-11, 1997.

Fulcher, Chris, Tony Prato and Yan Zhou, 1997. Economic and Environmental Impact Assessment Using a Watershed Management Decision Support Tool. Proceedings of Seventeenth Annual ESRI User Conference, San Diego, CA July 8-11, 1997.

Fulcher, Chris, Tony Prato and Yan Zhou, 1996. Watershed Management Decision Support System, Proceedings of WATERSHED '96: Moving Ahead Together Technical Conference & Exposition, June 8-12, 1996, Baltimore, Maryland, p790-793.

Zhou, Yan, Chris Fulcher and Tony Prato, 1996. Watershed Decision Support System, Third International Conference/Workshop on Integrating Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Modeling, January 21-25, 1996, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Prato, Tony, Yan Zhou and Chris Fulcher, 1996. Watershed Decision Support System, Watershed Stewardship in Missouri: A Workshop, April 2-3, 1996, Columbia, MO.

Fulcher, Chris, Tony Prato and Yan Zhou. Watershed Management Decision Support System: Evaluation of Economic and Environmental Impacts of Multiple Objectives. First International Conference on Multiple Objective Decision Support Systems for Land, Water and Environmental Management: Concepts, Approaches, and Applications, Honolulu, HI, July 23-28, 1995.

Fulcher, Chris, Tony Prato and Yan Zhou. Decision Support System for Enhancing Water Quality in An Agricultural Watershed. Proceedings: Fifth Annual Water Quality Conference, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, February 2-3, 1995.

Chris Fulcher, Tony Prato and Yan Zhou, 1995. A Decision Support System for Integrated Management of Agricultural Watersheds, International Specialized Conference on River Basin Management for Sustainable Development, Kruger National Park, South Africa, May 14-16, 1995.

Principal Investigators: Chris Fulcher and Tony Prato

Project Manager: Chris Fulcher

Project Staff: Yan Z. Barnett

Funding Source: Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR)

Project Duration: October 1995 - June 1997