Rio Blanco Watershed

The Rest of the Story

Located Northwest of Guadalajara, Mexico


Physical Characteristics
Main river is about 14 miles long
Watershed area of roughly 65 mi
2
Approximately 100,000 residents within
watershed boundary
Water was used as a culinary source
before it became so polluted
Water is currently used for agriculture


Physical Characteristics
Watershed Problems
Pesticides and fertilizers from agriculture
Residential wastewater is not treated prior
to discharge
Waste from cattle, pork, and poultry farms
Small, local factories
Dead animals
Garbage

Suds from detergents in Rio Blanco
Little Hispanic Girl for Scale
Residential Discharge
Why Nothing has Been Done
Money
Social apathy
Lack of funds
Lack of government support
No cash
Project Goals
Water quality analysis of the watershed
Suggest possible solutions
Create WMS/GIS model of watershed

Project Snags
Watershed delineation
Communication
Lack of a clear definition of objectives
from the beginning
Lack of data
Different classification systems

Initial Delineation from Supplied
DEMs
Initial delineation compared to
Mexicos given delineation
Initial
Delineation
Mexicos
Delineation
Closer look at differences
Examining the differences
Initial
Delineation
Mexicos
Delineation
Water Quality Analysis Using
QUAL2Kw
QUAL2K and QUAL2Kw
QUAL2K is a computer model developed by Greg Pelletier and Steve
Chapra
It is used to simulate water quality in streams and rivers
QUAL2K was preceded by QUAL2E, which was originally developed
in 1987
QUAL2K expands on the capabilities of QUAL2E by adding:
Functionality to segment river systems into river reaches
Input of carbonaceous BOD (CBOD) as slowly or rapidly oxidizing forms
Specify algae growth, PH, pathogen quantities
A user interface integrated into Microsoft Excel
QUAL2Kw is related to QUAL2K and simply adds greatly functionality
QUAL2Kw is available from the Washington State Department of
Ecology
QUAL2Kw Uses
Simulate the variation of water quality parameters
Along the length of stream
Over the course of a day
Can create a water quality model for a river, which can
then be verified through validation and sensitivity
analyses
If the model gives good results in the validation and
sensitivity analyses, it then can be used for forecasting
QUAL2Kw Parameters
The most sensitive parameters are:
1. Head water Info
Lat/long and elevation (location info)
Temperature
Dissolved Oxygen
BOD
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Alkalinity
pH
2. Reach Info
Lat/Long and Elevation
Hydraulic Model (Weir Overrides Rating Curves; Rating
Curves Override Manning Formula)
Algal Info
QUAL2Kw Parameters (contd..)
3. Air Temperature (Better if hourly)
4. Dew point temperature (Better if hourly)
5. Wind speed and day light info
6. Source info
Inflow rate and quality (point or distributed)
Outflow rate and quality (point or distributed)
7. Rates for various chemical reactions
Input Parameters
Mannings n

Wind speed

Cloud cover and hours of
sunshine

Amount and quality of
inflow sources

All the reaction rates


Channel cross section

Temperature
(Air and Dew Point)

Inorganic Solids

Dissolved Oxygen

Phosphorus

Phytoplankton

Alkalinity

We assumed
Lat/Long, elevation

Suspended solid, Nitrogen

pH

BOD
We had
Graphs

RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
0.000
10.000
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ka,20, /d
RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
0
5
10
15
20
25
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00
Temp(C) Average Mean Temp-data Temp(C) Minimum
Temp(C) Maximum Minimum Temp-data Maximum Temp-data
RioBlonco (8/17/2004)
- Reach 5 (element 1)
0.0
5.0
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Tempw(C) Temps(C) Temp Water (C) data
Graphs

RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
0
1
2
3
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6
7
8
9
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
DO(mgO2/L) DO (mgO2/L) data DO(mgO2/L) Min
DO(mgO2/L) Max Minimum DO-data Maximum DO-data
DO sat
Graphs

RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
0.00
50.00
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300.00
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
CBODs (mgO2/L) CBODs (mgO2/L) data
CBODs (mgO2/L) Min CBODs (mgO2/L) Max
Graphs

RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
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NO3 (ugN/L) data NO3(ugN/L) NO3(ugN/L) Min
NO3(ugN/L) Max Minimum NO3-data Maximum NO3-data
Graphs

RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
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pH pH data pH Min pH Max Minimum pH-data Maximum pH-data pHsat
RioBlonco (8/17/2004)
- Reach 5 (element 1)
6.99
6.99
7.00
7.00
7.00
7.00
7.00
7.01
7.01
7.01
7.01
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
pH pH data
Graphs

RioBlonco (8/17/2004) Mainstem
0.0
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TSS (mgD/L) TSS (mgD/L) data TSS Min TSS Max
Graphs

In Order to Improve Our Model
The following data is needed:
Sufficient channel geometry data
Water quality info
Reaction rates
Climatological data
Inflow/Outflow locations, rates and quality
info