Prediction And Management Of Sediment Load And Phosphorus In The Beaver Reservoir Watershed Using A Geographic Information System

A study was conducted to compile a GIS database for the Beaver Reservoir Watershed and then use the database to run the Universal Soil Loss Equation and the Phosphorus Index Model on the War Eagle Creek Watershed, a portion of the spatial properties of the primary attributes complied for the watershed were reported. In addition, water quality samples taken from War Eagle Creek were analyzed for relationship across the watershed. Erosion in the watershed was lower than expected with well vegetated and fertilized pastures contribution to the reduction of annual sediment yield. The Phosphorus Index Model result showed that pastures in the watershed become highly vulnerable to phosphorus transport with excessive fertilizer application rates. Aqueous total phosphorus concentrations within the watershed showed normal seasonal variations but few other conclusions could be drawn due to the overall low concentrations. There were few conclusive trends between phosphorus concentrations and attributes from the watershed database suggesting multiple sources contributed to the phosphorus in the War Eagle Creek.