Estimating daily potential E. coli Loads in pural Texas watersheds using Spatially Explicit Load Enrichment Calculation Tool (SELECT)
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abstract
When developing a watershed protection plan (WPP) or a total maximum daily load (TMDL), it is often difficult to accurately assess pollutant loads and sources for a watershed because insufficient water quality monitoring data are available. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, there are 274 bacterial impairments in Texas water bodies out of a total of 438 impaired water bodies. Bacterial data are often sparse, which hinders the development of WPPs or TMDLs. To address this lack of data, the Spatially Explicit Load Enrichment Calculation Tool (SELECT) was used to develop WPPs for 3 rural watersheds in Texas that are impaired due to E. coli bacteria: Buck Creek, 5 subwatersheds of Little Brazos River, and Lampasas River. SELECT is an automated geographical information system tool that can assess potential bacteria sources and relative loads in watersheds using spatial factors such as land use, population density, and soil type. The results show how the SELECT methodology was applied and adapted to each watershed based on stakeholder concerns and data availability. Citation: Borel KE, Karthikeyan R, Smith PK, Gregory LF, Srinivasan R. 2012. Estimating daily potential E. coli loads in rural Texas watersheds using Spatially Explicit Load Enrichment Calculation Tool (SELECT). Texas Water Journal. 3(1):42-58. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v3i1.6164.
