Update on Modelling the Vermilion River Basin - rdrwa.ca · Vermilion River Basin • Agricultural,...
Transcript of Update on Modelling the Vermilion River Basin - rdrwa.ca · Vermilion River Basin • Agricultural,...
![Page 1: Update on Modelling the Vermilion River Basin - rdrwa.ca · Vermilion River Basin • Agricultural, sub-humid, cold regions river basin near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • Gross drainage](https://reader030.fdocuments.in/reader030/viewer/2022040700/5d52bd5a88c993277b8b6d7a/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Modelling the Impact of Wetland Drainage on the Vermilion River Basin
John Pomeroy, Xing Fang, Kevin Shook, Cherie Westbrook Centre for Hydrology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
www.usask.ca/hydrology
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Objective
• Develop a model that can demonstrate the role of surface water storage on the hydrology of Prairie river basins.
• Apply the model to simulate streamflow in the sub-basins of the Vermilion River basin.
• Modify the representation of wetlands in the model to show the impact of restoration and drainage on basin hydrology.
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Vermilion River Basin • Agricultural, sub-humid, cold regions river basin near
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • Gross drainage area 7,863 km2
– contributing area to streamflow is much smaller and highly variable
• Peak runoff normally from snowmelt over frozen soils • Groundwater system poorly connected to surface
water; baseflow small to non-existent. • Numerous internally drained wetlands from post-
glacial topography • Wetland drainage in much of basin and streamflow
control structures in lower basin strongly affect basin hydrology
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Basin Topography
ASTER 25 m DEM
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Basin Vegetation Cover
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Drainage Network and Wetlands
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Weather and Streamflow Data
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Canadian Prairie Runoff Generation Snow Redistribution to Channels
Spring melt and runoff
Water Storage in Wetlands Dry non-contributing areas to runoff
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Typical prairie wetlands
Wetland 1
Wetland 2
sill
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Prairie Hydrological Connectivity
Lack of groundwater connections in this landscape – heavy tills
The ‘fill and spill’ hypothesis
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Prairie Runoff Non-Contributing Areas
Vermilion River Smith
Creek
Alberta Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
United States
British Columbia
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Vermilion Non-contributing Area
Median annual runoff 1 in 2 year flow
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Typical prairie “basin”
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High Flow Event: Saskatchewan April 2011
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Prairie Wetlands in the Vermilion
Undrained Drained
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Model Setup • Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling Platform (CRHM) • Used to simulate the hydrological cycle in prairie, mountain and
arctic basins • Developed to focus on impact of wetland drainage and restoration
as the “CRHM Prairie Model” with testing at Smith Creek, Saskatchewan, ~800 km to the east.
• Modules selected to describe hydrological processes operating in the basin. – Snow accumulation and melt – Wetland storage – Soil moisture storage, evapotranspiration and runoff – Stream routing
• Sub-basins broken into “hydrological response units” HRU corresponding to land use, drainage and soil zones.
• Sub-basins aggregated via routing module to describe total basin behaviour
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Prairie Wetland/Soil Module
Ifpond
Snowmelt Rainfall
Snowmelt Infiltration
Rainfall Infiltration
Recharge Zone
Soil Column
Evapotranspiration
SubsurfaceDischarge
Groundwater GroundwaterDischarge
Ifsoil column
is full
Yes
No
No Yes
Saturated OverlandFlow = 0
SaturatedOverland
Flow
Ifdepression
NoRunoff
YesRunoff to
Depression
Depression
Evaporation
GroundwaterGroundwaterDischarge
SubsurfaceDischarge
Ifdepression
is full
NoNo fill-and-spill
Yesfill-and-spill
Snowmelt Rainfall
Snowmelt Infiltration
Rainfall Infiltration
Wetland Pond
Evaporation
Groundwater
Ifpond is full
No fill-and-spill
No
Yesfill-and-spill
SubsurfaceDischarge
GroundwaterDischarge
Surface Runoff
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CRHM Prairie Model Structure
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HRU Delineation
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HRU Hydraulic Routing
Note, blowing snow aerodynamic routing from smooth to rough land covers
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Sub-basin Hydraulic Routing Sequence
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Initial Model Set-up
• Used CRHM - Prairie structural configuration. • Attempted to estimate maximum depressional
storage from ASTER-based DEM. • Assigned initial depressional storage at 30% of
maximum for wetlands, 0 for uplands. • Where local information was unavailable,
used Smith Creek parameter values. – NO CALIBRATION
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Initial Model Tests – Spring Snowpack
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Initial Model Tests – Soil Moisture Daily Soil Moisture at Stubble Fields in Sub-basin 4,
Vermilion River Basin
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soil column (observed) soil column (simulated)
Daily Soil Moisture at Stubble Fields in Sub-basin 4,Vermilion River Basin
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Daily Soil Moisture at Stubble Fields in Sub-basin 4,Vermilion River Basin
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Daily Soil Moisture at Stubble Fields in Sub-basin 4,Vermilion River Basin
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Discharge Tests at WSC Stations Sub-basin Numbers Marked
13
17
4
10
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Initial Tests – Sub-basin 13 near Bruce
Daily Discharge of Vermilion River Tributary near Bruce (05EE006)
00.20.40.60.8
11.21.41.6
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Daily Discharge of Vermilion River Tributary near Bruce (05EE006)
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Daily Discharge of Vermilion River Tributary near Bruce (05EE006)
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??
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Initial Tests: Vermilion at Vegreville (Sub-basin 17)
Daily Discharge of Vermilion River at Vegreville (05EE009)
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Control Structures
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Initial Tests: Vermilion at Range Road 105 (Sub-basin 4)
Daily Discharge of Vermilion River at Range Road 105 (05EE010)
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Note impact of Morecambe Structure on flow retention – not modelled
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Initial Tests: Vermilion near Marwayne (Sub-basin 10)
Daily Discharge of Vermilion River near Marwayne (05EE007)
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Daily Discharge of Vermilion River near Marwayne (05EE007)
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1015202530354045
1-M
ar
15-M
ar
29-M
ar
12-A
pr
26-A
pr
10-M
ay
24-M
ay
7-Ju
n
21-J
un
5-Ju
l
19-J
ul
2-A
ug
16-A
ug
30-A
ug
13-S
ep
27-S
ep
2006
Disc
harg
e (m
3 /s)
ObservationSimulation
(a)
(d)(c)
(b)
Note impact of control structures in moderating or delaying discharge
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So what do we know now?
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Smith Creek, Saskatchewan
• East of Yorkton, Assiniboine River Basin • ~400 km2 • Cultivated parkland • Extensive wetland
drainage
![Page 33: Update on Modelling the Vermilion River Basin - rdrwa.ca · Vermilion River Basin • Agricultural, sub-humid, cold regions river basin near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • Gross drainage](https://reader030.fdocuments.in/reader030/viewer/2022040700/5d52bd5a88c993277b8b6d7a/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
Wetlands and Drainage Network 1958
![Page 34: Update on Modelling the Vermilion River Basin - rdrwa.ca · Vermilion River Basin • Agricultural, sub-humid, cold regions river basin near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • Gross drainage](https://reader030.fdocuments.in/reader030/viewer/2022040700/5d52bd5a88c993277b8b6d7a/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Wetlands and Drainage Network 2000
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Wetland Change in Low Discharge Volume Year
Scenarios of Smith Creek Spring Discharge near Marchwell
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
11-Feb 20-Feb 29-Feb 09-Mar 18-Mar 27-Mar 05-Apr 14-Apr 23-Apr 02-May
2000
Daily
Mea
n Di
scha
rge
(m3 /
s)
"Normal Condition"high natural wetland extentminimum wetland extent
2000 Drought: Lowest Discharge Volume on Record
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Wetland Change in High Discharge Volume Year
Scenarios of Smith Creek Spring Discharge near Marchwell
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
01-Mar 10-Mar 19-Mar 28-Mar 06-Apr 15-Apr 24-Apr 03-May 12-May 21-May 30-May
1995
Daily
Mea
n Di
scha
rge
(m3 /
s) "Normal Condition"high natural wetland extentminimum wetland extent
1995 Flood: Record High Discharge Volume
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Sensitivity of Spring Discharge Volume to Land use and Drainage
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Spring Discharge Volume (1000 dam3)
Cha
nge
in d
isch
arge
vol
ume
(100
0 da
m3)
Agricultural Conversion
Forest Conversion
Wetland Restoration
Wetland Drainage
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Long-term Impact of Land Use and Drainage Change
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Conclusions • Consideration of snow, frozen soil and surface storage
processes are essential to calculating spring runoff in the Prairies.
• Depressional storage is exceedingly difficult to calculate in this flat, poorly drained environment .
• It is possible to model prairie snowpack, soil moisture and streamflow without calibration using physically based simulations that aggregate landscape scale hydrological cycle calculations, if high resolution information is available on catchment characteristics.
• There is moderate sensitivity of streamflow volumes to changes in agricultural and forest land use.
• There is strong sensitivity of streamflow volumes to wetland drainage and restoration.