Research & Publications

We used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to examine the relationship between upstream forest cover and downstream water resources under both current (2020) conditions and multiple projected land use scenarios for 2070 in the Middle Chattahoochee watershed, USA. We investigated the extent to which existing forest cover benefits water quality at 15 drinking water intake facilities within the watershed. Our findings highlight vulnerable intake locations and underscore the benefit of forest conservation for source water protection under future land use change.

We used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to project future streamflow in the Upper Neuse River watershed in North Carolina, USA. We tested the capacity of riparian buffers to mitigate the effects of future land use and climate change on daily mean streamflow under three buffer treatments: present buffer widths and fully forested 15 m and 30 m buffers throughout the basin.  These findings highlight a novel approach for integrating buffers into hydrologic modeling and potential for improved methodology. Understanding the effects of riparian buffers on streamflow is crucial given the pressing need to develop innovative strategies that promote the conservation of invaluable ecosystem services.