Abstract

In the past four years, several integrated watershed management studies (e.g. Laurel Creek; Hanlon Creek; Blair, Bechtel, and Bauman Creeks; and Mill Creek) have been conducted in southwestern Ontario. Elevated stream temperature is a key water quality stressor for causing degraded aquatic biota. Discharges from urban drainage and aggregate extraction activities contribute to aquatic biota degredation, since runoff and detention pond releases elevate in-stream temperatures. This chapter describes a simple continuous in-stream temperature model that has been integrated with the existing GAWSER (Guelph All-Weather Sequential-Events Runoff V6.4) model to evaluate the impacts of elevated stream temperatures on aquatic biota in developing subwatersheds.

This chapter gives a brief overview of the hydrologic computations available in GAWSER. The corresponding in-stream temperature (energy exchange) processes for the major hydrologic sources (and sinks) within a watershed (e.g. rain and snowmelt runoff, subsurface and groundwater baseflow, evapotranspiration, channel routing elements, reservoirs, and recharge ponds) are outlined in detail. The model uses vegetative canpoy information in computing the energy exchange process at the air-water interface. Early results of applying the model to the Blair and Bechtel Creeks subwatersheds are presented.

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