Abstract
The EPA Storm Water Management Model (1971) was used to model hydrodynamics, nutrient dynamics, and eutrophication in a Louisiana swamp forest ecosystem. The present system of canals and spoil banks in the swamp causes impoundment of swamp areas and does not optimize discharge from the swamp forest. Simulations showed that hydraulics could be managed to increase discharge rates to the lower estuary (22 percent), to increase productivity of the swamp forest (100 percent), and to decrease lake eutrophication (43 percent). This could be done by removing spoil banks in the swamp and allowing upland runoff to pass through the backswamp.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Butler, T. 1975. Aquatic metabolism and nutrient flux in a south Louisiana swamp and lake system. M.S. thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 58 pp.
Craig, N. J., and J. W. Day, Jr., eds. 1977. Cumulative impact studies in the Louisiana coastal zone: eutrophication and land loss. Final report to Louisiana State Planning Office, Baton Rouge. 85 pp.
Day, J. W., T. J. Butler, and W. H. Conner. 1977. Productivity and nutrient export studies in a cypress swamp and lake system in Louisiana. Pages 255–269in M. Wiley (ed.), Estuarine processes. Vol. II. Academic Press, New York. 428 pp.
Environmental Protection Agency. 1971. Storm water management model. U.S. EPA Water Pollution Control Research Series, 11024DOC07/71. 352 pp.
Hopkinson, C. S., Jr. and J. W. Day, Jr. 1980. The relationship between development and storm water and nutrient runoff. Environmental Management 4(4): 315–324.
Hopkinson, C. S., Jr. 1979. The relation of man and nature in Barataria Basin, Louisiana. Ph.D. diss., Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 236 pp.
Howeler, R. H., and D. H. Bouldin. 1971. The diffusion and consumption of oxygen in submerged soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc. 35:202–208.
Kemp, G. P. 1978. Agricultural runoff and nutrient dynamics of a swamp forest in Louisiana. M.S. thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 57 pp.
Kirchner, W. B., and P.J. Dillon. 1975. An empirical method of estimating the retention of phosphorus in lakes. Water Resources Research 11(1): 182–183.
Light, P., R. J. Schlemon, P. T. Culley, and N. A. Roques. 1973. Hydrologie models for the Barataria-Terrebonne area, southcentral Louisiana. Louisiana State University Center for Wetland Resources, Baton Rouge. Hydrologic and Geologic Studies of Coastal Louisiana, Rept. # 16. 43 pp.
Patrick, W. H., and R. A. Khalid. 1974. Phosphate release and absorption by soils and sediments: effect of aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Science 186: 53–55.
Soil Conservation Service. 1972. SCS national engineering handbook, sec. 4: hydrology. US Dept. of Agriculture.
Seaton, A. M. 1979. Nutrient chemistry in the Barataria Basin: a multivariate approach. M.S. thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 78 pp.
Shannon, E. E., and P. L. Brezonik. 1972. Relationships between lake trophic state and nitrogen and phosphorus loading rates. Envir. Sci. and Techn. 6(8):719–725.
Sparling, J. H. 1966. Studies on the relationship between water movement and water chemistry in Mirex. Can. J. Bot. 44:747–758.
Whitehurst, C. A. 1977. Continuation of interpretation of remote sensing data in the Bayou Lafourche delta of south Lousiana. Final report to NASA, NGL 19/001/105. 61 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hopkinson, C.S., Day, J.W. Modeling hydrology and eutrophication in a Louisiana swamp forest ecosystem. Environmental Management 4, 325–335 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01869425
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01869425