An existing biological response model of fish populations in the Tennessee and Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint (ACF) River basins, and an existing biological response model of invertebrates in Delaware and NC will serve as the starting points for the development of empirical flow-biology response models for the Yadkin/Pee Dee/Waccamaw and Cape Fear River basins. The existing ecological response models will be used to determine if the land-use and streamflow characteristics that are important in determining biological responses in the existing models are also important in the Yadkin/Pee Dee/Waccamaw and Cape Fear River basins or whether other variables are more important in determining responses. These comparisons...
Surface-water models are being developed to simulate streamflow at existing USGS gaging stations and other ungaged locations in and upstream of the Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. The models will be used to simulate the potential effects of projected changes in water-use, climate, and urbanization through the year 2065. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is being used to develop the models. The SWAT model is a physically-based watershed model with the capability of incorporating water-use data. The model operates on a daily time step, which is necessary to support the data input requirements of future ecological response modeling. The models are being calibrated to the period 2000-2014 and will subsequently...