Stormwater quality management is essential for the protection of aquatic life of receiving waterb... more Stormwater quality management is essential for the protection of aquatic life of receiving waterbodies. This study presents a unique case study, whereby a stormwater management model (SWMM) was developed to assess the performances of street sweeping and infiltration trenches to reduce total suspended solids (TSS) loads in the Town of Jasper located in Jasper National Park, AB, Canada. Two catchment models were developed for the Town using long-term meteorological data, as well as watershed and drainage system data provided by the Municipality of Jasper. The quality parameters were calibrated so that TSS loads at the outfalls were within a 20% error of monitoring data. The performance of proposed best management practices was assessed using single-event and continuous data simulations. The results indicated that a combined sweeping/trench control scenario would generate the highest TSS removal efficiency of up to 51%.
Stormwater pollutants can have deleterious impacts on the aquatic life of receiving water bodies.... more Stormwater pollutants can have deleterious impacts on the aquatic life of receiving water bodies. This paper presents the findings of a stormwater quality monitoring program performed in the town of Jasper in Alberta, Canada. This is one of the very few studies done on a small urban settlement to identify key pollutants of concern, characterize stormwater and identify unique pollutant sources in the town. A total of 14 stormwater quality parameters were found to be of high concern to aquatic life. The most prominent pollutants were total suspended solids (TSS), metals and phosphorus which compared well with studies conducted in large urban settlements. Tourist influx contributed to high metal and petroleum hydrocarbon loads during the peak season due to high vehicular activity. Elk were found to reside in the town during summer and their fecal droppings resulted in elevated fecal coliform concentrations. It was found that winter road salting was responsible for excessive chloride co...
A hydrologic and water quality model is sought to establish an approach to land management decisi... more A hydrologic and water quality model is sought to establish an approach to land management decisions for a Canadian Army training base. Training areas are subjected to high levels of persistent activity creating unique land cover and land-use disturbances. Deforestation, complex road networks, off-road manoeuvres, and vehicle stream crossings are among major anthropogenic activities observed to affect these landscapes. Expanding, preserving and improving the quality of these areas to host training activities for future generations is critical to maintain operational effectiveness. Inclusive to this objective is minimizing resultant environmental degradation, principally in the form of hydrologic fluctuations, excess erosion, and sedimentation of aquatic environments. Application of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was assessed for its ability to simulate hydrologic and water quality conditions observed in military landscapes at 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gageto...
International Journal of River Basin Management, 2018
ABSTRACT This investigation into trends in annual discharge of Canadian rivers focuses on long-te... more ABSTRACT This investigation into trends in annual discharge of Canadian rivers focuses on long-term hydrometric stations having record lengths of at least 75 years. Eliminating stations with significant non-stationarities in mean annual discharge, and stations having evidence of a large diversion or a withdrawal, resulted in a final streamflow dataset of 113 Water Survey of Canada, WSC, hydrometric stations. In order to assist with the identification of potential factors contributing to a trend, at least one representative long-term climate station was selected for each long-term hydrometric station. A comprehensive trend assessment was completed on both annual discharge and precipitation (rainfall, snowfall, and total). Of the 113 long-term hydrometric stations, significant trend was identified at 21 sites: four associated with anthropogenic activities in the watershed, eight consistent with climate change (i.e. changes in annual rainfall, or annual snowfall or annual precipitation) and the remaining nine consistent with some combination of climate and anthropogenic activities. With respect to the climate stations, about 50% had a significant trend in total precipitation without a corresponding significant trend in annual discharge. The ratio of discharge stations with significant trend to climate stations with significant trend varied with ecoregion, from 0% to 40%. Factors contributing to this discrepancy include a possible compensating trend in evapotranspiration and a watershed that is relatively insensitive to small changes in precipitation.
A methodology is developed for the estimation of annual low-flow quantiles for streams with annua... more A methodology is developed for the estimation of annual low-flow quantiles for streams with annual low flows occurring in both the summer and winter. Since the low flow generating processes are different in summer and winter, independent seasonal analyses are required. The methodology provides recommendations for assessment of record length, randomness, homogeneity, independence and stationarity, as well as guidelines for distribution selection and fitting for seasonal distributions. The seasonal distributions are then used to develop the combined distribution for annual low flow estimation. Four worked examples of long-term Canadian hydrometric stations are provided.
Low-flow occurrence and magnitude have been documented for Canada using the National Ecological F... more Low-flow occurrence and magnitude have been documented for Canada using the National Ecological Framework. The low flow database is composed of the 7-day low flow with 2-year return period (7Q2) values for 453 natural flow hydrometric stations with record lengths of at least 30 years; drainage areas ranged from 10 to 30 000 km2. Occurrence zones corresponding to predominant season for annual low flows are associated with ecozones. The ecozone scale was found to be suitable for regional analysis for several ecozones. For some ecozones there were insufficient data for regional analysis and for others finer resolution is required. Regional regression equations were developed for estimating 7Q2 in terms of area for ecozones containing at least 20 stations. The results of this work will help practitioners to identify the season of low flow occurrence and the appropriate method of analysis, and provide a means of estimating 7Q2 for ungauged sites for some ecozones.
The South Nation River was studied for its ability to assimilate wastewater effluents from munici... more The South Nation River was studied for its ability to assimilate wastewater effluents from municipal and industrial point sources for both existing and anticipated future conditions. The watershed, located in Eastern Ontario, is rural with community populations ranging up to 3500 residents. Currently there are ten communities, all with lagoon wastewater treatment, and hvo industries with custom designed wastewater treatment processes that discharge into streams within the watershed. In the future, an additional five communities and one industry are expected to install sewerage and wastewater treatment facilities. Streamflows drop to very low values during the late summer and early fail, and as a result all facilities are restricted to spring and/or late fall discharges. Provincial Water Quality Objectives {PWQOs) are often exceeded for phosphorus and ammonia. In this case, Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) policy stipulates thatthe receiver cannot be fmther degraded (MOE, 1984). In assessing assimilative capacity of the watershed, the traditional approach is to compute nday low flows with a 20-year return period (usually 7 or 30 days) over the entire discharge season. This computation, in the case of the South Nation River, yielded predictions ofO.O m 3 /s for 7Q20s and 30Q20s at several locations in the watershed, particularly during the fall period. This would have resulted in severe restrictions in municipal growth. A wasteload allocation scheme which allowed
Stormwater quality management is essential for the protection of aquatic life of receiving waterb... more Stormwater quality management is essential for the protection of aquatic life of receiving waterbodies. This study presents a unique case study, whereby a stormwater management model (SWMM) was developed to assess the performances of street sweeping and infiltration trenches to reduce total suspended solids (TSS) loads in the Town of Jasper located in Jasper National Park, AB, Canada. Two catchment models were developed for the Town using long-term meteorological data, as well as watershed and drainage system data provided by the Municipality of Jasper. The quality parameters were calibrated so that TSS loads at the outfalls were within a 20% error of monitoring data. The performance of proposed best management practices was assessed using single-event and continuous data simulations. The results indicated that a combined sweeping/trench control scenario would generate the highest TSS removal efficiency of up to 51%.
Stormwater pollutants can have deleterious impacts on the aquatic life of receiving water bodies.... more Stormwater pollutants can have deleterious impacts on the aquatic life of receiving water bodies. This paper presents the findings of a stormwater quality monitoring program performed in the town of Jasper in Alberta, Canada. This is one of the very few studies done on a small urban settlement to identify key pollutants of concern, characterize stormwater and identify unique pollutant sources in the town. A total of 14 stormwater quality parameters were found to be of high concern to aquatic life. The most prominent pollutants were total suspended solids (TSS), metals and phosphorus which compared well with studies conducted in large urban settlements. Tourist influx contributed to high metal and petroleum hydrocarbon loads during the peak season due to high vehicular activity. Elk were found to reside in the town during summer and their fecal droppings resulted in elevated fecal coliform concentrations. It was found that winter road salting was responsible for excessive chloride co...
A hydrologic and water quality model is sought to establish an approach to land management decisi... more A hydrologic and water quality model is sought to establish an approach to land management decisions for a Canadian Army training base. Training areas are subjected to high levels of persistent activity creating unique land cover and land-use disturbances. Deforestation, complex road networks, off-road manoeuvres, and vehicle stream crossings are among major anthropogenic activities observed to affect these landscapes. Expanding, preserving and improving the quality of these areas to host training activities for future generations is critical to maintain operational effectiveness. Inclusive to this objective is minimizing resultant environmental degradation, principally in the form of hydrologic fluctuations, excess erosion, and sedimentation of aquatic environments. Application of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was assessed for its ability to simulate hydrologic and water quality conditions observed in military landscapes at 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gageto...
International Journal of River Basin Management, 2018
ABSTRACT This investigation into trends in annual discharge of Canadian rivers focuses on long-te... more ABSTRACT This investigation into trends in annual discharge of Canadian rivers focuses on long-term hydrometric stations having record lengths of at least 75 years. Eliminating stations with significant non-stationarities in mean annual discharge, and stations having evidence of a large diversion or a withdrawal, resulted in a final streamflow dataset of 113 Water Survey of Canada, WSC, hydrometric stations. In order to assist with the identification of potential factors contributing to a trend, at least one representative long-term climate station was selected for each long-term hydrometric station. A comprehensive trend assessment was completed on both annual discharge and precipitation (rainfall, snowfall, and total). Of the 113 long-term hydrometric stations, significant trend was identified at 21 sites: four associated with anthropogenic activities in the watershed, eight consistent with climate change (i.e. changes in annual rainfall, or annual snowfall or annual precipitation) and the remaining nine consistent with some combination of climate and anthropogenic activities. With respect to the climate stations, about 50% had a significant trend in total precipitation without a corresponding significant trend in annual discharge. The ratio of discharge stations with significant trend to climate stations with significant trend varied with ecoregion, from 0% to 40%. Factors contributing to this discrepancy include a possible compensating trend in evapotranspiration and a watershed that is relatively insensitive to small changes in precipitation.
A methodology is developed for the estimation of annual low-flow quantiles for streams with annua... more A methodology is developed for the estimation of annual low-flow quantiles for streams with annual low flows occurring in both the summer and winter. Since the low flow generating processes are different in summer and winter, independent seasonal analyses are required. The methodology provides recommendations for assessment of record length, randomness, homogeneity, independence and stationarity, as well as guidelines for distribution selection and fitting for seasonal distributions. The seasonal distributions are then used to develop the combined distribution for annual low flow estimation. Four worked examples of long-term Canadian hydrometric stations are provided.
Low-flow occurrence and magnitude have been documented for Canada using the National Ecological F... more Low-flow occurrence and magnitude have been documented for Canada using the National Ecological Framework. The low flow database is composed of the 7-day low flow with 2-year return period (7Q2) values for 453 natural flow hydrometric stations with record lengths of at least 30 years; drainage areas ranged from 10 to 30 000 km2. Occurrence zones corresponding to predominant season for annual low flows are associated with ecozones. The ecozone scale was found to be suitable for regional analysis for several ecozones. For some ecozones there were insufficient data for regional analysis and for others finer resolution is required. Regional regression equations were developed for estimating 7Q2 in terms of area for ecozones containing at least 20 stations. The results of this work will help practitioners to identify the season of low flow occurrence and the appropriate method of analysis, and provide a means of estimating 7Q2 for ungauged sites for some ecozones.
The South Nation River was studied for its ability to assimilate wastewater effluents from munici... more The South Nation River was studied for its ability to assimilate wastewater effluents from municipal and industrial point sources for both existing and anticipated future conditions. The watershed, located in Eastern Ontario, is rural with community populations ranging up to 3500 residents. Currently there are ten communities, all with lagoon wastewater treatment, and hvo industries with custom designed wastewater treatment processes that discharge into streams within the watershed. In the future, an additional five communities and one industry are expected to install sewerage and wastewater treatment facilities. Streamflows drop to very low values during the late summer and early fail, and as a result all facilities are restricted to spring and/or late fall discharges. Provincial Water Quality Objectives {PWQOs) are often exceeded for phosphorus and ammonia. In this case, Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) policy stipulates thatthe receiver cannot be fmther degraded (MOE, 1984). In assessing assimilative capacity of the watershed, the traditional approach is to compute nday low flows with a 20-year return period (usually 7 or 30 days) over the entire discharge season. This computation, in the case of the South Nation River, yielded predictions ofO.O m 3 /s for 7Q20s and 30Q20s at several locations in the watershed, particularly during the fall period. This would have resulted in severe restrictions in municipal growth. A wasteload allocation scheme which allowed
Uploads
Papers by Mike Hulley