Term Project Outline

CE 394K Surface Water Hydrology
University of Texas at Austin

Estimation of Total Constituent Loadings to the Corpus Christi Bay System

by Ann Quenzer


This term project outline will:

Land use/land cover data, rainfall data, runoff data, event mean concentration values and point source loadings data will be used to develop a grid-based point source and nonpoint source constituent loadings models. A total loadings model will be developed by combining the point source and nonpoint source models. From the results of the models, the relative importance of point and nonpoint source loadings within each river basin can be estimated. The constituents to be included are as follows: total nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate-nitrite, organic nitrogen, total phosphorus, ortho-phosphate, oil and grease, malathion, diazinon, and metals (as data allows). An analysis will be done to compare the estimated values to the measured values within the bay area.

Data sources to be used include:

  • precipitation: National Climate Center, USGS, CBI, national precipitation grid project of USDA NRSCS
  • point sources: TNRCC permit data, self-reporting data estimated industrial loadings, to be provided directly by the Point Source Characterization Project of Corpus Christi Bay National Estuary Program (CCBNEP)
  • riverine inflows: USGS, City of Corpus Christi, also directly from Freshwater Inflow Status & Trends project of CCBNEP
  • riverine loadings: TNRCC concentration data, river loads to be obtained directly from the Point Source Characterization Project of CCBNEP
  • bay water quality: TNRCC data, to be obtained directly from the data base compilation of the CCBNEP Status & Trends of Water and Sediment Quality project

    (Information from: CCBNEP Integrated Quality Assurance/Work Plan for Characterization Studies - Estimation of Total Constituent Loadings to the Corpus Christi Bay System)

    Any comments or questions can be sent to:

    quenzer@mail.utexas.edu


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