MULTI-OBJECTIVE WETLAND DESIGN FOR WATER QUALITY AND HABITAT SPREADSHEET TOOL

This project contains the spreadsheet tools created for the journal manuscript, Multi-Objective Wetland Design for Water Quality and Habitat.Manuscript Abstract:Lake Erie, one of the five Laurentian Great Lakes, suffers from harmful algal blooms in its western basin which are associated with phosphorus (P) loading from the Maumee River Watershed (MRW). Additionally, certain waterfowl populations in the MRW have declined significantly in recent decades. Wetlands provide ecosystem services such as reducing phosphorus (P) pollution and providing habitat for waterbirds, but these objectives are often treated separately. Simple tools are needed in this region for improved wetland restoration for meeting the dual goals of providing waterfowl habitat and improving water quality through P retention through design and management. This research identified two main objectives in support of these goals: 1) create a parsimonious model that assesses wetland P retention and waterfowl habitat suitability simultaneously, and 2) create a spreadsheet tool to implement the model to identify water management and design approaches that improve P retention and waterfowl habitat suitability. A total of 249 wetland data points with agricultural runoff as the primary pollutant of interest were input into a first-order pollutant removal model to generate P retention estimates. Waterbird habitat suitability was assessed based on preferred foraging depths. Results show that active, dynamic management of water depth can help reduce tradeoffs between wetland objectives and that larger wetlands (at least 2 – 7% of subbasin area) tend to outperform smaller wetlands in meeting both objectives.<br>