A Watershed Management Tool Using SWAT and ArcInfo

While watershed management is gaining wide support, the spatial information on socioeconomic and physical processes needed for evaluating alternative watershed management plans is not readily accessible to local decision makers. With wide adoption of geographic information system (GIS) technology, a user-friendly and interactive decision support system appears to be an efficient tool in watershed management. A graphical user interface is developed to incorporate the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) with ArcInfo. The menu interface provides a tool to identify the relative contribution of sub-watershed areas to agricultural nonpoint source pollution and evaluate the effects of alternative land use management practices on surface and ground water quality at the watershed scale. SWAT is a widely used environmental simulation tool based on continuous daily time-step process. ArcInfo contains modules for maintaining and analyzing spatial and tabular data in an effective manner. The interface guides the user through a series of menus by: 1) leading the user through the steps in generating model inputs, executing the model and analyzing outputs, 2) allowing for changes in land use and management practices and re-evaluating potential consequences, and 3) viewing graphical and tabular results side-by-side for alternative scenarios. The tool is developed using ArcInfo Arc Macro Language.