In 2011, the Deep River Portage-Burns Waterway Watershed was identified as a priority in the
Northwest Indiana watershed management framework by the Northwester Indiana Regional
Planning Committee. 319 grant cost-share programs were initiated in effort of maintaining and
restoring the health of Deep River Portage-Burns Waterway Watershed. A watershed management
plans have been developed for this watershed which proposed the implementation of vegetated
filter strips (VFS) as an option. In this thesis work, the effectiveness of VFS as a best management
practice (BMP) for the Deep River system was evaluated using a hydrological model scheme.
In this research, a Nonpoint Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool (NSPECT) model and
a Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model were constructed with required watershed
characteristic data and climate data. The initial hydrologic and nutrient parameters of the SWAT
model were further calibrated using SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Programs (SWAT_CUP)
with historical flow and nutrient data in a two-stage calibration process. The calibrated parameters
were validated to accurately simulate the field condition and preserved in SWAT model for
effectiveness analysis of BMP implementations.
To evaluate the effectiveness of VFS as a BMP, four different scenarios of VFS implementations
along the Turkey Creek was simulated with the calibrated SWAT model. With the implementation
of VFS in the tributary subbasin of Turkey Creek, the annual total phosphorus (TP) of the VFS
implemented subbasin was reduced by 1.60% to 78.95% and the annual TP of downstream
subbasins were reduced by 0.09% to 55.42%. Daily percentage of TP reductions ranged from 0%
to 90.3% on the VFS implemented subbasin. Annual TP reductions of the four scenarios ranged
from 28.11 kg to 465.01 kg.