Author(s)

Papia F. Rozario¹, Peter Oduor^2*, Larry Kotchman³, Michael Kangas⁴

¹Environmental and Conservation Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA.
²Department of Geosciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA.
³North Dakota Forest Service, Molberg Forestry Center, Bottineau, ND, USA.
⁴North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA.

Spatial causal effects on water quality are essential in identification of vulnerable watersheds. Modelling landuse variables is an effective method of projecting localized impairment. This study presents an integrated index, designed to gauge the ability of an 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code watershed in its ability to produce clean water. This index, I_APCW, can be successfully applied on a geospatial platform. In this study we utilized I_APCW to address forest cover dynamics of an impaired watershed, that is, Missouri Watershed James Sub-region in North Dakota. Specific parametric functions were analysed and combined within a customized GIS interface to provide a multi-faceted structured technique to derive I_APCW. These included ambient forest cover, housing density, agricultural land, soil erodibility and road density; it can be lucidly ascertained that where a prevailing forest cover undergoes conversion processes, the secondary effect may spur an exponential increase in water treatment costs. These parameters when projected statistically validated temporal and spatial relations of landuse/land cover dynamics to nutrient concentrations especially those that would be noted at the mouth of the watershed. In this study, we found that the levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) were much higher for the years 2014 to 2016 with a discernible increased alkalizing effect within the watershed. When I_APCW was compared to Annualized Agricultural Nonpoint Source (AnnAGNPS), the spatial distribution generated by the AnnAGNPS study showed that fallow areas produced significant amounts of sediment loads from the sub-watershed. These same locations in this study generated a low I_APCW.

Spatial Analyst, Index of Ability to Produce Clean Water, Landuse, Water Quality

Rozario, P. , Oduor, P. , Kotchman, L. and Kangas, M. (2016) Quantifying Spatiotemporal Change in Landuse and Land Cover and Accessing Water Quality: A Case Study of Missouri Watershed James Sub-Region, North Dakota. Journal of Geographic Information System, 8, 663-682. doi: 10.4236/jgis.2016.86053.