Comparative Water Environment Simulation Study of Two Typical Models with BMPs in a Karst Basin

Abstract

Carbonate rocks are widely distributed in southwest China, forming a unique karst landscape. The Lijiang River Basin provides a typical example of an area with concentrated karst. Research on the laws of hydrology and water quality migration in the Lijiang River Basin is important for the management of the water resources of Guilin City and similar areas. In this study, we combined three meteorological data with the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model and the hydrological simulation program-Fortran (HSPF) model to simulate the hydrological and water quality processes in the Lijiang River Basin separately. We chose the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) coefficient, coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error-observations standard deviation ratio (RSR), and mean absolute error (MAE) as the metrics used to evaluate the models. The results, combined with the time-series process lines, indicated that the SWAT model provides a more accurate performance than the HSPF model in streamflow, ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and dissolved oxygen (DO) simulations. In addition, we divided the karst and non-karst areas, and we analyzed the differences between them in water balance, sediment transport, and pollution load. We further identified the key source areas of pollution load in the Lijiang River Basin, evaluated the pollution reduction effect of best management practices (BMPs) on surface source pollution, and proposed some pollution control countermeasures. Each scenario, especially returning farmland to forest and creating vegetation buffer zones, reduces the NH3-N and DO pollution load.