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SPARROW Model Assessments of Nutrients and Suspended Sediment in the Pacific Northwest and California Active

By Oregon Water Science Center January 23, 2018

SPARROW can be used to relate water-quality data to landscape characteristics, such as natural properties and human activities

We are using the USGS SPARROW model (Spatially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to understand patterns in water-quality across the Pacific Northwest and California by relating those patterns to natural processes and anthropogenic activities. SPARROW is a hybrid statistical and mechanistic model for estimating where contaminants (such as nutrients and suspended sediment) are generated within a watershed and how they are transported to downstream receiving waters. A calibrated SPARROW model can predict water-quality conditions in areas where no water-quality data exists as well as show the relative contribution to in-stream load from different sources and locations within a watershed. We have published streamflow, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment SPARROW models that cover the Pacific Northwest and California.

Below is detailed information about the USGS SPARROW model.

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Upper Cedar

Puget Sound, WA Nutrient SPARROW Model

The Issue: Puget Sound watershed nutrient loads are known to have an impact on marine water quality along with wastewater treatment plants discharging to Puget Sound. To effectively reduce and control nutrient loads to the Sound, the Washington State Department of Ecology needs a regional watershed model that fits within their Puget Sound Nutrient Source Reduction Project’s management framework...
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Washington Water Science Center
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Puget Sound, WA Nutrient SPARROW Model

The Issue: Puget Sound watershed nutrient loads are known to have an impact on marine water quality along with wastewater treatment plants discharging to Puget Sound. To effectively reduce and control nutrient loads to the Sound, the Washington State Department of Ecology needs a regional watershed model that fits within their Puget Sound Nutrient Source Reduction Project’s management framework...
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Image showing a schematic of the SPARROW model components

Everything you need to know about SPARROW

What is SPARROW? SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes) is a watershed modeling technique for relating water-quality measurements made at a network of monitoring stations to attributes of the watersheds such as contaminant sources and environmental factors that affect rates of delivery to streams and in-stream processing. The core of the model consists of a nonlinear...
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Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program
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Everything you need to know about SPARROW

What is SPARROW? SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes) is a watershed modeling technique for relating water-quality measurements made at a network of monitoring stations to attributes of the watersheds such as contaminant sources and environmental factors that affect rates of delivery to streams and in-stream processing. The core of the model consists of a nonlinear...
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The data and tools below provide access to the input and output from the 2012 SPARROW models of streamflow, nutrients, and suspended sediment for the Pacific Northwest and California. 

Surface-water transfers and removals in the Pacific drainages of the United States

This data release contains a comprehensive, spatially referenced database of surface-water transfer and removal events in the Pacific drainages of the United States, which include the Columbia River basin, the Puget Sound basin, the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California, and the Central Valley of California. The database also includes mean annual estimates of the water diverted a
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Oregon Water Science Center

Reach-scale estimates of nutrient, water use, dissolved oxygen, and pH conditions in the Pacific drainages of the United States

This data release contains data sets that describe reach-scale water-quality conditions for the Pacific drainages of the United States. The nutrient and water use conditions represent the predictions from recent USGS SPARROW (Spatially Related Regression on Watershed Attributes) modeling as well as other watershed attributes. The SPARROW predictions and other watershed attributes were also used as
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Oregon Water Science Center

Population with On-Site Wastewater Treatment within the Pacific Drainages of the United States, 2010

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing SPARROW models (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to assess the transport of contaminants (e.g., nutrients) through the Pacific drainages of the United States (the Columbia River basin; the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California; the Klamath River basin; the Central Valley of California, and the west slopes of th
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Oregon Water Science Center

Application of manure nutrients generated at cattle animal feeding operations to farmland within the Pacific drainages of the United State, 2012

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing SPARROW models (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to assess the transport of contaminants (e.g., nutrients) through the Pacific drainages of the United States (the Columbia River basin; the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California; the Klamath River basin; the Central Valley of California, and the west slopes of th
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Oregon Water Science Center

Distribution of grazing cattle within the Pacific drainages of the United State, 2012

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing SPARROW models (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to assess the transport of contaminants (e.g., sediment and nutrients) through the Pacific drainages of the United States (the Columbia River basin; the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California; the Klamath River basin; the Central Valley of California, and the west
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Oregon Water Science Center

Application of manure nutrients generated by grazing cattle to grazing land within the Pacific drainages of the United States, 2012

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing SPARROW models (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to assess the transport of contaminants (e.g., nutrients) through the Pacific drainages of the United States (the Columbia River basin; the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California; the Klamath River basin; the Central Valley of California, and the west slopes of th
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Oregon Water Science Center

County-level livestock data for the Pacific drainages of the United States, 2012

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing SPARROW models (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to assess the transport of contaminants (e.g., nutrients) through the Pacific drainages of the United States (the Columbia River basin; the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California; the Klamath River basin; the Central Valley of California, and the west slopes of th
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Oregon Water Science Center

Application of nutrients generated by non-cattle livestock to farmland within the Pacific drainages of the United States, 2012

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing SPARROW models (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to assess the transport of contaminants (e.g., nutrients) through the Pacific drainages of the United States (the Columbia River basin; the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California; the Klamath River basin; the Central Valley of California, and the west slopes of th
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Oregon Water Science Center

Potential Grazing Land Within the Pacific Drainages of the Western United States, 2011

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing SPARROW models (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed Attributes) to assess the transport of contaminants (e.g., sediment and nutrients) through United States Pacific watersheds (the Columbia River basin; the coastal drainages of Washington, Oregon, and California; the Klamath River basin; the Central Valley of California, and the west slopes of
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Water Resources Mission Area, Communications and Publishing

Below are publications that describe applications of the SPARROW model in the Pacific Northwest and California.

Using regional watershed data to assess water-quality impairment in the Pacific Drainages of the United States

Two datasets containing the first complete estimates of reach-scale nutrient, water use, dissolved oxygen, and pH conditions for the Pacific drainages of the United States were created to help inform water-quality management decisions in that region. The datasets were developed using easily obtainable watershed data, most of which have not been available until recently, and the techniques that wer
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Spatially referenced models of streamflow and nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment transport in streams of the southwestern United States

Given the predicted imbalance between water supply and demand in the Southwest region of the United States, and the widespread problems with excessive nutrients and suspended sediment, there is a growing need to quantify current streamflow and water quality conditions throughout the region. Furthermore, current monitoring stations exist at a limited number of locations, and many streams lack strea
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center

Spatially referenced models of streamflow and nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads in streams of the Pacific region of the United States

Although spatial information describing the supply and quality of surface water is critical for managing water resources for human uses and for ecological health, monitoring is expensive and cannot typically be done over large scales or in all streams or waterbodies. To address the need for such data, the U.S. Geological Survey developed SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPA
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Updates to the suspended sediment SPARROW model developed for western Oregon and northwestern California

A SPARROW (SPAtially Related Regressions On Watershed attributes) model that was previously developed for western Oregon and northwestern California was updated using advancements in the SPARROW software and refinements to the input data. As was the case for the original model calibration, the updated models used the NHD Plus Version 2 as a hydrologic framework and relied on the same estimates of
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

A spatially explicit suspended-sediment load model for western Oregon

We calibrated the watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed attributes) to give estimates of suspended-sediment loads for western Oregon and parts of northwestern California. Estimates of suspended-sediment loads were derived from a nonlinear least squares regression that related explanatory variables representing landscape and transport conditions to measured suspende
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

SPARROW modeling of nitrogen sources and transport in rivers and streams of California and adjacent states, U.S.

The SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) model was used to evaluate the spatial distribution of total nitrogen (TN) sources, loads, watershed yields, and factors affecting transport and decay in the stream network of California and portions of adjacent states for the year 2002. The two major TN sources to local catchments on a mass basis were fertilizers and manure (5
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Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center

Sources and transport of phosphorus to rivers in California and adjacent states, U.S., as determined by SPARROW modeling

The SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regression on Watershed attributes) model was used to simulate annual phosphorus loads and concentrations in unmonitored stream reaches in California, U.S., and portions of Nevada and Oregon. The model was calibrated using de-trended streamflow and phosphorus concentration data at 80 locations. The model explained 91% of the variability in loads and 51% of the var
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Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center

Estimation of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams of the Middle Columbia River Basin (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) using SPARROW models, with emphasis on the Yakima River Basin, Washington

The watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Related Regressions on Watershed attributes) was used to predict total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads and yields for the Middle Columbia River Basin in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The new models build on recently published models for the entire Pacific Northwest, and provide revised load predictions for the arid interior of the region by res
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Application of the SPARROW model to assess surface-water nutrient conditions and sources in the United States Pacific Northwest

The watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed attributes) was used to estimate mean annual surface-water nutrient conditions (total nitrogen and total phosphorus) and to identify important nutrient sources in catchments of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States for 2002. Model-estimated nutrient yields were generally higher in catchments on the wetter, weste
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Surface-water nutrient conditions and sources in the United States Pacific Northwest

The SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model was used to perform an assessment of surface-water nutrient conditions and to identify important nutrient sources in watersheds of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (U.S.) for the year 2002. Our models included variables representing nutrient sources as well as landscape characteristics that affect nutrien
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

The web tool below is an on-line mapper that can be used to view the results from the 2012 SPARROW models for the Pacific Region.

SPARROW Mapper for 2012 Pacific Region Models

Below are links to the R and SAS versions of the SPARROW modeling software.

RSPARROW

RSPARROW, now available on the USGS GitLab repository, provides the first open-source version of the USGS SPARROW water-quality model

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Water Resources Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program

SPARROW Modeling Program

SPARROW is a popular watershed modeling technique, distributed by the USGS, that estimates the amount of a contaminant transported from inland watersheds to larger water bodies by linking monitoring data with information on watershed characteristics and contaminant sources.

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Water Resources Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area
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USGS uses watershed modeling to assess surface-water nutrient impairment across the Pacific Northwest and California

The region-wide, reach-scale results from a new study provide two new tools that might help water-quality managers. One is an estimate of the total...

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