Hydrologic and Water Quality Modeling of Lower Nestos River Basin

Modeling efforts on Nestos river are presented. First, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), within a GIS interface (version AVSWATX), was applied to the lower Nestos River basin in Northern Greece. The model was calibrated and verified with the use of field data collected at four monitoring sites along the river course for a period of 3 years (October 2006–October 2009). The performance of the model was evaluated with the use of numerous statistical parameters, which showed a good agreement between the predicted and the observed values. The validated model was then used to test the impact of various management scenarios on the river flow and nutrient loadings. Second, a fuzzy logic model approach was used for the short-term prediction of water depth and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in the river according to measured values. The study showed that both the SWAT model and the fuzzy logic technique, if properly calibrated, could be useful and reliable tools in water resources management.