Incorporating variable source area hydrology into a curve‐number‐based watershed model

Abstract Many water quality models use some form of the curve number (CN) equation developed by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS; U.S. Depart of Agriculture) to predict storm runoff from watersheds based on an infiltration‐excess response to rainfall. However, in humid, well‐vegetated areas with shallow soils, such as in the northeastern USA, the predominant runoff generating mechanism is saturation‐excess on variable source areas (VSAs). We reconceptualized the SCS–CN equation for VSAs, and incorporated it into the General Watershed Loading Function (GWLF) model. The new version of GWLF, named the Variable Source Loading Function (VSLF) model, simulates the watershed runoff response to rainfall using the standard SCS–CN equation, but spatially distributes the runoff response according to a soil wetness index. We spatially validated VSLF runoff predictions and compared VSLF to GWLF for a subwatershed of the New York City Water Supply System. The spatial distribution of runoff from VSLF is more physically realistic than the estimates from GWLF. This has important consequences for water quality modeling, and for the use of models to evaluate and guide watershed management, because correctly predicting the coincidence of runoff generation and pollutant sources is critical to simulating non‐point source (NPS) pollution transported by runoff. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.