Grantee Research Project Results
2000 Progress Report: From Landscapes to Waterscapes: Integrating Framework for Urbanizing Watersheds
EPA Grant Number: R825760Title: From Landscapes to Waterscapes: Integrating Framework for Urbanizing Watersheds
Investigators: Diplas, Panayiotis , Shabman, Leonard A. , Cox, W. E. , Kibler, David F. , Benfield, Ernest F. , Bosch, Darrell J. , Orth, Donald J. , Stephenson, Stephen K. , Lohani, Vinod K. , Nagarkatti, P. S. , Dymond, R. , Mostaghimi, Saied
Institution: Virginia Tech
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: October 15, 1997 through October 15, 2000 (Extended to August 31, 2001)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 15, 1999 through October 15, 2000
Project Amount: $849,266
RFA: Water and Watersheds Research (1997) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Water , Watersheds
Objective:
Urbanization, farming, and other types of land use change activities can significantly alter storm hydrographs and sediment erosion rates within a watershed. These effects can cause more frequent flooding and increased pollutant loading, which in turn might result in the degradation of the physical and biological integrity of streams and other aquatic ecosystems. Regardless of these problems, watershed development appears inevitable. The central issue, therefore, is how to reconcile development with acceptable environmental quality at an affordable price. The overarching goal of this project is to develop procedures for integrated assessment of the hydrologic, ecological, and economic consequences of alternative landscape scenarios occurring during the urbanization/suburbanization process. More specific objectives include: (1) development of an integrated hydrologic framework for assessing impacts of alternative landscapes on surface and subsurface water flows and movement of sediments and pollutants; (2) development of procedures to predict the response of fish and macroinvertebrate communities to urbanization-induced changes in water quantity, water quality, and other biological conditions; and (3) identification and assessment of policy and economic consistent with alternative landscape scenarios as well as estimation of the effects of alternative landscapes on land values and fiscal consequences for local governments. A case study focusing on the Upper Roanoke River Watershed (URRW) is employed to test the operation of the integrated framework that currently is under development.Progress Summary:
The various components of this project are addressed by the following groups: hydrology/hydraulics, biology, economics/policy, and GIS/problem solving environment (PSE). The computer models HSPF and MODFLOW are utilized to determine the changes in the surface and subsurface runoff taking place within a sub-watershed triggered by a certain amount of development. The first tends to respond more rapidly while the latter, depending on the local geology, might take many years to reach quasi-steady state conditions. Therefore, it is this longer time horizon that needs to be considered when examining the impacts of land use change. The output from these models becomes input to RMA-2V, the computer model used to simulate the river flow. Usually, a major difference between streams in heavily developed areas compared to those found in areas of low level of development is in terms of channel topography or complexity. Biologists have identified channel complexity as an important ingredient of stream ecology. New methods have been devised for modeling the localized flow patterns generated by these topographic features. Spatial metrics developed here have been found to better describe the abundance of stream habitat.Extensive fish and macroinvertebrate data collected from streams representing different size watersheds indicate that changes in diversity and richness of species are connected with land use practices. Vegetation strips along the river significantly reduce the adverse effects of land use changes within the watershed. Immunotoxicological tests indicate that fish may serve as an excellent biomarker for environmental pollutants and, therefore, may act as warning systems for human health hazards.
Four development footprints, which vary from low to high density, are used to estimate the effects of alternative settlement patterns on public service costs and land value estimates, and the concomitant environmental consequences. A computer interface was recently developed that integrates hydrological and economic aspects of this study. A Web-based version of this model currently is under development.
Future Activities:
During the last year of the project, the focus of the work will be on applying the new knowledge that has been developed by the several components of the project as well as the methodology devised by the group for integrating these results for watershed management purposes. Several land use change scenarios in the Back Creek sub-watershed of the URRW will be used to test and further develop/refine this approach.Journal Articles on this Report : 5 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 48 publications | 11 publications in selected types | All 10 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Crowder DW, Diplas P. Using two-dimensional hydrodynamic models at scales of ecological importance. Journal of Hydrology, Volume 230, Issues 3-4, 8 May 2000, Pages 172-191. |
R825760 (1999) R825760 (2000) R825760 (Final) |
not available |
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Crowder DW, Diplas P. Evaluating spatially explicit metrics of stream energy gradients using hydrodynamic model simulations. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2000;57(7):1497-1507. |
R825760 (1999) R825760 (2000) R825760 (Final) |
not available |
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Kamath AB, Nagarkatti PS, Nagarkatti M. Characterization of phenotypic alterations induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin on thymocytes in vivo and its effect on apoptosis. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 1998;150:117-124. |
R825760 (1999) R825760 (2000) R825760 (Final) |
not available |
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Kamath AB, Camacho I, Nagarkatti PS, Nagarkatti M. Role of Fas-Fas ligand interactions in 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-induced immunotoxicity: increased resistance of thymocytes from Fas-deficient (lpr) and Fas ligand-defective (gld) mice to TCDD-induced toxicity. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 1999;160:141-155. |
R825760 (1999) R825760 (2000) R825760 (Final) |
not available |
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Sponseller RA, Benfield EF. Influences of land use on leaf breakdown in southern Appalachian headwater streams: a multiple-scale analysis. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 2001;20(1):44-59. |
R825760 (1999) R825760 (2000) R825760 (Final) |
not available |
Supplemental Keywords:
environmentally conscious development, ecosystems indicators, aquatic habitat protection, integrated assessment, watershed management., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, Hydrology, Water & Watershed, Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecology and Ecosystems, Watersheds, urbanization, valuation of watersheds, decision making, sediment transport, integrated assessment, aquatic ecosystems, water quality, design criteria, ecology assessment models, public policy, water management options, land use, stakeholder feedbackProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.