You are here:
ESTIMATING AND PROJECTING IMPERVIOUS COVER IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
Citation:
HARRISON, J., L. R. EXUM, S. L. BIRD, AND C. PERKINS. ESTIMATING AND PROJECTING IMPERVIOUS COVER IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Presented at 5th National Monitoring Conference, San Jose, CA, May 07 - 11, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
The main objective of this research is to identify deficiencies in the current watershed modeling approaches and conduct research that makes the Hydrologic Simulation Program-Fortran (HSPF) more accurate, more efficient, and more applicable to the needs of the resource managers and decision makers. The ultimate goal is to have watershed models that can simulate the cumulative impacts of alternative development scenarios and present the risks associated with different scenarios under an adaptive management framework where scenarios impacts are tested, model results analyzed, lessons learned, and management decisions made through an iterative process.
Description:
Urban/suburban land use constitutes the fastest growing land use class in the Southeastern United States. Predominant development practices increase impervious surface--areas preventing infiltration of water into the underlying soil. Uncontrolled increase of impervious areas (roads, buildings and parking) causes detrimental hydrologic changes, stream channel erosion, habitat degradation and severe impairment of aquatic communities. Development practices that reduce impervious area and include preventative strategies to protect water quality are more effective and less costly than remedial restoration efforts. Simple and reliable methods to estimate and project impervious cover can help identify areas where a watershed is at risk of changing rapidly from a system with relatively pristine streams to one with significant symptoms of degradation. We provide a multiple data source (MDS) estimation of imperviousness in the Southeastern U.S. In this study, a method for estimating and projecting impervious cover for 12/14 digit hydrologic unit codes (HUCs) over a large area was developed and tested. These methods were applied throughout EPA Region 4?s eight southeastern states to provide a screening tool to guide monitoring and educational efforts.