ARS | Publication request: LAND USE CHANGE IMPACTS ON HYDROLOGY AND EROSION AT THE URBAN INTERFACE

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: August 1, 2004
Publication Date: October 31, 2004
Citation: Warnemuende, E.A., Smith, D.R., Bonta, J.V., Huang, C., Shuster, W. 2004. Land use change impacts on hydrology and erosion at the urban interface. In: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Proceedings, October 31-November 4, 2004, Seattle, Washngton. 2004 CDROM.

Technical Abstract: Urbanization of watersheds previously managed for agricultural uses results in hydrologic changes associated with increased flooding, erosion, and surface water degradation. Few studies have been conducted to quantify these effects under controlled conditions and standard rainfall simulation methodologies have not been established. In this paper, a modular segmented soil box design, useful in quantifying the hydrologic and erosional impacts of the spatial and size distributions of impervious areas is presented. Hydrologic and soil loss data from soil boxes under rainfall simulation are presented. Spatial treatments include the impervious surface distributions typical of a channel development, where the impervious surfaces are largely connected to the main channel, and typical of a ridge or hilltop development, where impervious surfaces are located on the watershed periphery at the 25% and 50% total impervious area level. Initial results indicate that the modular segmented soil box system is sensitive to spatial configuration of impervious surfaces and that the relative impact of spatial treatments are dependent upon initial soil moisture content.