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Title: Development and Its Impact on the Water Balance of an Urban Watershed
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2013
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Abstract: Urbanization affects the local hydrologic cycle. Accurate methods for quantifying and analyzing the hydrologic effects of urbanization are vital for sustainability research. In this study, continuous annual water balances are constructed for the Mill Creek Watershed, a highly developed catchment in the Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan area. Annual urban water fluxes are gathered for a period of 41 consecutive years (1970–2010) and compared against predevelopment hydrologic conditions. Findings show that urbanization has increased the annual average volume of water entering and leaving the Mill Creek Watershed by nearly 30 percent; concurrently annual average evapotranspiration has decreased about 20 percent. The computer program Aquacycle is used to simulate the evolution of the local water balance in the Mill Creek catchment from predevelopment to current conditions. Simulations were used to reconstitute over 100-years of water balance data. Results found a significant overall change in the water balance throughout historic development including a reversal of the dominant water output from atmospheric (evapotranspiration) to overland (streamflow/wastewater) in the 1920s. Looking to the future, Aquacycle forecasts through the year 2050 were created for two scenarios: [i] with and [ii] without widespread green infrastructure (i.e., rain barrels, green roofs, porous pavement). The green infrastructure options were tested to explore the effectiveness of decentralized stormwater management for mitigating the hydrologic impacts of urbanization. Results show that widespread implementation of rain barrels has relatively little impact on the overall catchment water balance while green roofs have the greatest impact on the catchment’s hydrologic cycle. The combined effect of all three green infrastructure options show a combined reduction in streamflow and wastewater (10 percent) and a significant rise in evapotranspiration (20 percent) in the Mill Creek Watershed.
Url: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:ucin1367925578
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Authors: Chenevey, Benjamin
Institution: University of Cincinnati
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Degree: Master if Science
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Pages: 101
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Natural Resource Management
Countries: United States