Full Citation
Title: Urbanization of the Christina River Basin and subsequent hydrologic alteration
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2016
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Abstract: The Christina River Basin is an invaluable source of water for more than half a million people. Thus, sustainable management of the basin is vital for maintaining and improving the health of this resource while addressing projected changes in climate. For this reason, the objectives of this study include examining changes in population density, land use land cover, impervious cover and precipitation, and analyzing the relationship between urbanization, streamflow and water quality. Population data from 1970 onward and land use data from 1990 onward are observed to quantify urbanization of the basin, while precipitation, streamflow and water quality data are analyzed to identify and understand effects of this urbanization on the hydrology of the Basin. ArcGIS and Microsoft Excel are utilized for this study for the analysis and mapping. Results of the analysis show a definite increase in population density across the majority of the basin, with some of the 38 subwatersheds increasing by greater than 1,500 people per square mile on the outskirts of Newark, DE and others increasing by as much as 1,000 people per square mile on the outskirts of Downington, PA. A decrease in population density occurs in the Wilmington and New Castle, DE area with as much as an 800 people per square mile decline. Between 1990 and 2010, a significant portion of agriculture and forest land uses were lost as they converted to urban land uses. Urban uses occupy nearly 9% more of the Basin’s area by 2010, while agriculture has decreased by 7% and forest by 4.4%. This has lead to a significant increase in impervious cover across most of the basin as well. Precipitation at two representative precipitation gages show negligible changes over the time frame. The streamflow-precipitation analysis demonstrates very little change in peak flows and highest ten discharge events, or flash floods. While trends are positive at the majority of the five. . .
Url: http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/20709#files-area
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Authors: DeWeese, Alexandra
Institution: University of Delaware
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Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Natural Resource Management, Other
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