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1999 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 , Benfield, Ernest F. , Bosch, Darrell J. , Cox, W. E. , Dymond, R. , Kibler, David F. , Lohani, Vinod K. , Mostaghimi, Saied , Nagarkatti, P. S. , Orth, Donald J. , Shabman, Leonard A. , Stephenson, Stephen K.
Institution: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
EPA Project Officer: Perovich, Gina
Project Period: October 15, 1997 through October 15, 2000 (Extended to August 31, 2001)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 15, 1998 through October 15, 1999
Project Amount: $849,266
RFA: Water and Watersheds (1997)
Research Category: Water and Watersheds
Description:
Objective:The 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 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 conditions 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) will be employed to test the operation of the integrated framework that is currently under development. Progress Summary:
There are two major aspects of the present study: the first deals with the development of a methodology (including the necessary models) for identifying the effects of alternative landscape scenarios on the environmental integrity of the corresponding watershed, the second focuses on the URRW as a case study for testing this methodology. During the second year of this project, the members of the research team were involved in activities at the individual investigator, subgroup, and overall group levels. The latter activities were the focus of biweekly meetings of the entire research team, where several issues stemming from the multidisciplinary nature of the project were presented and extensively discussed. Some of the presentation/discussion topics included: the research component of each subgroup, interface/interaction between subgroups, scale issues suitable for one or more components, geographic information systems/problem solving environments (GIS/PSE) as a means of cataloging and viewing data as well as facilitating the integration of the various components of the project, selection of sites within the URRW for calibrating and validating one or more modules of the methodology, and the development of a user-friendly computer interface for use by stakeholders and other interested parties. The various sites chosen for more detailed model testing and data collection reflect different subwatershed sizes and land uses, and different degrees of urbanization. A brief summary of the activities of the four subgroups and the associated investigations undertaken during the past year is provided next.
Hydrology/Hydraulics Subgroup. Improvements in physical delineation of subwatershed boundary and land use classification were made using U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 30-m Digital Elevation Models (DEMS), USGS stream reach overlays, and Virginia Gap Analysis Project land use data. All HSPF (Hydrological Simulation Program?Fortran) model parameters were reviewed for their consistency and physical suitability. HSPF is now considered fully calibrated on Back Creek and ready for the assessment runs on surface hydrology. In addition, a conceptual groundwater flow model was developed for the Upper Roanoke River Watershed using MODFLOW, a USGS 3-D finite-difference model. Preliminary results this past year indicate that, under reasonable land use scenarios, only small impacts will be observed in surface and groundwater flows at the watershed level. These preliminary findings will be fully expanded to include a wider range of land development patterns in the upper Roanoke basin. It is planned to complete sediment simulation using available information from literature. Also, HSPF modeling of the Tinker Creek subwatershed and an unsteady MODFLOW subsurface model are under consideration.
The Hydrology Subgroup has played a key role in integration efforts being made under the PSE component of the project, a linked effort to develop web-based access to HSPF and other component models. The current version of the PSE allows the user to analyze hydrologic consequences of "what if" scenarios of land use change. Results are displayed in terms of a graphical display of the hydrographs for the "before" and "after" conditions, change in annual runoff, change in selected storm peaks, and effects on 3-, 7-, and 21-day low flows. These results may be viewed at either land segment or stream outlets to visualize the "onsite" and "watershed-scale" effects, respectively.
Spatial habitat metrics, built on hydraulic principles, were developed to characterize stream flows and differentiate between areas having similar depth and velocity values, but surrounded by different flow patterns. These metrics, used in conjunction with RMA-2V, provide stream biologists with a better means of assessing how changes in stream morphology are impacting the quantity and types of flow patterns within a stream. Efforts are now underway to model instream conditions throughout the duration of single storm events. As relatively little unsteady modeling has been performed using 2-D models, several technical questions need to be addressed. Once these issues have been resolved, a means of using RMA-2V and the sediment transport program SED2D to estimate changes in stream morphology will be developed. This methodology will then be calibrated and validated at actual sites within the study watershed.
Biology Subgroup. Stream ecosystems can be strongly influenced by land use within watersheds. Effects of land use on fish and benthic invertebrate community properties, leaf decomposition rates, and fish immunotoxicological responses to mitogens were studied at various sites in the Upper Roanoke River Basin. Fish toxicological responses to different mitogens varied between species and river sites. Fish throughout the basin appeared to be susceptible to parasitic diseases of the liver and spleen. Fish community properties responded to land use in the watershed, especially within a 60 meter corridor along the streams. Many fish species increased in abundance from small to large sites and several species were only collected at large sites. Sites in urbanized watersheds generally had fewer native species and were dominated by species tolerant of disturbed conditions. Fish communities from sites in primarily forested watersheds had more integrity that sites impacted by urbanization and agriculture. Fish communities from agricultural watersheds (primarily grazing) were often more similar to communities in forested watersheds than developed watersheds. Leaf decomposition rates also responded to land use in the 60 meter riparian corridor through its influence on stream chemistry, geomorphology, allochthonous energy sources, and density and diversity of leaf-shredding aquatic invertebrates. Invertebrate community responses are still under study. Our interactions thus far have been with other members of the Biology group and the GIS/PSE group. Our fish community information will be compared with fish histology, invertebrate, and water quality data from similar sites to produce a more holistic stream ecology assessment. We have used land use data provided by the GIS group for fish, invertebrate, and leaf breakdown studies. Future collaboration with the Hydrology/Hydraulics group is planned and would likely entail hydraulic modeling of sites representing the three primary land use conditions: forest, agriculture, and urbanized.
Economics and Policy Subgroup. A conceptual model was developed to predict land prices as a function of size, shape, elevation, soil type, location relative to roads, malls, and urban center, and population density of surrounding area. Bare land values were statistically estimated for Roanoke County. Lot sale values are being collected for Hanover County located near Richmond. These data will be used to estimate the effects on housing values of street widths, curb and gutter, and best management practices. A simulation model was developed to predict water and sewer costs as a function of the spatial distribution of services. A computer simulation program was developed to estimate the annualized cost of delivering water and sewer service to residential housing units. Costs include costs of developing new water sources, installation costs (pumps, trunk lines, and connecting lines), operation and maintenance costs, and pumping costs. The program can provide cost estimates at multiple scales and can estimate the sensitivity of costs to the separation between houses, development tracts, and existing service centers.
Policies with the most direct influence on land development decisions include the National Flood Insurance Program and local land use controls such as the zoning ordinance of Roanoke County. Proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance would allow cluster development, which encompasses greater density of residential development on portions of individual land tracts while other portions are preserved in open space. Several alternative development scenarios consistent with applicable constraints have been prepared for use in modeling economic impacts and environmental consequences. A review of literature and an empirical study in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area were conducted to determine how choices of housing settlement forms interact with travel behavior. This analysis concludes that sprawl development as a settlement pattern helps households reduce overall time spent in travel. There are strong incentives in the economy for households to continue to spread out away from central places and for the rise of "edge cities." Procedures for estimating the effects of alternative settlement patterns on public service costs and land value estimates are being incorporated into a computerized decision support model for land settlement. This model will be used to further evaluate the economic effects of four development footprints that vary from high to low density.
GIS/PSE Subgroup. The initial five months of the past year were devoted to learning about the individual subgroup research goals and methods. Development of the integrative computer prototype then commenced with a decision to work initially with the Hydrology Subgroup on the Back Creek watershed with the goal of producing a web-based interface to HSPF, incorporating a watershed map as part of the project. The objective was to allow the users to interact with the map and effectively simulate and visualize the implications of a number of land development scenarios. MapObjects and Visual Basic were used to develop a Windows map interface for input of a minimal number of land use and settlement pattern parameters necessary to run HSPF. Development of a web-based version of the model followed, allowing users to run the model remotely. From user input, the software calculates the corresponding parameters for the HSPF software, runs HSPF, and shows the scenario results as compared to the calibrated existing run for Back Creek. Current work in the GIS/PSE Subgroup expands the model to incorporate the economics discipline's work in determining appropriate government service expenditures and land prices as a function of different development scenarios. Specifically, this includes extending the prototype to include a spatial "grid," which allows the user to visually place land settlement forms. In addition, more spatially "derived" is being developed for a number of the subgroups, including a layer of non-developable land based on realistic criteria. Also, a good set of explanatory files and model schematics have been developed to help the user understand the pertinent assumptions inherent to each submodel. Future work of this group within the scope of this project will be limited as a majority of the work done to date was the result of a second grant that supplemented the Environmental Protection Agency-National Science Foundation funds and provided for student help in computer science and GIS efforts. At this point, the major goal is to produce a completed prototype that integrates the hydrology and economics models in a web enabled format. In conclusion, the progress to date has been substantial and productive, and has demonstrated the potential of integrating subgroup modeling efforts into one comprehensive planning tool.
Future Activities:Preliminary results this past year indicate that, under reasonable land use scenarios, only small impacts will be observed in surface and groundwater flows at the watershed level. These preliminary findings will be fully expanded to include a wider range of land development patterns in the upper Roanoke basin. It is planned to complete sediment simulation using available information from literature. Also, depending on the needs of the project, HSPF modeling of the Tinker Creek sub-watershed will be considered. An unsteady MODFLOW subsurface model is under consideration.
Journal Articles on this Report: 5 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 49 publications | 11 publications in selected types | All 10 journal articles |
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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 |
environmentally conscious development, ecosystem indicators, aquatic habitat protection, integrated assessment, watershed management. , Water, Scientific Discipline, RFA, Water & Watershed, Ecological Risk Assessment, Hydrology, Watersheds, Ecology and Ecosystems, stakeholder feedback, water quality, public policy, ecology assessment models, decision making, aquatic habitat protection , design criteria, land use, aquatic ecosystems, integrated assessment, sediment transport, urbanization, water management options
Progress and Final Reports:
Original Abstract
2000 Progress Report
Final Report