Hydrologic Effects of Urbanization and Climate Change on the Flint River Basin, Georgia

Abstract

The potential effects of long-term urbanization and climate change on the freshwater resources of the Flint River basin were examined by using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). PRMS is a deterministic, distributed-parameter watershed model developed to evaluate the effects of various combinations of precipitation, temperature, and land cover on streamflow and multiple intermediate hydrologic states. Precipitation and temperature output from five general circulation models (GCMs) using one current and three future climate-change scenarios were statistically downscaled for input into PRMS. Projections of urbanization through 2050 derived for the Flint River basin by the Forecasting Scenarios of Future Land-Cover (FORE-SCE) land-cover change model were also used as input to PRMS. Comparison of the central tendency of streamflow simulated based on the three climate-change scenarios showed a slight decrease in overall streamflow relative to simulations under current conditions, mostly caused by decreases in the surface-runoff and groundwater components. The addition of information about forecasted urbanization of land surfaces to the hydrologic simulation mitigated the decreases in streamflow, mainly by increasing surface runoff.

Efficient Wetland Surface Water Detection and Monitoring via Landsat: Comparison with in situ Data from the Everglades Depth Estimation Network

“…Many comparisons of water detection indices across a range of environments [21,[24][25][26][27]29,57] have demonstrated the utility of MNDWI as a relatively strong performing metric. Previous research aimed at detecting open water and vegetated wetland environments in central Georgia (GA), USA, also found MNDWI to be an effective index for various hydrologic modeling purposes [58][59][60]. In the GA studies, surface extent was estimated either by using MNDWI as an input to CART or through the subjective selection of thresholds on MNDWI based on ancillary data and personal knowledge of the study areas.…”

The Effects of Changing Land Cover on Streamflow Simulation in Puerto Rico

“…Viger et al . () examined the influence of long‐term urbanization on streamflow in a watershed in Georgia and concluded that the impact of increasing impervious surfaces was to increase surface runoff. This phenomenon was demonstrated in the current study by comparing the PRMS simulations using the 1951 IITF land cover parameterization (least urbanized) with the later snapshots in Figure .…”

“…Urbanization has long been held to result in an increase in the velocity and volume of surface runoff due to increasing impervious area which tends to be smoother, accelerating the runoff, and impeding the precipitation infiltration into the soil (Urbonas and Roesner, ). Past studies using hydrologic simulation models have demonstrated this phenomenon (e.g., Wu et al ., ; Viger et al ., ). Wu et al .…”

“…Many researchers (e.g., Alley and Veenhuis, ; Lee and Heaney, ; Wissmar et al ., ; Olivera and DeFee, ; Schueler et al ., ; Viger et al . ; LaFontaine et al ., ) have demonstrated that the presence of small water bodies can detain runoff from impervious surfaces, reducing peaks in streamflow response that might otherwise be expected to accompany an increase in impervious area within a watershed. This relatively fine‐scale feature was not identified in the IITF land cover snapshots.…”

Climatic changes on Szczecin Seashore and their impact on river flows

“…Changes in the drainage basin management, such as water melioration and urbanisation are contributing to the reduction of the effects of climate warming on river flows (Viger et al 2011). So it is likely that, without the anthropogenic transformation of the river basin, streamflows in the surveyed catchments would have been slightly reduced due to evaporation.…”