Watershed urbanization and changing flood behavior across the Los Angeles metropolitan region

Sheng, Jingfen; Wilson, John P.

doi:10.1007/s11069-008-9241-7

Cited by 110 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Since urbanization can lead to decreased infiltration and increased runoff, the maximum flow from large storm events is expected to be higher in urbanized streams, as indicated by the review of previous studies in the Introduction section (Poff et al 1997, Rose and Peters 2001, Konrad 2003, Sheng and Wilson 2009). -Average annual 3-day minimum daily streamflow was used to assess low flows in this analysis.…”

Section: Indicators Of Hydrologic Alterationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the impacts of increased urbanization are changes to the hydrology, and subsequently ecology, within urbanized watersheds . Land-use changes correlated with urbanization include reduced vegetation, construction of storm drainage networks and increased impervious surfaces, all of which can result in decreased infiltration and increased runoff (Poff et al 1997, Rose and Peters 2001, Konrad 2003, Sheng and Wilson 2009. Such land-use changes cause increases in peak discharge, volume and flood frequency in the downstream hydrology of developed areas (Konrad 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Has urbanization changed ecological streamflow characteristics in Maine (USA)?

Martin

Kelleher

Wagener

2012

Hydrological Sciences Journal

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This paper examines the potential effects of urbanization on streamflow in Maine, USA, from 1950 to 2000. The study contrasts nine watersheds in southern Maine, which has seen steady urban growth over the study period, with nine rural watersheds from northern Maine. Historical population data and current land cover data are used to develop an urbanization score for each watershed. Trends in watershed urbanization over the study period are compared to trends in ecologically relevant streamflow characteristics. The results indicate that trends in northern, rural watersheds are much more consistent than the trends in the southern watersheds. Additionally, trends in the southern watersheds are inconsistent with the hydrological characteristics observed in urban watersheds elsewhere, likely due to the comparatively low level of current urban development in Maine's urban watersheds. Our study suggests that urban areas in Maine have not yet reached an urbanization threshold where streamflow impacts become consistently detectable.Key words urbanization; streamflow; land use; land cover; hydrology; Maine L'urbanisation a-t-elle changé les caractéristiques des débits écologiques dans le Maine (USA)?Résumé Cet article présente une étude des effets potentiels de l'urbanisation sur les écoulements dans le Maine, aux États-Unis, de 1950 à 2000. La comparaison concerne neuf bassins versants du sud du Maine, qui ont connu une urbanisation continue au cours de la période d'étude, et neuf bassins versants ruraux du nord de Maine. Des données démographiques historiques et des données actuelles d'occupation du sol ont été utilisées pour définir un indice d'urbanisation pour chaque bassin versant. Les tendances de l'urbanisation des bassins versants au cours de la période d'étude ont été comparées à l'évolution des caractéristiques des débits écologiquement pertinents. Les résultats indiquent que les tendances dans les bassins versants ruraux du Nord sont beaucoup plus cohérentes que les tendances dans les bassins versants du Sud. En outre, les tendances dans les bassins versants du Sud sont incompatibles avec les caractéristiques hydrologiques observées dans d'autres bassins versants urbains, probablement en raison du niveau relativement faible de développement urbain en cours dans les bassins versants urbains du Maine. Notre étude suggère que les zones urbaines dans le Maine n'ont pas encore atteint un seuil d'urbanisation où les impacts sur les débits deviennent significativement détectables.

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Section: Indicators Of Hydrologic Alterationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Has urbanization changed ecological streamflow characteristics in Maine (USA)?

Martin

Kelleher

Wagener

2012

Hydrological Sciences Journal

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“…A study by Liu et al [1] concluded that runoff from urban areas is dominant for flood events. Sheng and Wilson [2] strengthened this finding by conducting statistical analysis to obtain a relation between urbanization and changing of flood behaviour in Los Angeles. They found a large percentage (90%) of rain become surface run off in urban areas, whereas it was only 25% in non urban areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Distributed flood model for urbanization assessment in a limited-gauged river basin

Mano

Udo

2011

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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A distributed model is commonly used to investigate the effects of land cover change on flood discharge due to urbanization. The model should have adequate spatial data parameters in order to resemble actual condition and to achieve good accuracy. Unfortunately, most of developing countries have limited and insufficient datasets. The circumstances can be a problem in distributed flood model simulation. The objective of this study is to develop a distributed flood model for simulating runoff-response change due to urbanization in a river basin by using limited available datasets which correspond to the availability of datasets in developing countries. A 2D shallow water equation is used to simulate surface runoff while hydrologic parameters are simulated based on a nearly calibration free (NCF) tank model. The infiltration rate in the urban area is accommodated by applying a spatial distributed urban density. The model is applied to the upstream of the Ciliwung River basin, located in West Java Province, Indonesia. This domain, with an area of 234 km 2 and a 46 km length of river, has contributed to flooding in its downstream area, Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. The urban area in this basin has increased by 183% while the forest area has declined by 52% from 1972 to 2002. The limitation of hourly rainfall data causes difficulty in producing spatial distributed hourly rainfall which is significant in flood simulations. Therefore, a method using simple linear interpolation is developed to solve this problem. Calibration and validation, conducted using events in 2002, showed good agreement to the observed data. In order to investigate runoff-response change due to urbanization, flood events in 2002 are simulated using 1972 land cover. The simulation results showed that urbanization during 1972 to 2002 has increased flood discharge significantly.

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“…Accordingly, higher peak discharge rates occur sooner after rainfall in the catchment area [12]. In addition-n, the runoff volume and potential flood risk greatly increases [8,13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The integration of a Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing has been widely used and is recognized as a useful and effective tool in locating urban expansion [13,14]. Remote sensing has multi-resolution, multispectral and multi-temporal data, transforming them into information valuable for understanding the processes and monitoring of land use/land cover changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the Effect of Urban Growth on Annual Runoff Volume Using GIS in the Erbil Sub-Basin of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Hameed

2017

Hydrology

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Abstract:The growth and spread of impervious surfaces within urbanizing catchment areas pose signiificant threats to the quality of natural and built-up environments. Impervious surfaces prevent water infiltration into the soil, resulting in increased runoff generation. The Erbil Sub-basin was selected because the impervious cover is increasing rapidly and is affecting the hydrological condition of the watershed. The overall aim of this study is to examine the impact of urban growth and other changes in land use on runoff response during the study period of 1984 to 2014. The study describes long-term hydrologic responses within the rapidly developing catchment area of Erbil city, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Data from six rainfall stations in and around the Erbil Sub-basin were used. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was also used to extract the distribution of the drainage network. Historical levels of urban growth and the corresponding impervious areas, as well as land use/land cover changes were mapped from 1984 to 2014 using a temporal satellite image (Landsat) to determine land use/land cover changes. Land use/land cover was combined with a hydrological model (SCS-CN) to estimate the volume of runoff from the watershed. The study indicates that the urbanization of the watershed has increased the impervious land cover by 71% for the period from 1984 to 2004 and by 51% from 2004 to 2014. The volume of runoff was 85% higher in 2014 as compared to 1984 due to the increase in the impervious surface area; this is attributed to urban growth. The study also points out that the slope of the watershed in the Erbil sub-basin should be taken into account in surface runoff estimation as the upstream part of the watershed has a high gradient and the land is almost barren with very little vegetation cover; this causes an increase in the velocity of the flow and increases the risk of flooding in Erbil city.

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Watershed urbanization and changing flood behavior across the Los Angeles metropolitan region

Cited by 110 publications

References 23 publications

Has urbanization changed ecological streamflow characteristics in Maine (USA)?

Has urbanization changed ecological streamflow characteristics in Maine (USA)?

Distributed flood model for urbanization assessment in a limited-gauged river basin

Estimating the Effect of Urban Growth on Annual Runoff Volume Using GIS in the Erbil Sub-Basin of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

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