Urban Stormwater Runoff And Its Effects On The Environment

Impervious surfaces associated with urbanization alter the natural amount of water that takes each route. Increased impervious cover associated with urbanization alters the natural cycling of water. Changes in the shape and size of urban streams, followed by decreased water quality, are the most visible effects of increased imperviousness. Greater frequency and severity of flooding, channel erosion, and destruction of aquatic habitat commonly follow watershed urbanization. Alterations in the aquatic environment associated with

We add substances to the water – intentionally or not. As precipitation falls on the ground and moves into rivers and creeks, it picks up a whole range of pollutants. In rural areas these pollutants may include farm pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers as well as wastes from faulty septic systems and improperly handled manure. In urban areas, the pollutants may include gas, oil, pet waste, fertilizers, pesticides, salt and treated human waste from sewage treatment plants.

The runoff carries pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments into the Bay. In urban areas the standard city block creates five times more runoff than a forested area. About 30% of runoff in an urban area is evaporated, 55% stays runoff, and the other 15% soaks into the land with a variation of deep and shallow infiltration. About 40% of runoff in a forest evaporates, 10% stays runoff, and the extra 50% seeps into the ground with a variation of deep and shallow infiltration. The runoff is actually the fastest growing source of pollution for the Chesapeake

One of the recurring problems at Howard County is the large quantities of stormwater runoff that flow into nearby streams. This is due to meteorological factors and physical characteristics including: land use changes. The more impervious surfaces there are the more surface runoff there will be; thus, placing adverse effects upon the environment. To be exact, these stormwater runoffs carry car oils, fertilizers, pet waste, litter, and sediment to the Chesapeake bay. Hence, 20% of the chesapeake bay’s pollution is due to stormwater runoff. However, not only does storm water contribute to pollution, but it also harms wildlife and its environment, as well as cause floods, erosion, and property damage. To address such issue, Howard Community College

Although the amount of pollutants from a single town or construction site may seem insignificant, the combined concentrations of contaminants threaten our lakes, streams and wetlands. When things such as: human and animal waste, decaying plants and animals, discarded litter, or food waste enter surface waters, either dissolved or suspended in stormwater runoff, they can deplete the supply of dissolved oxygen in the water. When dissolved oxygen is reduced below a certain critical level, it can impair or kill aquatic plants and animals (CNYRPDB, 2011).

Storm water runoff is caused by rain draining through areas of pollution and then taking it into large bodies of water, this is one of the major water pollution areas. Storm water pollution effects every living organism on earth. With so many contaminates going into the water that we bathe in and drink, it is becoming a major problem. With 70% of the Earth being covered in water, this is every ones concern. Thomas M. Parris said in the article Managing Storm-water, "Storm-water run off is a major source of water pollution. When rain falls or snow melts, it picks up debris, chemicals, dirt, and other pollutants and often flows directly into lakes, streams, wet lands, and coastal waters.". With the proper analysis of risk and management, storm-water run off can

Sliva and Dudley Williams gathered information that with increased urban land use, there were increased chemical fluxes, and their data they gathered from increased agricultural land use disagreed with the results of other similar studies. They determined major trends in water quality and where pollution could potentially be derived from (Sliva & Dudley-Williams, 2001).

The amount of runoff water is generally increased due to the removal of vegetation and the rise in impervious areas, resulting in a rise in the frequency and magnitude of floods. The change in land use has a considerable effect on the surface run-off of a watershed (Mondal et al. 2014). Moreover, the increased stream flow power alter the shape of channels and sediment supplies are disturbed. The reduction of perviousness also results in a reduction in groundwater. Finally, the quality of water is lowered due to urban sources of

Runoff is a portion of the precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water that occurs in uncontrolled surface streams, rivers, drains or sewers. It may be classified according to speed of appearance after rainfall or melting snow as direct runoff or base runoff, and according to source as surface runoff, storm interflow, or groundwater runoff.

Stormwater carries pollution from cities into rivers and lakes, yet most cities do not take sufficient measures to prevent run-off. According to the EPA, 40 percent of US rivers and lakes surveyed do not meet water quality standards. Urban runoff is one of the key culprits.

Gray infrastructure drainage features do not treat runoff, but instead simply move water from areas of human activity to local waterways. In urbanized coastal environments runoff collects and carries various pollutants to surface waters, including bays and estuaries, through MS4 systems. Thus increased precipitation will result in higher levels of untreated runoff entering waterways. Of more immediate concern is the fact that present infrastructure features are simply not equipped to handle peak runoff flows during extreme precipitation events and are often quickly overwhelmed. In fact, most municipal stormwater features are only designed to handle 2-5 year storms(Semadeni-Davies et al, 2008; Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc., 2009). In addition, the urban runoff measurements and time-series data used by engineers in infrastructure design are often limited and do not take into account the uniqueness of the urban hydrologic environment. The urban water cycle is greatly affected by human activity and large amounts of impervious surfaces can increase runoff quantities and

The ecosystem of the Mississippi River has deteriorated due to the exploitation of the land surrounding the river, the Mississippi River Basin, for agricultural large-scale agricultural use or agribusiness. One of the most significant contributors to the degradation of the river’s ecosystem is the utilization of synthetic fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers were an important component of the Green Revolution, a major transformation in the way food was produced worldwide. These fertilizers applied to crops in this region, eventually runoff and find their way into the Mississippi, where their effects on the water quality and ecosystem are substantial, the most notable of which, is eutrophication. Eutrophication is a naturally occurring process but humans have affected this process at unprecedented levels. Anthropogenic contributions to eutrophication mainly include sewage and agricultural runoff (Lund, 372). This paper focuses on the agricultural runoff aspect of water pollution and

This study examines urban pollution within Derechos Humanos, a colonia popular in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. General water quality indicators (coliform bacteria, total dissolved solids, ecologically relevant cations and anions), heavy metals (copper, lead, nickel, zinc, iron and cadmium), and volatile organic compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, styrene, and dichlorobenzene and xylene isomers) were quantified within a wastewater canal running adjacent to the community. Water samples were collected at multiple sites along the banks of the canal and evidence of anthropogenic emissions existed at each sampling location. Sample site 2, approximately 10 m upstream of the colonia, contained both the widest range of hazardous pollutants

The Village of Seawolf is currently under contemplation of undertaking a Stormwater Remediation Project, which will reduce storm water runoff into University Bay. As a result of the flow of this storm water runoff from the village roads and into University Bay, the local bathing beach and bed of hard clams have undergone closure for an undetermined period of time. The Village of Seawolf will vote on whether or not to undertake this Stormwater Remediation Project based on the cost, as well as if the project will be beneficial or not.

HSPF is a mixed land use (e.g., forest, agriculture, urban) model, which represents the landscape as pervious, impervious, and reach segments (water bodies). Because HSPF is used for setting Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) development and TMDL implementation plans, the model must evaluate effectiveness with which agricultural and urban BMPs reduce runoff and associated water quality loadings to receiving water bodies. Depending on data availability and modeling objectives, different BMP modeling options are available to HSPF users. For explicit modeling of BMP effectiveness evaluations, the BMP Reach Tool (BRT) models urban BMPs. In general, , BMPs can either be modeled implicitly using pollutant removal fractions with BMPrac or explicitly using actual BMP representation and simulation with BRT. Both tools are applicable to urban and non-urban watersheds, but we recommend BRT for urban watersheds with sewer networks and green infrastructure systems (e.g., green roofs and permeable pavements). Note that BRT requires site-specific meteorological input data and specific BMP input data, but BMPrac does require less effort to model BMPs.