Hydrologically Sensitive Areas, Land Use Controls, and Protection of Healthy Watersheds

Qiu, Zeyuan; Hall, C. M.; Drewes, D.; Messinger, G.; Prato, Tony; Hale, Kathy; Abs, D. Van

doi:10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0000376

Cited by 17 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The first component is a steady state wetness index, formulated from slope (β) and drainage area (α) of the watershed [36][37][38]. This index determines the potential for surface runoff within the contributing area and for each cell within the raster.…”

Section: Hsa Delineationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, a topographic index was performed to delineate HSAs, areas that are prone to generate surface runoff, within the Decker Creek and Elm Creek watersheds. The topographic index is determined with a GIS and requires a digital elevation model, soil hydraulic conductivity, and depth of soil to restrictive layers [36][37][38].…”

Section: Geospatial Database Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Siting Urban Agriculture as a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Land Use Planning in Austin, TX

Rogers

Hiner

2016

CIS

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Abstract:Green infrastructure refers to a type of land use design that mimics the natural water cycle by using the infiltration capacities of vegetation, soils, and other natural processes to mitigate stormwater runoff. As a multifunctional landscape, urban agriculture should be seen as a highly beneficial tool for urban planning not only because of its ability to function as a green stormwater management strategy, but also due to the multiple social and environmental benefits it provides. In 2012, the city of Austin adopted a major planning approach titled the "Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan" (IACP) outlining the city's vision for future growth and land use up to 2039. The plan explicitly addresses the adoption of green infrastructure as a target for future land use with urban agriculture as a central component. Addressing this area of land use planning will require tools that can locate suitable areas within the city ideal for the development of green infrastructure. In this study, a process was developed to create a spatially explicit method of siting urban agriculture as a green infrastructure tool in hydrologically sensitive areas, or areas prone to runoff, in east Austin. The method uses geospatial software to spatially analyze open access datasets that include land use, a digital elevation model, and prime farmland soils. Through this method a spatial relationship can be made between areas of high surface runoff and where the priority placement of urban farms should be sited as a useful component of green infrastructure. Planners or geospatial analysts could use such information, along with other significant factors and community input, to aid decision makers in the placement of urban agriculture. This spatially explicit approach for siting potential urban farms, will support the integration of urban agriculture as part of the land use planning of Austin.

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Section: Hsa Delineationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geospatial Database Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Siting Urban Agriculture as a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Land Use Planning in Austin, TX

Rogers

Hiner

2016

CIS

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“…Local communities have been active in protecting their natural resources for achieving the long-term sustainability of water resources in the region. The TI validation results would help the local communities to adopt spatially targeting strategies to direct their protection efforts to CSAs and therefore achieve a greater efficiency in protection [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The topographic index (TI) was first introduced as a basis for a rainfall-runoff model, the TOPography-based hydrological MODEL (TOPMODEL), which simulates the pattern of surface runoff-contributing areas following the VSA hydrology [13]. The index measures the propensity of a given point in a watershed to become saturated and act as a source area for surface runoff [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The VSA hydrology presents interesting insights regarding the complex hydrological connections between streams and their upland contributing areas and offers practical guidance on managing the upland contributing areas to achieve desired water quality in streams. The VSA hydrology has been closely linked to the delineation and management of critical source areas (CSAs) for achieving long-term water quality goals and the sustainability of managing water resources more efficiently and effectively [7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Validation of a Locally Revised Topographic Index in Central New Jersey, USA

Qiu

2015

Water

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Saturation excess is a major runoff process in humid regions such as the US Northeast. Topographic index (TI) is used to simulate the pattern of runoff-contributing areas following a saturation excess runoff process. Although TI is useful to delineate saturated areas, i.e., hydrologically sensitive areas, for taking spatially distinctive actions in watersheds for improving water quality, local resource management practitioners often question its applicability to local conditions. This study introduces two methods to validate a locally revised TI in humid central New Jersey, USA. The revised TI uses soil moisture deficit instead of water table depth as the state variable in simulating the saturation excess runoff process. First, the calculated TI values were compared to the soil moisture measurements sampled in two sites in Tewksbury Township in the region to evaluate their correlations. Second, a watershed model Variable Source Load Function (VSLF) that incorporates TI was applied to the Neshanic River Watershed in the region and compared to another watershed model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to evaluate its capability in predicting the streamflow and its runoff and baseflow components. The positive correlations between soil moisture measurements and TI suggested TI is a good indicator of runoff-generating potential. VSLF achieves a modeling efficiency comparable to SWAT in simulating watershed hydrology. Such validation gives practitioners confidence to incorporate TI pattern into watershed management practices for improving their efficiency. The results are applicable to shallow, interflow-driven watersheds in humid regions. OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 6617

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Assessing Soil Moisture Patterns Using a Soil Topographic Index in a Humid Region

Qiu

Pennock

Giri

et al. 2017

Water Resour Manage

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Hydrologically Sensitive Areas, Land Use Controls, and Protection of Healthy Watersheds

Cited by 17 publications

References 26 publications

Siting Urban Agriculture as a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Land Use Planning in Austin, TX

Siting Urban Agriculture as a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Land Use Planning in Austin, TX

Validation of a Locally Revised Topographic Index in Central New Jersey, USA

Assessing Soil Moisture Patterns Using a Soil Topographic Index in a Humid Region

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