Preventing Ecological Deterioration of Streams

摘要

A recent study funded and managed by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF; Alexandria, Va.) details a protocol that could prevent severe ecological deterioration of urban streams.rnAccording to the executive summary of the study, changes in land use, especially urbanization, can affect runoff characteristics and the aquatic environments of streams receiving the runoff. A pilot study of eight wa-rntersheds with a gradient of urban development in the North Carolina Piedmont demonstrated that the hydrologic metric (a measure of time over a multiyear record during which the flow is greater than the average flow) responds to changesrnin land use and to alternative runoff control scenarios. The research team also found that the ecological health of streams is responsive to the hydro-logic metric.