Urbanization and the Disruption of Matter and Energy Flows within Watersheds - Urban Watersheds: Geology, Contamination, and Sustainable Development - page 430

Urbanization

3

Population density
increases

Building density
increases

C

1 2

4

Waterborne waste
increases

Water demand
rises

Impervious area
increases

Drainage system
modified

Urban climate
changes

Water shortages

C

Flow velocity
increases

Stormwater quality
deteriorates

Groundwater
recharge declines

Runoff volume
increases

Receiving water
quality
deteriorates

Peak runoff rate
increases

Lag time and time
base increase

Baseflow declines

Flood control
problems

Pollution control
problems

B C

A C

A B C

A: Stormwater runoff

B: Groundwater depletion/contamination

C: Habitat fragmentation/disturbance

FIGURE 12.8
Water problems associated with urbanization. The numbers are used to assist with column references in the
discussion. (Reprinted from Landsc. Urban Plann ., 36, Kaufman, M. and Marsh, W., Hydro-ecological implica-
tions of edge cities, 277-290, 1997, with permission from Elsevier.)

volumes would therefore result in less contamination delivered into streams, wetlands,
lakes, and seas.

12.4.2.1 Case Study

The experience of one community in the Rouge watershed in southeast Michigan illus-
trates the environmental disruption caused by stormwater and by the first attempts to
control its impacts.
Novi, Michigan, lies in the northwest section of the Rouge watershed (Figure 12.9).
The northwest section of the watershed is dominated by moraine soils with good drain-
age, but starting in the early 1970s Novi began to have drainage problems when it rained.
The city had imported clay excavated from the construction of Detroit's freeways, which
unlike most freeways in the Unites States were built below the ground. This clay from
the old lakebeds in the southeastern part of the watershed had poor infiltration capacity