Effects of Urbanization on the Onion Creek Watershed
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Transcript of Effects of Urbanization on the Onion Creek Watershed
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Effects of Urbanization on the Onion Creek Watershed
Laura Gundlach
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Effects of Urbanization on the Hydrograph
• Increased Impervious Cover and Improved Drainage Systems cause:– Higher Peak Flows– Shorter Lag Times– Higher Total Runoff
Volumes
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Other Effects of Urbanization…
• Less Recharge of Aquifers
• Water Quality Degrades– Water running off of
impervious areas, such as roads and parking lots, can contain a lot of contaminants, such as oil and garbage
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Project Goals
• Quantify the effects of urbanization on a real hydrograph– Create a working basin model in HEC-HMS– Find the hydrograph for a given storm– Modify the land use data to include more
development– Compare the new hydrograph to the control
• Learn how to find data, use ArcGIS, and use HEC-HMS
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Onion Creek Watershed
Red indicates the intensity of impervious cover From National Land Cover Database
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Why Onion Creek?
• Readily Available Data– CAPCOG
• Coming Under Increasing Development Pressure– Includes much of
South Austin, Buda– Lower end contains
the Airport
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Defining the Level of Detail
• Using data from NDHPlus – 187 catchments
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Defining the Level of Detail
• Using 12 digit Hydrologic Unit Codes – 9 Subwatersheds containing Onion Creek
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HEC-HMS Development
• Basin Model– 9 Subbasins– 6 Reaches– 7 Junctions
• Meteorlogic Model– SCS Storm
• Control Specifications
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Subbasins
• Baseflow– Assumed none
• Limited Streamflow Gages in the Area
• Interested in the difference in the hydrographs
• Transform Method– SCS Unit Hydrograph
• Requires a Parameter of Lag Time = .8*Tc ?
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Time of Concentration
• TxDot Hydraulic Design Manual Nomographs– Overland Sheet Flow to
Stream– Stream Flow to Junction
• Times are Additive
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Subbasins
• Loss Method– SCS Curve Number
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Routing• Muskingum Routing
– Assumed x = .2, average for natural streams
– Assumed K = Travel Time through reach• Found each Reach Distance• Assumed v = 2 ft/s
• Easily Weakest Parameters in Model– Could not back calculate
parameters because gages do not exist at each outflow point
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Precipitation Model
• NWS TP-40 Rainfall Depth (5.5”) for an SCS Type 3 Storm
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Control Specifications and… Go!
Impatiently Waiting…
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Worked!
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“Urbanizing” the Watershed
• Chose to make projections about growth in Buda (Subbasin 14), in South Austin (12), and around the Airport (13)
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• Modified the percentage of the area with specific land uses
• Found a new “urbanized” curve number
Basin 12 (South Austin)
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“Future” Run
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Comparison of Results
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Junction 7 Hydrographs
Original Urbanized
Junction 7
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Quantitative agree with Qualitative?
• Assumptions from Slide Two - Increased Impervious Cover and Improved Drainage Systems cause:– Higher Peak Flows– Shorter Lag Times– Higher Total Runoff Volumes
YESYES
YES
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Conclusions
• Quantitative results agreed with qualitative assumptions, but the effect was not as dramatic as I hoped– Lag Time increased only by 1 hour 12 minutes– Hardly a recognizable difference in hydrographs
• To adequately route flows, coefficients should be back calculated
• I wish I would have taken GIS in the fall.
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Still to do…
• Write report• Take GIS in the fall
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Questions?Electric Peak – Yellowstone National Park
Never to be urbanized…