Land Use and Impervious Cover in the Chesapeake Bay Region

• Published in: Watershed protection techniques Vol. 3; no. 4; pp. 835 - 840
• Main Authors: Cappiella, K, Brown, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.2001
• Subjects: Brackish; USA, Chesapeake Bay; ANW, USA, Chesapeake Bay
• ISSN: 1073-9610

Recent research has revealed a strong relationship between impervious cover and various indicators of stream quality. But while more than 40 scientific studies have confirmed this general relationship in different regions of the country (Sturm, in press), only a handful have directly examined how much impervious cover is produced by different urban land uses or zoning categories. And certainly, accurate estimates of current and future impervious cover are critical to rapid urban watershed planning (CWP, 1998a). Impervious cover is an excellent index of watershed development, and can be used to predict potential stream quality within subwatersheds, identify which are most vulnerable to future development, and guide watershed zoning and protection efforts. Impervious cover is also a fundamental input to most models that predict runoff or pollutant loadings in watersheds, regardless of whether they are simple or complex.