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New Hampshire Science Center |
In cooperation with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY
By Jeffrey R. Deacon, Sally A. Soule, and Thor E. Smith
U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5103
Complete text of report is available as a PDF ( 1,579 KB)
A study of selected water-quality and macroinvertebrate community data was conducted at 10 stream sites in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire to determine if a relation is present between stream quality and the extent of urbanization in a watershed. Watersheds with similar characteristics, but varying in their degree of urban development, were studied. The percent of impervious surface, the percent of urban land use in a watershed, and the percent of urban land use in two types of stream buffers were compared and correlated with stream-quality variables.
Specific conductance, turbidity, nitrite plus nitrate yields, and selected macroinvertebrate community data were significantly correlated with most measures of urbanization used in this study; however, concentrations and total phosphorus yields were not statistically correlated with most measures of urbanization in this study. The measures of urbanization that had the highest correlations with stream-quality variables were those measures that were associated with the percent of urban land in buffer zones near and upstream of a sampling site. A water-quality and habitat conditions score was negatively correlated with the percent of urban land in a 1-kilometer radial buffer of the sampling site (rho (r) = -0.86; p < 0.001), the percent of impervious surface (r = -0.70; p < 0.05), and the percent of urban land in the watershed (r = -0.67; p < 0.05). A biological condition score also was negatively correlated with the percent of urban land in a 1-kilometer radial buffer of the sampling site (r = -0.95; p < 0.0001), the percent of impervious surface (r = -0.75; p < 0.05), and the percent of urban land in the watershed (r = -0.79; p < 0.01). The percent of urban land in a 25-meter stream buffer along the stream corridor also had negative correlations with a water-quality and habitat conditions score (r = -0.80; p < 0.01) and a biological condition score (r = -0.86; p < 0.01). Mean Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa richness showed a response to urbanization in a watershed, indicating that EPT taxa richness may be an appropriate metric to evaluate the effects of urban land use on small streams in this region. Results from this study indicate that the percent of urban land use in buffer zones and the percent of impervious surface in a watershed can be used as indicators of stream quality.
Abstract
Introduction
Purpose and Scope
Description of Study Area
Data Collection and Analysis
Site Selection
Sample Collection
Data Analysis
Characterization of Physical Measurements, Water Quality, Macroinvertebrates, and Habitat at Selected Sites
Physical Measurements and Water Quality
Macroinvertebrates and Habitat
Effects of Urbanization on Stream Quality at Selected Sites
Impervious Surface and Stream-Quality Measures
Radial Buffers and Stream-Quality Measures
Stream Buffers and Stream-Quality Measures
Water-Quality and Habitat Conditions Score and the Biological Condition Score
Summary and Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
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For more information concerning the research in this report, contact:
Brian Mrazik, Director
USGS
NH-VT Water Science Center
361 Commerce Way
Pembroke, NH 03275
Web site: http://nh.water.usgs.gov
Phone: (603) 226-7807
Email: dc_nh@usgs.gov
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