Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Understanding the Effects of Stormwater Management Practices on Water Quality and Flow Active

By South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) October 3, 2018

Urban development can have detrimental impacts on streams including altering hydrology, increasing nutrient, sediment, and pollutant loadings, and degrading biological integrity. Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) can be used to mitigate the effects of urban development by retaining large volumes of stormwater runoff and treating runoff to remove pollutants. This project focuses on understanding how the presence, type, and spatial pattern of urban stormwater BMPs in a watershed impacts ecosystem processes and function.

Aerial view of development.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Aerial view of development. (Public domain.)

Research Objectives:

Location of study watersheds in Clarksburg, Maryland.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Location of study watersheds in Clarksburg, Maryland. (Public domain.)

Better understand the effects of stormwater BMPs on water quality, water quantity, groundwater recharge, geomorphology, denitrification potential, and benthic macroinvertebrate communities.

Study Area:

We are studying the use of stormwater BMPs in watersheds located within the Clarksburg Special Protection Area in Montgomery County, Maryland. Clarksburg is a suburb of Washington, DC, located approximately 30 miles northwest of Washington DC. We are monitoring a forested watershed, an urban control watershed, and three urban treatment watersheds that have housing developments with a high density of stormwater BMPs that were designed to retain and infiltrate stormwater.

The U.S Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection have monitored conditions in these watersheds since 2004. The project team is currently expanding this research to include urbanizing areas in the southeastern US.

Streamflow, Groundwater, and Water Quality Monitoring: 

We use streamgages and precipitation gages to assess hydrologic alterations by comparing the frequency, magnitude, timing, and rate of change of stormflow events in watersheds with different types and densities of BMPs.  We monitor groundwater levels in shallow wells to assess the impacts of infiltration-focused BMPs on groundwater recharge and water table fluctuations. We collect water quality samples during baseflow and stormflow conditions to monitor differences in sediment, nutrient, and bacteria concentrations in the study watersheds. Soil samples are collected to identify soil microbial community structure and function, with a focus on soil denitrifiers.

Images of how and why we monitor various water parameters.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Monitoring water quality, hydrology, and soils to understand the effects of stormwater management practices. (Public domain.)

Detecting Geomorphic Changes: 

Hillshade showing topographic changes before and after suburban develop
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Hillshade showing topographic changes before and after suburban develop in Tributary 104 located in Clarksburg, MD. Left photo is from 2002 (pre-development) and right photo is from 2013 (post-development). (Public domain.)

Repeat lidar-derived digital elevation models and field surveys are being used to assess changes in topography and stream geomorphology in watersheds undergoing urban development. These datasets allow us to track changes to overland flow paths, hydrologic connectivity between impervious surface and the stream network, and stream channel geometry during and after watershed development. Tracking geomorphic change provides insight into the movement water and sediment through the landscape.

 

Related Publications: 

Groundwater recharge amidst focused stormwater infiltration

 

Below are data or web applications associated with this project.

 

Geomorphic metrics across four catchments in Clarksburg, Maryland, 2002-19

This dataset contains geomorphic metrics across 32 cross-sections at four catchments within the Clarksburg Special Protection Area in Montgomery County, Maryland. These data were derived from raw cross-sectional data collected by the Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Environmental Protection. Geomorphic metrics include channel area, bed location, channel depth, channel width, and bank move
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, New Jersey Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Stream cross-section, benthic macroinvertebrate and fish taxa counts and abundance, and water chemistry data for the Clarksburg study area in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1992 - 2020

Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Environmental Protection has collected datasets to assess the health of streams since the early 1990s. Datasets include geomorphic stream cross-sectional surveys, fish and benthic macroinvertebrate counts and taxa abundance, and water chemistry data collected at the time of benthic and fish sampling (dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, air temperat
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, New Jersey Water Science Center

Lidar-derived digital elevation models in Clarksburg, MD representing the years 2002, 2008, 2013, and 2018

This is a collection of 3 ft resolution digital elevation model derived from light detection and ranging (lidar). Lidar was collected in 2002, 2008, 2013, and 2018. Coverage includes a portion of Clarksburg, Maryland, focused around the Clarksburg Special Protection Area (CSPA). Overall extent varies between each dataset, but all digital elevation models are aligned together with consistent overla
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Ephemeral channel heads and digital elevation models used to extract stream networks in Clarksburg, MD (ver. 2.0, October 2021)

This dataset describes the location of channel heads survyed in two headwater watersheds in Clarksburg, Montgomery County, Maryland, and the digital elevation models derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) covering the two watersheds. The digital elevation models were used to derive topographic attributes used to delineate drainage networks that were then assessed for accuracy using the f
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Soil characteristics and microbial taxonomy in selected urban stormwater best management practices (BMPs) in Clarksburg, MD, 2015

The data were gathered as a preliminary assessment of soil microbiology and conditions in selected urban stormwater best management practices (BMPs) in Clarksburg, MD. Four bioretention facilities (BF), four dry ponds (DP), and four surface sand filters (SSF) were selected. Three samples were taken from each BMP (a single sample from one dry swale (DS) was also collected). BMPs were selected based
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Streamflow and precipitation event statistics for treatment, urban control, and forested control watersheds in Clarksburg, MD USA (2004-2018)

This dataset describes streamflow and precipitation event statistics for four watersheds located in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA. Streamflow and precipitation events were identified from fourteen years of sub-daily (5- and 15-minute) monitoring data from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2018. A 6-hour inter-event window was used to define discrete streamflow and precipitation events. The followi
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Land Use Land Cover for Selected Basins in Clarksburg, Montgomery County, MD

This dataset contains digitized land use/land cover (LULC) for the years 2011, 2015, and 2017. The dataset contains a 1-meter resolution raster maps for each year covering the geographic area for six watersheds within and near the Clarksburg Special Protection Area located in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. The area includes LULC within 500-foot buffered watersheds. Watershed boundaries for Cabi
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Land Use Land Cover, 1998 - 2013, Clarksburg (Montgomery County, MD)

This dataset contains digitized land use/land cover (LULC) polygons for years between 1998 and 2013 for six watersheds within and near the Clarksburg Special Protection Area located in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. Each polygon is representative of the LULC for a specific year within 500-foot buffered watersheds. Watershed boundaries for Cabin Branch (CB), Crystal Rock (CR), Soper Branch (SB),
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, New Jersey Water Science Center

Crystal Rock and Trib. 104 Histogram and Sewershed Data Release

This USGS data release represents the Monte Carlo modeling output for 1) the watershed histograms and 2) mean pollutant removals in the sewersheds in two study watersheds with differing spatial patterns of BMP design (traditional and LID). The data release was produced in compliance with the "open data" requirements as a way to make the scientific products associated with USGS research efforts and

Water quality data for urban (centralized versus distributed stormwater management) and forested reference watersheds in Clarksburg, MD (2004-2016)

This dataset describes baseflow and stormflow concentration data for the constituents of nitrogen and phosphorus and suspended sediments for watersheds included in a paired watershed study including a forested reference watershed and two urban watersheds with centralized or decentralized stormwater management in Clarksburg, Maryland USA USA. Surface water samples were collected between the years 2
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities

The videos below contain the same content, the video on the right offers "Closed Captioning" and "Audio Descriptions" for increased accessibility.

Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater". link
Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater". link

Below are publications associated with this project.

Filter Total Items: 22

Urbanization and stream ecology: Moving the bar on multidisciplinary solutions to wicked urban stream problems

Decades of research on the effects of urbanization on stream ecology have shown that urban stream problems are inherently wicked. These problems are wicked in the sense that they are difficult to solve because information is incomplete, changing, or conflicting and because finding potential solutions often requires input from stakeholders who can have conflicting and competing values. The 5th Symp
By
Water Resources, Cooperative Research Units, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Tracking geomorphic changes after suburban development with a high density of green stormwater infrastructure practices in Montgomery County, Maryland

Stream morphology is affected by changes on the surrounding landscape. Understanding the effects of urbanization on stream morphology is a critical factor for land managers to maintain and improve vulnerable stream corridors in urbanizing landscapes. Stormwater practices are used in urban landscapes to manage runoff volumes and peak flows, potentially mitigating alterations to the flow regime that
By
Water Resources, Chesapeake Bay Activities, New Jersey Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Utah Water Science Center

Closing the gap on wicked urban stream restoration problems: A framework to integrate science and community values

Restoring the health of urban streams has many of the characteristics of a wicked problem. Addressing a wicked problem requires managers, academics, practitioners, and community members to make negotiated tradeoffs and compromises to satisfy the values and perspectives of diverse stakeholders involved in setting restoration project goals and objectives. We conducted a gap analysis on 11 urban stre
By
Water Resources, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Lessons learned from 20 y of monitoring suburban development with distributed stormwater management in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA

Urban development is a well-known stressor for stream ecosystems, presenting a challenge to managers tasked with mitigating its effects. For the past 20 y, streamflow, water quality, geomorphology, and benthic communities were monitored in 5 watersheds in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. This study presents a synthesis of multiple studies of monitoring efforts in the study area and new analysis o
By
Water Resources, Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

A call to record stormwater control functions and to share network data

Urban stormwater is an ongoing contributor to the degradation of the health of many watersheds and water bodies. In the United States, federal regulations (e.g., Clean Water Act) require monitoring and reporting of relevant water quality metrics in regulated waterbodies to ensure standards are being met, but decisions about how to manage urban stormwater are left up to state or other local agencie
By
Water Resources, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

The presence of denitrifiers in bacterial communities of urban stormwater best management practices (BMPs)

Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are engineered structures that attempt to mitigate the impacts of stormwater, which can include nitrogen inputs from the surrounding drainage area. The goal of this study was to assess bacterial community composition in different types of stormwater BMP soils to establish whether a particular BMP type harbors more denitrification potential. Soil sampling
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Piloting urban ecosystem accounting for the United States

In this study, we develop urban ecosystem accounts in the U.S., using the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA) framework. Most ecosystem accounts focus on regional and national scales, which are appropriate for many ecosystem services. However, ecosystems provide substantial services in cities, improving quality of life and contributing to resili
By
Water Resources, Science and Decisions Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Hydrologic signals and surprises in U.S. streamflow records during urbanization

Urban development has been observed to lead to variable magnitudes of change for stormflow volume and directions of baseflow change across cities. This work examines temporal streamflow trends across the flow duration curve in 53 watersheds during periods of peak urban development, which ranged from 1939 to 2016. We used U.S. Geological Survey streamgage records combined with pre‐development and u
By
Water Resources, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Stormwater control impacts on runoff volume and peak flow: A meta-analysis of watershed modelling studies

Decades of research has concluded that the percent of impervious surface cover in a watershed is strongly linked to negative impacts on urban stream health. Recently, there has been a push by municipalities to offset these effects by installing structural stormwater control measures (SCMs), which are landscape features designed to retain and reduce runoff to mitigate the effects of urbanisation on
By
Water Resources, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Seasonal drivers of chemical and hydrological patterns in roadside infiltration-based green infrastructure

Infiltration-based green infrastructure has become a popular means of reducing stormwater hazards in urban areas. However, the long-term effects of green infrastructure on the geochemistry of roadside environments are poorly defined, particularly given the considerable roadside legacy metal contamination from historic industrial activity and vehicle emissions (e.g., Pb). Most current research on g
By
Water Resources, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Changes in event‐based streamflow magnitude and timing after suburban development with infiltration‐based stormwater management

Green stormwater infrastructure implementation in urban watersheds has outpaced our understanding of practice effectiveness on streamflow response to precipitation events. Long‐term monitoring of experimental urban watersheds in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA, provided an opportunity to examine changes in event‐based streamflow metrics in two treatment watersheds that transitioned from agriculture to s
By
Water Resources, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Influence of governance structure on green stormwater infrastructure investment

Communities are faced with the challenge of meeting regulatory requirements mandating reductions in water pollution from stormwater and combined sewer overflows (CSO). Green stormwater infrastructure and gray stormwater infrastructure are two types of water management strategies communities can use to address water pollution. In this study, we used long-term control plans from 25 U.S. cities to sy
By
Water Resources, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Below are partners associated with this project.

Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Environmental Protection