Urban Land Use and Water Quality Active
The Stream in Our Backyard: A Treasure ...
… Or A Blight
Wherever you live, there’s a creek or stream near you. The eighty percent of Americans who live in metropolitan areas are often unaware of the network of urban creeks—many teeming with life—that weaves through our cities and town. Nowhere are the environmental changes associated with urban development more evident than in urban streams.
In urbanized areas, small streams are often overlooked or forgotten, but these streams can reduce contamination, ease flash flooding, and improve the esthetics and livability of our daily environment.
Contaminants, habitat destruction, and streamflow flashiness resulting from urban development disrupt biological communities, particularly sensitive aquatic species. Every stream is connected downstream to larger water bodies, including rivers, reservoirs, and ultimately coastal waters. Inputs of chemical contaminants or sediments at any point along the stream can cause degradation of water quality downstream, harming biological communities and economically valuable resources, such as fisheries and tourism. It’s therefore important to know which urban-related stressors are most closely linked to biological community degradation, and how multiple stressors can be managed to protect stream health as a watershed becomes increasingly urbanized.
Water Quality and Ecology of Small Streams (RSQA)
The USGS Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) is studying the relations between stressors (chemical and physical) and stream ecology (fish, algae, and aquatic invertebrates) at hundreds of small streams across five major regions of the United States. Users can access an online mapping tool to compare water quality at small streams across a region, see scorecards that summarize stream health at each stream site, and download data for hundreds of chemical compounds.
Effects of Urban Development on Stream Ecosystems
In response to concerns about the degradation of urban streams, the USGS did a national-scale, scientific investigation of the effects of urban development on stream ecosystems. A nationally consistent study design was used in nine metropolitan areas of the United States—Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Dallas, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Read this comprehensive study of effects of urban development on stream ecosystems and learn about strategies for managing the effects of development.
Streamflow Alteration
Humans, just like aquatic organisms, need water, but flood control, urban infrastructure, and myriad other ways we manage water affect the natural flow of streams and rivers. Learn how the ways we manage land and water affects the natural patterns of streamflow and the ecosystems that depend on them.
PAHs, Coal-Tar Sealcoat, and Environmental Health
A commonly used product in urban and suburban areas, coal-tar-based pavement sealcoat, is contributing to toxicity in streams. Coal-tar-based sealcoat, a potent source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is applied to many asphalt driveways and parking lots across much of the central, eastern, and southern U.S. Read about the toxicity of runoff and particles washed from coal-tar-sealcoated surfaces in a 6-page, color fact sheet.
Urban Land Use and Groundwater Quality
The effects of our daily lives on groundwater quality are apparent in the concentrations of nitrate, pesticides, and other manmade chemicals found in shallow groundwater beneath urban and suburban land. The USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project characterized the quality of recently recharged groundwater in residential settings, typically with low to medium population densities (300 to 5,600 people per square mile). Read about the relations between urban land use and salinity, nitrate, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds in groundwater.
Lake and Reservoir Sediment Records the Effects of Urbanization
Many chemicals associated with urban and suburban activities—pesticides, PAHs, metals—adhere to sediment and are deposited at the bottoms of lakes and reservoirs. By collecting cores of sediment and analyzing if for chemicals in the oldest sediments at the bottom of the core to the most recently deposited sediments at the top, we can see how urbanization in the watershed has affected sediment quality through time.
Interested in more water quality topics?
► Learn about the effects of agriculture on stream quality
Learn more about topics related to urban development and other surface-water quality topics.
Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)
Follow the links below to access data or web applications associated with urbanization and water quality.
Find links to recent publications about urban and suburban land use and water quality and ecology below. More publications on water-quality science can be found at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Nutrient enrichment in wadeable urban streams in the piedmont ecoregion of the southeastern United States
Juvenile coho salmon growth and health in streams across an urbanization gradient
Increasing chloride in rivers of the conterminous U.S. and linkages to potential corrosivity and lead action level exceedances in drinking water
Metformin and other pharmaceuticals widespread in wadeable streams of the southeastern United States
Coal-tar-based pavement sealcoat—Potential concerns for human health and aquatic life
U.S. conterminous wall-to-wall anthropogenic land use trends (NWALT), 1974–2012
Effects of urbanization on mercury deposition and accumulation in New England
PAH concentrations in lake sediment decline following ban on coal-tar-based pavement sealants in Austin, Texas
Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States
Strategies for managing the effects of urban development on streams
Trends in hydrophobic organic contaminants in urban and reference lake sediments across the United States, 1970-2001
Below are news stories associated with this project.
Isotopic tracers in fish in Northeast provide clue to mercury sources
Isotopes of mercury in fish can indicate the source of that mercury, reports a new study from the USGS Regional Stream Quality Assessment.
- Overview
Wherever you live, there’s a creek or stream near you. The eighty percent of Americans who live in metropolitan areas are often unaware of the network of urban creeks—many teeming with life—that weaves through our cities and town. Nowhere are the environmental changes associated with urban development more evident than in urban streams.
In urbanized areas, small streams are often overlooked or forgotten, but these streams can reduce contamination, ease flash flooding, and improve the esthetics and livability of our daily environment.
Contaminants, habitat destruction, and streamflow flashiness resulting from urban development disrupt biological communities, particularly sensitive aquatic species. Every stream is connected downstream to larger water bodies, including rivers, reservoirs, and ultimately coastal waters. Inputs of chemical contaminants or sediments at any point along the stream can cause degradation of water quality downstream, harming biological communities and economically valuable resources, such as fisheries and tourism. It’s therefore important to know which urban-related stressors are most closely linked to biological community degradation, and how multiple stressors can be managed to protect stream health as a watershed becomes increasingly urbanized.
Water Quality and Ecology of Small Streams (RSQA)
The USGS Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) is studying the relations between stressors (chemical and physical) and stream ecology (fish, algae, and aquatic invertebrates) at hundreds of small streams across five major regions of the United States. Users can access an online mapping tool to compare water quality at small streams across a region, see scorecards that summarize stream health at each stream site, and download data for hundreds of chemical compounds.Effects of Urban Development on Stream Ecosystems
In response to concerns about the degradation of urban streams, the USGS did a national-scale, scientific investigation of the effects of urban development on stream ecosystems. A nationally consistent study design was used in nine metropolitan areas of the United States—Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Dallas, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Read this comprehensive study of effects of urban development on stream ecosystems and learn about strategies for managing the effects of development.Streamflow Alteration
Humans, just like aquatic organisms, need water, but flood control, urban infrastructure, and myriad other ways we manage water affect the natural flow of streams and rivers. Learn how the ways we manage land and water affects the natural patterns of streamflow and the ecosystems that depend on them.PAHs, Coal-Tar Sealcoat, and Environmental Health
A commonly used product in urban and suburban areas, coal-tar-based pavement sealcoat, is contributing to toxicity in streams. Coal-tar-based sealcoat, a potent source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is applied to many asphalt driveways and parking lots across much of the central, eastern, and southern U.S. Read about the toxicity of runoff and particles washed from coal-tar-sealcoated surfaces in a 6-page, color fact sheet.Urban Land Use and Groundwater Quality
The effects of our daily lives on groundwater quality are apparent in the concentrations of nitrate, pesticides, and other manmade chemicals found in shallow groundwater beneath urban and suburban land. The USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project characterized the quality of recently recharged groundwater in residential settings, typically with low to medium population densities (300 to 5,600 people per square mile). Read about the relations between urban land use and salinity, nitrate, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds in groundwater.Lake and Reservoir Sediment Records the Effects of Urbanization
Many chemicals associated with urban and suburban activities—pesticides, PAHs, metals—adhere to sediment and are deposited at the bottoms of lakes and reservoirs. By collecting cores of sediment and analyzing if for chemicals in the oldest sediments at the bottom of the core to the most recently deposited sediments at the top, we can see how urbanization in the watershed has affected sediment quality through time.
Interested in more water quality topics?
► Learn about the effects of agriculture on stream quality - Science
Learn more about topics related to urban development and other surface-water quality topics.
Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)
The goals of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) are to characterize multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life (contaminants, nutrients, sediment, and streamflow alteration) and to develop a better understanding of the relation of these stressors to ecological conditions in streams throughout the region. - Data
Follow the links below to access data or web applications associated with urbanization and water quality.
- Publications
Find links to recent publications about urban and suburban land use and water quality and ecology below. More publications on water-quality science can be found at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 23Nutrient enrichment in wadeable urban streams in the piedmont ecoregion of the southeastern United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southeastern Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA) collected weekly samples for nitrogen and phosphorus in 76 wadeable streams in the urbanized Piedmont ecoregion of the Southeastern United States, during April–June 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) concentrations in excess of EPA guidelines and statistically greater than at reference locations indicated nitrogen-nutrient enrAuthorsCeleste A. Journey, Peter C. Van Metre, Daniel T. Button, Jimmy M. Clark, Mark D. Munn, Naomi Nakagaki, Sharon L. Qi, Ian R. Waite, Paul M. BradleyJuvenile coho salmon growth and health in streams across an urbanization gradient
Expanding human population and urbanization alters freshwater systems through structural changes to habitat, temperature effects from increased runoff and reduced canopy cover, altered flows, and increased toxicants. Current stream assessments stop short of measuring health or condition of species utilizing these freshwater habitats and fail to link specific stressors mechanistically to the healthAuthorsAndrew R. Spanjer, Patrick W. Moran, Kimberly Larsen, Lisa Wetzel, Adam G. Hansen, David A. BeauchampIncreasing chloride in rivers of the conterminous U.S. and linkages to potential corrosivity and lead action level exceedances in drinking water
Corrosion in water-distribution systems is a costly problem and controlling corrosion is a primary focus of efforts to reduce lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) in tap water. High chloride concentrations can increase the tendency of water to cause corrosion in distribution systems. The effects of chloride are also expressed in several indices commonly used to describe the potential corrosivity of water, thAuthorsEdward G. Stets, Casey J. Lee, Darren A. Lytle, Michael R. SchockMetformin and other pharmaceuticals widespread in wadeable streams of the southeastern United States
Pharmaceutical contaminants are growing aquatic-health concerns and largely attributed to wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) discharges. Five biweekly water samples from 59 small Piedmont (United States) streams were analyzed for 108 pharmaceuticals and degradates using high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. The antidiabetic metformin was detected in 89% of samplesAuthorsPaul M. Bradley, Celeste A. Journey, Daniel T. Button, Daren Carlisle, Jimmy M. Clark, Barbara Mahler, Naomi Nakagaki, Sharon L. Qi, Ian R. Waite, Peter C. Van MetreCoal-tar-based pavement sealcoat—Potential concerns for human health and aquatic life
Introduction Sealcoat is the black, viscous liquid sprayed or painted on many asphalt parking lots, driveways, and playgrounds to protect and enhance the appearance of the underlying asphalt. Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), academic institutions, and State and local agencies have identified coal-tar-based pavement sealcoat as a major source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) coAuthorsBarbara Mahler, Michael D. Woodside, Peter C. Van MetreU.S. conterminous wall-to-wall anthropogenic land use trends (NWALT), 1974–2012
This dataset provides a U.S. national 60-meter, 19-class mapping of anthropogenic land uses for five time periods: 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012. The 2012 dataset is based on a slightly modified version of the National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD 2011) that was recoded to a schema of land uses, and mapped back in time to develop datasets for the four earlier eras. The time periods coincide wAuthorsJames A. FalconeEffects of urbanization on mercury deposition and accumulation in New England
We compare total mercury (HgT) loading and methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in streams and lakes from an urbanized area (Boston, Massachusetts) to rural regions of southern New Hampshire and Maine. The maximum HgT loading, as indicated by HgT atmospheric deposition, HgT emissions, and sediment HgT concentrations, did not coincide with maximum MeHg concentrations in fish. Urbanized ecosystems wereAuthorsAnn T. Chalmers, David P. Krabbenhoft, Peter C. Van Metre, Mark A. NillesPAH concentrations in lake sediment decline following ban on coal-tar-based pavement sealants in Austin, Texas
Recent studies have concluded that coal-tar-based pavement sealants are a major source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban settings in large parts of the United States. In 2006, Austin, TX, became the first jurisdiction in the U.S. to ban the use of coal-tar sealants. We evaluated the effect of Austin’s ban by analyzing PAHs in sediment cores and bottom-sediment samples collected iAuthorsPeter C. Van Metre, Barbara MahlerEffects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States
Urban development is an important agent of environmental change in the United States. The urban footprint on the American landscape has expanded during a century and a half of almost continuous development. Eighty percent of Americans now live in metropolitan areas, and the advantages and challenges of living in these developed areas—convenience, congestion, employment, pollution—are part of the dAuthorsJames F. Coles, Gerard McMahon, Amanda H. Bell, Larry R. Brown, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Michael D. Woodside, Thomas F. Cuffney, Wade L. Bryant, Karen Cappiella, Lisa Fraley-McNeal, William P. StackStrategies for managing the effects of urban development on streams
Urban development remains an important agent of environmental change in the United States. The U.S. population grew by 17 percent from 1982 to 1997, while urbanized land area grew by 47 percent, suggesting that urban land consumption far outpaced population growth (Fulton and others, 2001; Sierra Club, 2003; American Farmland Trust, 2009). Eighty percent of Americans now live in metropolitan areasAuthorsKaren Cappiella, William P. Stack, Lisa Fraley-McNeal, Cecilia Lane, Gerard McMahonTrends in hydrophobic organic contaminants in urban and reference lake sediments across the United States, 1970-2001
A shift in national policy toward stronger environmental protection began in the United States in about 1970. Conversely, urban land use, population, energy consumption, and vehicle use have increased greatly since then. To assess the effects of these changes on water quality, the U.S. Geological Survey used sediment cores to reconstruct water-quality histories for38 urban and reference lakes acroAuthorsP. C. Van Metre, B.J. Mahler - News
Below are news stories associated with this project.
Isotopic tracers in fish in Northeast provide clue to mercury sources
Isotopes of mercury in fish can indicate the source of that mercury, reports a new study from the USGS Regional Stream Quality Assessment.