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Urbanization and Water Quality

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By Water Science School September 2, 2026

Urbanization and Water Quality

Water Quality Information by Topic

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There's no end to the effects that urbanization can have on water bodies. Millions of people; landscape manipulation; waste material; dumping of chemicals and fertilizers; withdrawing water for peoples' uses. As you expect, urbanization rarely improves water quality, but in order to prevent problems, one needs to understand how urbanization affects local waters. 

•  Water Science School HOME  •  Water Quality topics  •  

Urbanization and Water Quality

To some degree, "urbanization" (people living together in groups), has been taking place since ancient times. As populations rose and people mastered techniques to grow food in fixed locations, groups of people became settlements and then towns and cities. In the United States, the speed of this urbanization picked up after World War II, and now many urban areas are growing at a record pace. What are the effects on the local hydrologic system when a rural area is turned into an area full of housing developments, shopping centers, industrial buildings, and roads?

In the table below, the left side shows changes in land and water use when urbanization occurs, and the right side shows the possible effect on the local water system.

Beginning of urbanization 

Change in Land Use: 

Effect on Water System: 

  • Remove trees and vegetation.  
  • Begin building houses, some with sewers and some with septic tanks. 
  • More sediment is washed into streams.  
  • Risk of increased flooding 
  • Increased pollution from industry and lawns 

Continuing urbanization 

Change in Land Use: 

Effect on Water System: 

  • Urbanization is further developed by the addition of more roads, houses, and commercial and industrial buildings  
  • More wastewater is discharged into local stream 
  • New water-supply and distribution systems are built to supply the growing population 
  • Reservoirs may be built to supply water 
  • Some stream channels are changed to accommodate building construction 
  • Industries might drill some deep, large-capacity wells 
  •   
  • Increased flooding as water that used to get absorbed runs off into streams 
  • Run off and flooding will carry more contaminants, such as dog poop and lawn fertilizers, into streams 
  • Increased groundwater withdrawals will lower water tables and may cause some wells to no longer produce. 
  •   

  

Local community takes steps to fix some of the problems 

Change in Land Use: 

Effect on Water System: 

  • Improvements in the storm drainage system are made 
  • Wells are drilled to recharge underground aquifers 
  • Ecologically-designed recharge ponds disperse some storm drainage to artificially recharge shallow aquifers 
  • New storm-drainage systems reduce flooding during storms 
  • Less damage is done to basements, yards, and streets 
  • Passive recharge into groundwater and delivery of contaminants to streams is increased by BMPs 
  • Water is actually injected into recharge wells to put water back into underground aquifers 
  • Reusing wastewater means less pollution, more water conservation, and additional water for recharging aquifers 

 

Media
Follow Drippy to learn more about current USGS research
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

 

 

Want to learn more about urbanization and water quality? Follow me to the Urbanization and Land Use and Water Quality website!

Below are related topics about urbanization and water quality.

Water Quality Information by Topic

Water Quality Information by Topic

What is in that water that you just drank? Is it just hydrogen and oxygen atoms? Is it safe for drinking? All water is of a certain "quality" (and you can't tell by just looking), but what does "water quality" really mean? Water full of dirt and grime might work fine for a tomato plant but would you want to drink it? Water quality can be thought of as a measure of the suitability of water for a...
By
Water Science School
Water Quality Information by Topic

Water Quality Information by Topic

What is in that water that you just drank? Is it just hydrogen and oxygen atoms? Is it safe for drinking? All water is of a certain "quality" (and you can't tell by just looking), but what does "water quality" really mean? Water full of dirt and grime might work fine for a tomato plant but would you want to drink it? Water quality can be thought of as a measure of the suitability of water for a...
Learn More
A mud-covered tire and algae in an urban creek

Urban Land Use and Water Quality

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.
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program
Urban Land Use and Water Quality

Urban Land Use and Water Quality

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.
Learn More

Below are publications associated with urbanization and water quality.

Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States Effects 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...
Authors
James 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. Stack
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Science School

Strategies for managing the effects of urban development on streams Strategies 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...
Authors
Karen Cappiella, William P. Stack, Lisa Fraley-McNeal, Cecilia Lane, Gerard McMahon
By
Water Resources Mission Area

There's no end to the effects that urbanization can have on water bodies. Millions of people; landscape manipulation; waste material; dumping of chemicals and fertilizers; withdrawing water for peoples' uses. As you expect, urbanization rarely improves water quality, but in order to prevent problems, one needs to understand how urbanization affects local waters. 

•  Water Science School HOME  •  Water Quality topics  •  

Urbanization and Water Quality

To some degree, "urbanization" (people living together in groups), has been taking place since ancient times. As populations rose and people mastered techniques to grow food in fixed locations, groups of people became settlements and then towns and cities. In the United States, the speed of this urbanization picked up after World War II, and now many urban areas are growing at a record pace. What are the effects on the local hydrologic system when a rural area is turned into an area full of housing developments, shopping centers, industrial buildings, and roads?

In the table below, the left side shows changes in land and water use when urbanization occurs, and the right side shows the possible effect on the local water system.

Beginning of urbanization 

Change in Land Use: 

Effect on Water System: 

  • Remove trees and vegetation.  
  • Begin building houses, some with sewers and some with septic tanks. 
  • More sediment is washed into streams.  
  • Risk of increased flooding 
  • Increased pollution from industry and lawns 

Continuing urbanization 

Change in Land Use: 

Effect on Water System: 

  • Urbanization is further developed by the addition of more roads, houses, and commercial and industrial buildings  
  • More wastewater is discharged into local stream 
  • New water-supply and distribution systems are built to supply the growing population 
  • Reservoirs may be built to supply water 
  • Some stream channels are changed to accommodate building construction 
  • Industries might drill some deep, large-capacity wells 
  •   
  • Increased flooding as water that used to get absorbed runs off into streams 
  • Run off and flooding will carry more contaminants, such as dog poop and lawn fertilizers, into streams 
  • Increased groundwater withdrawals will lower water tables and may cause some wells to no longer produce. 
  •   

  

Local community takes steps to fix some of the problems 

Change in Land Use: 

Effect on Water System: 

  • Improvements in the storm drainage system are made 
  • Wells are drilled to recharge underground aquifers 
  • Ecologically-designed recharge ponds disperse some storm drainage to artificially recharge shallow aquifers 
  • New storm-drainage systems reduce flooding during storms 
  • Less damage is done to basements, yards, and streets 
  • Passive recharge into groundwater and delivery of contaminants to streams is increased by BMPs 
  • Water is actually injected into recharge wells to put water back into underground aquifers 
  • Reusing wastewater means less pollution, more water conservation, and additional water for recharging aquifers 

 

Media
Follow Drippy to learn more about current USGS research
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

 

 

Want to learn more about urbanization and water quality? Follow me to the Urbanization and Land Use and Water Quality website!

Below are related topics about urbanization and water quality.

Water Quality Information by Topic

Water Quality Information by Topic

What is in that water that you just drank? Is it just hydrogen and oxygen atoms? Is it safe for drinking? All water is of a certain "quality" (and you can't tell by just looking), but what does "water quality" really mean? Water full of dirt and grime might work fine for a tomato plant but would you want to drink it? Water quality can be thought of as a measure of the suitability of water for a...
By
Water Science School
Water Quality Information by Topic

Water Quality Information by Topic

What is in that water that you just drank? Is it just hydrogen and oxygen atoms? Is it safe for drinking? All water is of a certain "quality" (and you can't tell by just looking), but what does "water quality" really mean? Water full of dirt and grime might work fine for a tomato plant but would you want to drink it? Water quality can be thought of as a measure of the suitability of water for a...
Learn More
A mud-covered tire and algae in an urban creek

Urban Land Use and Water Quality

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.
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program
Urban Land Use and Water Quality

Urban Land Use and Water Quality

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.
Learn More

Below are publications associated with urbanization and water quality.

Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States Effects 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...
Authors
James 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. Stack
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Science School

Strategies for managing the effects of urban development on streams Strategies 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...
Authors
Karen Cappiella, William P. Stack, Lisa Fraley-McNeal, Cecilia Lane, Gerard McMahon
By
Water Resources Mission Area
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