The Effects of Urbanization on Groundwater Recharge in the Root River Watershed
Mentor 1
Shangping Xu
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
27-4-2018 1:00 PM
Description
Urbanization, which leads to the loss of natural forest and agricultural land, plays a significant role on the health of a groundwater system through its effect on groundwater recharge, and alteration of pre-existing hydrological processes. The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of land use change, particularly urbanization, on groundwater recharge within the Root River watershed. For this purpose, we examined the historical land use patterns within this watershed, and used the USGS program, GSflow, which is a coupled groundwater and surface-water flow model, to quantify the groundwater recharge rate. The model simulation results were then processed using GIS software and the streamflow data was incorporated into the delineation of the 100-year flood map. In future research, this modeling framework can be used to predict future changes in a groundwater system for a variety of urban environments.
The Effects of Urbanization on Groundwater Recharge in the Root River Watershed
Union Wisconsin Room
Urbanization, which leads to the loss of natural forest and agricultural land, plays a significant role on the health of a groundwater system through its effect on groundwater recharge, and alteration of pre-existing hydrological processes. The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of land use change, particularly urbanization, on groundwater recharge within the Root River watershed. For this purpose, we examined the historical land use patterns within this watershed, and used the USGS program, GSflow, which is a coupled groundwater and surface-water flow model, to quantify the groundwater recharge rate. The model simulation results were then processed using GIS software and the streamflow data was incorporated into the delineation of the 100-year flood map. In future research, this modeling framework can be used to predict future changes in a groundwater system for a variety of urban environments.
