Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Lee R. Skabelund / Throughout the history of Kansas City, the Brush Creek Corridor has experienced severe flooding which, on numerous occasions, has resulted in loss of life. This urban stream supports a high profile area of the city. It is located adjacent to what is considered Kansas City’s most elite shopping district, the JC Nichols Country Club Plaza, the University of Missouri - Kansas City urban campus, as well as numerous high density residential units. The stream corridor has been confined due to the encroachment of the surrounding urban environment which has minimized many opportunities for the future management of Brush Creek. There have been many flood control projects but these solutions have not been effective in reducing along the entire corridor. Previous projects have been done in a way that alienates urban dwellers from Brush Creek and does not allow pedestrians to utilize the stream corridor as an effective urban green space. The Brush Creek Corridor can be redesigned to revitalize the existing area by embracing natural ecological processes in order to create a more sustainable urban stream system. Brush Creek can be envisioned in a way that will enhance visitor experience by exposing and revealing the ecological processes to the users without inhibiting the functionality of those natural processes. Four project goals have been identified through research: improve, connect, and educate. In order to achieve the project goals, a set of sites are to be selected from the corridor. A corridor study is done to identify sites by assessing factors related to the site’s ability to improve, connect, and educate. Once the sites have been identified and defined, programming and site design strategies will be implemented to relate to the project goals. The selected sites within the Brush Creek Corridor will be models for experience oriented urban stream design. The project area will harbor healthy ecosystems with integrated pedestrian oriented spaces that connect the corridor, improve environmental conditions, and support environmental education. These projects will be catalysts for experience oriented ecological design solutions throughout the Brush Creek Corridor in the future.

Thesis (M. En.)--Miami University, Institute of Environmental Sciences, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], v, 27 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references.

Sediment delivery is a major problem in the Green River, Kentucky, home of 71 of the state’s 103 known mussel species and 151 fish species. The river also provides water for many of its surrounding counties. This research focuses on how suspended sediment loads, grain size, and sediment concentration during runoff events are related to watershed characteristics. The research characterized suspended sediment loads, grain size, and sediment concentration during runoff events and how they were related to watershed characteristics such as hydro-climatic regime, watershed size, geology and soils, topography and landuse conditions and land cover conditions. The study focused on Brush Creek and Pitman Creek watersheds in the Upper Green River Basin. This research can help in the planning and development of effective environmental strategies by screening out mitigation measures that would not be effective for implementation to minimize sediment load and suspended sediment concentration in the Green River, thereby improving the water quality of the river. Water quality was monitored using data sondes positioned at selected sites in the two watersheds. Water samples were collected during turbidity thresholds of 100 NTU and analyzed for suspended sediment concentrations. Regression models between ‘discharge and stage’ and also between ‘average turbidity and suspended sediment concentration’ were formulated and load estimates were made and compared. Four sets of samples were collected, two at Brush Creek on 11 April (Brush Creek’s event 1) and 3 May (Brush Creek’s event 2) and the other two at Pitman Creek on the 12 February (Pitman Creek’s event 1) and 3 March (Pitman Creek’s event 2) all in the year 2008. The suspended sediment samples collected for all four events were well graded but had relatively more silt than clay and sand. This could be due to the fact that more time and energy was needed to break the bonds in clay minerals or particles and also to the fact that more energy was also needed to transport sand compared to silt. Brush Creek watershed’s particles had smaller grain sizes than Pitman Creek watershed’s particles. All four events showed clockwise hysteresis indicating that most of the sediments from both watersheds during the events were derived from the bed and banks of the channel or area adjacent to the channel. The 11 April event (Brush Creek’s event 1) produced an estimated load of 1.1 x 105 kg and a sediment yield of 5.3 x 102 kg/km2. The 3 May event (Brush Creek’s event 2) produced an estimated load of 3.8 x 104 kg and a sediment yield of 1.8 x 102 kg/km2. Brush Creek watershed’s estimated load for the period compared was 4.9 x 105 kg and a sediment yield of 2.3 x 103 kg/km2 (53 kg/km2/day). The 12 February event (Pitman Creek’s event 1) produced an estimated load of 2.9 x 105 kg and a sediment yield of 8.4 x 102 kg/km2. The 3 March event (Pitman Creek’s event 2) produced an estimated load of 5.7 x 105 kg and a sediment yield of 1.6 x 103 kg/km2. Pitman Creek watershed’s estimated load for the period compared was 1.1 x 106 kg and a sediment yield of 3.1 x 103 kg/km2 (71 kg/km2/day). Pitman Creek watershed’s higher number of stream network per unit area, its high elevation and relief, its high percentage of erodible soil per unit area, its lesser area of protection of erodible soil by its vegetation compared to Brush Creek watershed’s are responsible for its higher sediment load and yield.

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