Rapid urban growth of Austin, Texas, has resulted in significant alteration of the surface characteristics of the Colorado River Watershed. These changes have increased the runoff and accelerated erosion of the banks of stream channels. To minimize the threat of stream erosion to real estate and infrastructure, the City of Austin began restoring unstable channel reaches through the placement of rock armor on the banks, construction of rock grade controls, and planting of riparian vegetation. Since the late 1990s, approximately thirty channel reaches have been restored in the Austin area. Considerable discussion is taking place regarding the true impact of restoration on streams. Few studies have attempted to conduct post-project evaluation to assess the impact of restoration efforts. Because it has been several years since steps were taken to stabilize these streams, a sufficient time period for stabilization to occur has passed. Thus, we believe these projects now can be assessed for the temporal impact of restoration on these streams. We studied the restored and natural reaches of two of these streams. The natural reaches served as ergodic surrogates for temporal channel development of the restored reaches. We used Rosgen’s (2001) methodology of channel stability assessment and repeat ground photography (Graf, 1985) to evaluate the stability of Waller Creek and Tannehill Branch. Variables of channel morphology analyzed included riparian vegetation cover, vertical stability, scour/deposition potential, and bed sediment composition. From our analysis, restoration enlarged stream channels, decreased bank height ratios and reduced flood prone width. Bed sediment analysis revealed that pools contain a higher percentage of fines whereas riffles are coarser in restored reaches than pre-restoration reaches. Visual examination of ground photographs and scores from the Pfankuch channel stability evaluation indicate that restoration increased vegetative cover and deposition. Thus, restoration efforts worked on these two streams. Data from the assessments of stream channel stability provide the basis upon which longer-term monitoring and evaluation can be conducted. Knowledge gained from long-term monitoring can be used to improve the effectiveness of the current and future restoration projects in Texas and elsewhere.

Rapid urban growth of Austin, Texas, has resulted in significant alteration of the surface characteristics of the Colorado River Watershed. These changes have increased the runoff and accelerated erosion of the banks of stream channels. To minimize the threat of stream erosion to real estate and infrastructure, the City of Austin began restoring unstable channel reaches through the placement of rock armor on the banks, construction of rock grade controls, and planting of riparian vegetation. Since the late 1990s, approximately thirty channel reaches have been restored in the Austin area. Considerable discussion is taking place regarding the true impact of restoration on streams. Few studies have attempted to conduct post-project evaluation to assess the impact of restoration efforts. Because it has been several years since steps were taken to stabilize these streams, a sufficient time period for stabilization to occur has passed. Thus, we believe these projects now can be assessed for the temporal impact of restoration on these streams. We studied the restored and natural reaches of two of these streams. The natural reaches served as ergodic surrogates for temporal channel development of the restored reaches. We used Rosgen’s (2001) methodology of channel stability assessment and repeat ground photography (Graf, 1985) to evaluate the stability of Waller Creek and Tannehill Branch. Variables of channel morphology analyzed included riparian vegetation cover, vertical stability, scour/deposition potential, and bed sediment composition. From our analysis, restoration enlarged stream channels, decreased bank height ratios and reduced flood prone width. Bed sediment analysis revealed that pools contain a higher percentage of fines whereas riffles are coarser in restored reaches than pre-restoration reaches. Visual examination of ground photographs and scores from the Pfankuch channel stability evaluation indicate that restoration increased vegetative cover and deposition. Thus, restoration efforts worked on these two streams. Data from the assessments of stream channel stability provide the basis upon which longer-term monitoring and evaluation can be conducted. Knowledge gained from long-term monitoring can be used to improve the effectiveness of the current and future restoration projects in Texas and elsewhere.

No description available.

Urbanization has been associated with the degradation of streams, and a consequence of forest to urban land transition is a change in streamflow. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the impacts of land-cover change in ten different watersheds in the rapidly urbanizing Atlanta, GA USA metropolitan area. Streamflow and precipitation data for a 30-year period (1986-2016) were analyzed in conjunction with land cover data from 1992, 2001, and 2011. Big Creek and Suwanee Creek experienced the most urbanization and increases (20%) in streamflow and runoff, and high flow (>95th percentile of flow) days doubled and increased 85%, respectively. Precipitation-adjusted streamflow for Peachtree Creek and Flint River decreased about 17%. Runoff ratios for South River were the highest among all watersheds, even the Etowah River, which remained moderately forested and had the most precipitation and slope.

No description available.

Urban designers are trained to think systematically, to simultaneously see the big picture for numerous human systems in the city—including multiple modes of transportation, barriers faced by the city's inhabitants, and food and waste systems—and synthesize them into a coherent design. However, many urban designers use architecture as their sole means of shaping our cities, rather than employing other design disciplines as well. One solution to this limited focus on the built environment is "landscape urbanism." First appearing in the 1990s, landscape urbanism is a theory that argues that the best way to organize a city is through the design of its landscape, rather than the design of its buildings. At its best, landscape urbanism encourages a new way to understand cities: through the horizontal domain that acts as every city's connective tissue. At its worst, landscape urbanism can emphasize a purely aesthetic view of nature in the city, rather than recognizing its full potential as an additional functional system within the urban landscape. This failing of landscape urbanism can be addressed by its next evolution: ecological urbanism. As MIT Professor and Landscape Architect Anne Whiston Spirn writes in The Granite Garden, we need to recognize nature as "an essential force that permeates the city." By embracing the presence of nature's processes within the city, we can create an ecological urbanism that combines human and natural systems for the betterment of both. "The realization that nature is ubiquitous, a whole that embraces the city, has powerful implications for how the city is built and maintained and for the health, safety, and welfare of every resident" (Spirn). Currently, the Anacostia River and the neighborhoods to the east are neglected parts of Washington D.C., and most of the river's tributaries are buried underground. This neglect is similar to cities' historic disregard for the productive processes of nature, settling instead for a superficial, idealized abstraction of nature in the city. What if the city decided that instead of viewing urban streams as a nuisance that needed to be hidden, the Anacostia River and its tributary system could provide a beautiful, functional, and memorable organizational structure for the East of the River neighborhoods? Highlighting the presence of this large natural system within the city could be an opportunity to develop an "urban ecology" and frame our future relationship with nature. Using Washington DC's Anacostia River, its tributaries, and the East of the River neighborhoods as its framework, this thesis explores a possible step past landscape urbanism by advocating for an ecological urbanism that demonstrates how human and natural systems can work together in an urban environment in a way that is ecologically productive, regionally connected, and mutually beneficial. / Master of Science / Urban designers are trained to think systematically. They must simultaneously see the big picture for numerous human systems in the city—including multiple modes of transportation, barriers faced by the city’s inhabitants, and food and waste systems—and synthesize them into a coherent design. However, many urban designers use architecture as their sole means of shaping our cities, rather than employing other design disciplines as well. One solution to this limited focus on the built environment is “landscape urbanism” which recognizes that cities (like landscapes) are constantly undergoing processes of change. First appearing in the 1990s, landscape urbanism is a theory that argues that the best way to organize a city is through the design of its landscape, rather than the design of its buildings. At its best, landscape urbanism encourages a new way to understand cities: through the horizontal domain that acts as every city’s connective tissue. At its worst, landscape urbanism can emphasize a purely aesthetic view of nature in the city, rather than recognizing nature’s full potential as an additional functional system within the urban landscape. This failing of landscape urbanism can be addressed by its next evolution: ecological urbanism. As MIT Professor and Landscape Architect Anne Whiston Spirn writes in The Granite Garden, we need to recognize nature as “an essential force that permeates the city.” By embracing the presence of nature’s processes within the city, we can create an ecological urbanism that combines human and natural systems for the betterment of both. “The realization that nature is ubiquitous, a whole that embraces the city, has powerful implications for how the city is built and maintained and for the health, safety, and welfare of every resident” (Spirn 5). Currently, the Anacostia River and the neighborhoods to the east are neglected parts of Washington DC, and most of the river’s tributaries are buried underground. This neglect is similar to cities’ historic disregard for the productive processes of nature, settling instead for a superficial, idealized abstraction of nature in the city. What if the city decided that instead of viewing urban streams as a nuisance that needed to be hidden, the Anacostia River and its tributary system could provide a beautiful, functional, and memorable organizational structure for the East of the River neighborhoods? Highlighting the presence of this large natural system within the city could be an opportunity to develop an “urban ecology” and frame our future relationship with nature. Using Washington DC’s Anacostia River, its tributaries, and the East of the River neighborhoods as its framework, this thesis explores a possible step past landscape urbanism by advocating for an ecological urbanism that demonstrates how human and natural systems can work together in an urban environment in a way that is ecologically productive, regionally connected, and mutually beneficial.

Com a consolidação do saneamento em algumas bacias urbanas, um novo desafio surge: o da recuperação dos corpos dágua. O que a principio parece ser uma consequência do processo, na realidade se mostra uma tarefa muito mais complexa e que envolve diversos fatores, tornando o processo de recuperação lento e dispendioso. Muito se diz a respeito da despoluição dos corpos dágua através da eliminação da carga pontual, mas o que se observa na prática é que, mesmo diante do controle das cargas pontuais, os corpos dágua continuam poluídos devido às cargas difusas. A preocupação com a poluição por carga difusa já é um assunto muito estudado em locais onde a poluição por cargas pontuais já possui um controle efetivo, mas este assunto ainda é um grande desafio em países como o Brasil, onde o controle da carga pontual ainda não constitui uma realidade palpável. Atualmente, na região metropolitana de São Paulo, há diversos programas atuando na despoluição de corpos dágua através do controle de cargas pontuais, dentre eles o programa Córrego Limpo se destaca por agir na otimização de sistemas de esgotamento sanitário, e apesar dos bons resultados obtidos, como o programa se baseia no controle de cargas pontuais, estas bacias não se encontram completamente despoluídas. Considerando o caso brasileiro, o programa é pioneiro no que se refere à adoção de medidas que integram a população no processo de recuperação, pois implanta em algumas de suas bacias um programa de governança colaborativa, que, através da mobilização da população, promove a integração desta com o corpo dágua. Diante deste panorama, o presente estudo, tem como intuito, através da análise de córregos de interesse do programa Córrego Limpo, contribuir para a melhor compreensão dos desafios envolvidos no processo de recuperação de corpos dágua urbanos através do controle de cargas pontuais e difusas. No estudo empregou-se o método da Unidade de carga para quantificação da geração de cargas difusas nas bacias e identificação do seu potencial poluidor, resultando na criação de um índice de qualidade da superfície da bacia; Avaliou-se também a qualidade ambiental destes corpos dágua através de indicadores físicos, químicos e biológicos, o que revelou a importância do uso conjunto destes indicadores, já que obteve-se resultados distintos para cada um destes indicadores; com base nos resultados obtidos nestes estudos foi possível avaliar o quão complexo é o processo de recuperação de corpos dágua em áreas urbanas. / With the consolidation of sanitation in some urban watersheds, a new challenge arises: the recovery of bodies of water. What at first appears to be a consequence of the process, in fact it shows to be a much more complex task and involves several facts, making the recovery process slow and costly. Much is said about the remediation of water bodies by removing point charge, but what we notice in practice is that even after controlling of point charge, they remain polluted because nonpoint pollution. The concern with nonpoint pollution is much studied in places where pollution by point charge already has an effective control, but this issue is still a challenge in countries like Brazil, where the control point charge does not constitutes a tangible reality. Currently, the São Paulo metropolitan area there are several programs working on recovering of water bodies through the control of point charge, including the Córrego Limpo that acts optimizing sewage systems, and is notorious the improvement in the quality of water bodies covered its actions. However, as the program based on controlling of point charge, the streams are not completely unpolluted. Considering the Brazilian case, the program is a pioneer when it comes to the adoption of measures that integrate the population in the recovering process. It deploys in some watersheds a program of collaborative governance that, through the people mobilization, promotes the body of water, resulting in reduction of the potential pollution in the watersheds and rendering more effective the process. The present study has the intention, through the analysis of streams of interest to the program Córrego Limpo, contribute to a better understanding of the challenges involved in the recovery process of urban water bodies through the control of the point and nonpoint pollution. In the study was used the method of unit load to quantify the generation of diffuse loads in basins and identification of their pollution potential, resulting in the creation of an index of quality of the surface of the basin, also evaluated the environmental quality of these bodies of water through physical, chemical and biological indicators, which revealed the importance of the combined use of these indicators, since we obtained different results for each of these indicators, the results of this study showed how complex is the recovery process of water bodies in urban areas.

Com a consolidação do saneamento em algumas bacias urbanas, um novo desafio surge: o da recuperação dos corpos dágua. O que a principio parece ser uma consequência do processo, na realidade se mostra uma tarefa muito mais complexa e que envolve diversos fatores, tornando o processo de recuperação lento e dispendioso. Muito se diz a respeito da despoluição dos corpos dágua através da eliminação da carga pontual, mas o que se observa na prática é que, mesmo diante do controle das cargas pontuais, os corpos dágua continuam poluídos devido às cargas difusas. A preocupação com a poluição por carga difusa já é um assunto muito estudado em locais onde a poluição por cargas pontuais já possui um controle efetivo, mas este assunto ainda é um grande desafio em países como o Brasil, onde o controle da carga pontual ainda não constitui uma realidade palpável. Atualmente, na região metropolitana de São Paulo, há diversos programas atuando na despoluição de corpos dágua através do controle de cargas pontuais, dentre eles o programa Córrego Limpo se destaca por agir na otimização de sistemas de esgotamento sanitário, e apesar dos bons resultados obtidos, como o programa se baseia no controle de cargas pontuais, estas bacias não se encontram completamente despoluídas. Considerando o caso brasileiro, o programa é pioneiro no que se refere à adoção de medidas que integram a população no processo de recuperação, pois implanta em algumas de suas bacias um programa de governança colaborativa, que, através da mobilização da população, promove a integração desta com o corpo dágua. Diante deste panorama, o presente estudo, tem como intuito, através da análise de córregos de interesse do programa Córrego Limpo, contribuir para a melhor compreensão dos desafios envolvidos no processo de recuperação de corpos dágua urbanos através do controle de cargas pontuais e difusas. No estudo empregou-se o método da Unidade de carga para quantificação da geração de cargas difusas nas bacias e identificação do seu potencial poluidor, resultando na criação de um índice de qualidade da superfície da bacia; Avaliou-se também a qualidade ambiental destes corpos dágua através de indicadores físicos, químicos e biológicos, o que revelou a importância do uso conjunto destes indicadores, já que obteve-se resultados distintos para cada um destes indicadores; com base nos resultados obtidos nestes estudos foi possível avaliar o quão complexo é o processo de recuperação de corpos dágua em áreas urbanas. / With the consolidation of sanitation in some urban watersheds, a new challenge arises: the recovery of bodies of water. What at first appears to be a consequence of the process, in fact it shows to be a much more complex task and involves several facts, making the recovery process slow and costly. Much is said about the remediation of water bodies by removing point charge, but what we notice in practice is that even after controlling of point charge, they remain polluted because nonpoint pollution. The concern with nonpoint pollution is much studied in places where pollution by point charge already has an effective control, but this issue is still a challenge in countries like Brazil, where the control point charge does not constitutes a tangible reality. Currently, the São Paulo metropolitan area there are several programs working on recovering of water bodies through the control of point charge, including the Córrego Limpo that acts optimizing sewage systems, and is notorious the improvement in the quality of water bodies covered its actions. However, as the program based on controlling of point charge, the streams are not completely unpolluted. Considering the Brazilian case, the program is a pioneer when it comes to the adoption of measures that integrate the population in the recovering process. It deploys in some watersheds a program of collaborative governance that, through the people mobilization, promotes the body of water, resulting in reduction of the potential pollution in the watersheds and rendering more effective the process. The present study has the intention, through the analysis of streams of interest to the program Córrego Limpo, contribute to a better understanding of the challenges involved in the recovery process of urban water bodies through the control of the point and nonpoint pollution. In the study was used the method of unit load to quantify the generation of diffuse loads in basins and identification of their pollution potential, resulting in the creation of an index of quality of the surface of the basin, also evaluated the environmental quality of these bodies of water through physical, chemical and biological indicators, which revealed the importance of the combined use of these indicators, since we obtained different results for each of these indicators, the results of this study showed how complex is the recovery process of water bodies in urban areas.

Coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) is an essential part of the food chain in aquatic ecosystems because it represents a readily available carbon and energy source. The process by which it decomposes in rivers has been well studied and documented. However, the rate and extent of biodegradability of various CPOM components (i.e., twigs, leaves, grass, etc.) in storm drains is not well understood. The Jordan River TMDL study identified storm water generated CPOM as a likely cause of low dissolved oxygen levels in the lower Jordan River, but recent investigations have suggested that dissolved organic matter generated from this CPOM in storm drains and culverts entering into the Jordan River, rather than the CPOM itself, is the main driver of oxygen impairment. The degradability of CPOM components transported and stored in the storm drain system was studied to understand its relative impact on dissolved oxygen and nutrient status in the Jordan River. Results indicate the generation of highly degradable organic material is a function of the starting CPOM, and oxygen consumption is associated with the dissolved portion of organic material leached from CPOM in water. Leaves and grass produced the highest levels of all parameters studied. Between 93% to 95% of total oxygen demand is generated within the first 1 to 3 hours of the 24 hour test. Chemical oxygen demand and dissolved organic carbon proved to be the best indicator of biochemical oxygen demand. By using the results of the leaching study an estimate of water quality indicator levels in the Jordan River was made, and was compared to levels in samples collected from the Jordan River. The estimate proved accurate for dissolved organic carbon but not for total or volatile suspended solids. Results of this study were used to discuss possible solutions to reduce oxygen demand in the Jordan River.

Dissertação(mestrado)-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geografia, Instituto de Ciências Humanas e da Informação, 2011. / Submitted by Caroline Silva (krol_bilhar@hotmail.com) on 2012-07-24T14:59:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertao ronaldo.pdf: 3581556 bytes, checksum: 76cb16657b10211a728688f204fa2fd6 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Bruna Vieira(bruninha_vieira@ibest.com.br) on 2012-07-27T21:54:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertao ronaldo.pdf: 3581556 bytes, checksum: 76cb16657b10211a728688f204fa2fd6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-07-27T21:54:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertao ronaldo.pdf: 3581556 bytes, checksum: 76cb16657b10211a728688f204fa2fd6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / O presente trabalho discute o modelo de revitalização de rios e córregos urbanos com a criação de parques fluviais ao longo das margens do corpo hídrico, uma tendência atual no Brasil e no mundo todo. Com base na literatura da ecologia da paisagem, geomorfologia e ecologia de restauração, bem como das políticas públicas afetas ao tema, são estudados três casos: o Parque Linear do Ribeirão das Pedras, em Campinas/SP, o projeto de Renaturalização do Arroio Sapucaia, em Esteio/RS, e a Proposta de Renaturalização do Arroio Vieira e Criação do Parque do Arroio Vieira, em Rio Grande/RS. Evidencia-se a necessidade de aumentar o componente ecológico das políticas públicas brasileiras que embasam as iniciativas de recuperação dessas áreas degradadas, voltadas principalmente para estruturas viárias e problemas habitacionais e de drenagem urbana. Assim, são feitas sugestões às políticas públicas do setor, promovendo-se um modelo de restauração ecológica, com o uso de materiais biodegradáveis nos equipamentos dos parques fluviais, o uso das técnicas da bioengenharia e da restauração ambiental sistêmica, e a desocupação e renaturalização da planície de inundação, buscando um maior retorno da flora e fauna nativas e da qualidade ecossistêmica. Os parques são compreendidos não como um fim em si, mas como um passo adiante em um processo em andamento, marcado pela necessidade de pertencimento e educação ambiental na população do entorno e em geral. Finalmente, sugere-se a criação de políticas públicas de cunho ecológico, com um plano nacional para a restauração ecológica de rios e córregos no meio urbano. / The present work examines the model of urban stream restoration through the creation of parks along the margins of the water body, a current trend in Brazil and all over the world. Based on the literature of Landscape Ecology, Geomorphology, and Restoration Ecology, as well as government policies regarding the topic, three cases are studied: Ribeirão das Pedras Linear Park, in Campinas/SP, Renaturalization of Arroio Sapucaia, in Esteio/RS, and Proposal of Renaturalization of Arroio Vieira and Creation of Arroio Vieira Park, in Rio Grande/RS. The need to increase the ecological component is evident in Brazilian policies guiding such environmental restoration initiatives, mainly aimed at transportation, drainage and residential infrastructure. Suggestions are made to policymakers in the sense of fostering an ecological restoration model, with the use of biodegradable materials and bioengineering and ecological restoration techniques in parks’ equipments; vacating and restoring floodplains, so as to provide a greater return of native fauna and flora and enhance ecosystem quality. Parks are understood not as an end in themselves, but as a further step in an ongoing process, marked by the need of belongingness and environmental education for the local and general population. Finally, a suggestion is made for more ecologically-minded policies, with the creation of a national plan for urban stream ecological restoration.