A Smart Growth Bibliography:

Impacts on the Natural Environment - Water

"Sprawl versus Traditional Town Development - How Do They Compare?" Nonpoint Source News-Notes, April/May 1996, Issue #44.
Summary: Short article explaining the use of a computer model to determine runoff loadings associated with two different prototype developments - one representing sprawl and one representing the traditional town. The traditional town scenario was found to perform better than the sprawl scenario across the board. Article (1 page).

"Urban Runoff Notes - Preventing Urban Sprawl Requires New Models for Community Development," Nonpoint Source News-Notes, October/November 1995, Issue #43.
Summary: The article discusses Woodsong, a high-density village project in North Carolina envisioned to be an alternative to the usual suburban development. The article focuses on the efforts of the project to minimize adverse impacts on water quality. Article (2 pages).

City of Olympia. Impervious Surface Reduction Study: Final Report, May 1995.
Summary: Research effort undertaken by the City of Olympia to identify possible strategies for impervious surface reduction. Study (207 pages)

Galli, John, Anacostia Restoration Team. Thermal Impacts Associated with Urbanization and Stormwater Management Best Management Practices, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, December 1990.
Summary: The study evaluates thermal and dissolved oxygen impacts to aquatic life associated with urbanization and various representative stormwater management best management practices. The streams studied in the Anacostia River basin spanned the entire watershed imperviousness spectrum and featured undeveloped as well as 60 percent impervious sites. In addition, a comprehensive literature review was performed to evaluate potential temperature and dissolved oxygen impacts at major levels of the aquatic food chain.

Lawrence, David M. Assessment and Verification of Urban Non-Point Pollutant Load Estimation Techniques, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, Draft, August 1991.
Summary: The report discusses the problems of watersheds caused by urbanization, and the types of techniques used to estimate pollutant loads. The results of the application of three estimation techniques to hypothetical and actual watersheds are also discussed. Report (55 pages).

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Site Planning for Urban Stream Protection, Environmental Land Planning Series, 1995.
Summary: This guide represents the culmination of a four-year effort to examine new ways to reduce pollutant loads and protect aquatic resources through nonstructural and improved construction site planning. The guide describes a new approach to site planning and recommends how it can be implemented at the local level. Chapter 4, Stream Protection Clusters, examines a series of alternative development patterns that can sharply reduce the amount of impervious cover created at a site. These development patterns concentrate on cluster development in a smaller area served by a shorter road network.

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Cluster Development Strategies for Urban Watersheds, Environmental Land Planning Series, 1995.
Summary: The report describes alternative site planning and design techniques to reduce impacts of land development. It explains how cluster development may reduce non-point source pollution by creating pervious surface and minimizing land disturbance, in addition to enhancing a sense of community.

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Residential Street Strategies for Urban Watersheds, Environmental Land Planning Series, 1995.
Summary: The report reviews environmental impacts of roadways and recommends site planning solutions to protect environmental resources, especially water quality.

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Anacostia Restoration Team, and Department of Environmental Programs. Watershed Restoration Sourcebook. Collected Papers Presented at the Conference: "Restoring Our Home River: Water Quality and Habitat in the Anacostia", held November 6 & 7, 1991 in College Park, MD, 1992.
Summary: Paper 2 (Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Urbanization on Streams: A comprehensive Strategy for Local Governments) by Thomas R. Schueler reviews the major impacts to streams associated with urban land development. The key role of watershed imperviousness in determining the severity of impacts to stream hydrology, morphology, water quality, and ecology are noted. Paper 3 (Developing Effective BMP Systems for Urban Watersheds) by Thomas R. Schueler et al. builds on the principles set forth in Paper 2 and presents a systems approach to the design of urban Best Management Practices (BMPs).

Novotny, Vladimir, and Gordon Chester. Handbook of Nonpoint Pollution - Sources and Management, Environmental Engineering Series, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1981.
Summary: Chapter 8 (Pollution from Impervious Urban Areas) discusses factors of nonpoint water pollution that are specific to urban areas. Chapter 10 (Land Use and Nonpoint Pollution) discusses the effects of different forms of land-use on nonpoint pollution, including unit loads of several pollutants of concern for a range of different land-uses.

Omernik, James M. The Influence of Land Use on Stream Nutrient Levels, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Corvallis Environmental Research Laboratory, January 1976.
Summary: The study examines National Eutrophication Survey data for 473 non-point type drainage areas in the eastern United States for relationships between drainage area characteristics (particularly land use) and nutrient levels in streams. Both the total and inorganic forms of phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations and loads in streams were considered. Land uses examined were: forest (other types negligible); mostly forest (other types present); agriculture (other types negligible); mostly agriculture (other types present); mostly urban (other types present); and mixed. (68 pages plus 38 pages of appendix).

Omernik, James M. Nonpoint Source - Stream Nutrient Level Relationships: A Nationwide Study, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Corvallis Environmental Research Laboratory, September 1977.
Summary: The study examines National Eutrophication Survey data from a nationwide network of 928 nonpoint-source watersheds for relationships between drainage area characteristics (particularly land use) and nutrient levels in streams. Both the total and inorganic forms of phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations and loads in streams were considered. 13 different land use categories with different percentages of forest, argricultural, urban and mixed uses were examined. For both nationwide and regional data sets, good correlations were found between general land use and nutrient concentrations in streams.

Schueler, Thomas R. Controlling Urban Runoff: A Practical Manual for Planning and Designing Urban Best Management Practices, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, July 1987.
Summary: The manual provides detailed guidance for engineers and site planners on how to plan and design urban best management practices to remove pollutants and protect stream habitat. It describes water quality and habitat impact in streams that result from uncontrolled watershed development and contains a simple method for estimating pollutant export from development sites. Included are 2 appendices, glossary, reference list and 11 examples.

Schueler, Thomas R. et al., Anacostia Restoration Team. A Current Assessment of Urban Best Management Practices: Techniques for Reducing Nonpoint Source Pollution in the Coastal Zone, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, March 1992.
Summary: The report summarizes the capabilities and limitations of structural best management practices in current use for the control of the quality of urban runoff. It addresses issues of particular concern to the coastal zone. Observations are derived from multiple field studies.

South Carolina Coastal Conservation League (SCCCL). "Getting a Rein on Runoff: How Sprawl and the Traditional Town Compare", SCCCL Land Development Bulletin, Number 7, Fall 1995.
Summary: Summarizes the Charleston Harbor Project conducted to study the runoff implications associated with conventional sprawling development and traditional town development. Computer modeling was used to predict how each development would affect runoff. (8 pages)

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