Embedded Files
Buell St - 1999
Buell St - 2018
Maps of (L-R) 60, 64, 66, 72 and 76 Buell Street were created in ArcGIS Pro using imagery from 1999 and 2018. Permeable surfaces like grass are depicted in green, buildings are light blue, sidewalks are pink and driveways and parking areas are orange.
Between 1999 and 2018, land use of the five studied properties on Buell St changed slightly. There was a 7% increase in the total area of impervious surfaces over the five properties as a whole. This increase was reflected by a 7% loss in permeable grass and vegetation. The parking lot behind the three houses on the left crept closer to the backs of the houses between 1999 and 2018. Vegetation directly behind 64 and 66 Buell St was removed at some point before the 2018 image was captured. The parking area set back behind 72 Buell was also expanded during this time period and a good chunk of grassy and vegetated area was lost. These changes aren't huge huge, but they do make a difference in terms of the properties' infiltration rate and the amount of runoff created.
The above image shows the twelve runoff calculations for each flood and each time period.
The infiltration rate of these five properties on Buell St has obviously decreased significantly since Burlington was entirely forested around 1600 CE. A soil's infiltration rate is impacted by the porosity of the soil, biological activity and human activities like urbanization (Bierman & Montgomery, 2020). In this case, we are examining the effect of urbanization and the increase in impervious surface area over the years at a specific site. The lowered infiltration rate increases the amount of runoff created by any one storm event. The graphic below depicts the changes in runoff depth from 1600 CE to 1999 to 2018.
Land use change in Burlington neighborhoods has only increased the amount of runoff that flows into Lake Champlain. Increased impervious surface area allows a greater amount of runoff to drain into the lake at a faster rate than pre-urbanization. This stormwater runoff carries pollutants directly into the lake, which harms the water quality. Oil from cars will negatively impact the water quality, as will lawn fertilizers and even dog poop. Road salt can wash into the lake during snowmelt in the spring and increase the lake's chloride levels. Other common household pollutants like pesticides and paint often runoff into the lake during storm events. Phosphorus from farm runoff is a particularly damaging problem for Lake Champlain because of the toxic algal blooms it can create.
Sources:Bierman, P. R., & Montgomery, D. R. (2020). Key concepts in geomorphology. New York, NY: Macmillan Learning.
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