Land Cover Change Effects on Stormflow Characteristics across Broad Hydroclimate Representative Urban Watersheds in the United States

Abstract

Urban development alters stormflow characteristics and is associated with increasing flood risks. The long-term evaluation of stormflow characteristics that exacerbate floods, such as peak stormflow and time-to-peak stormflow at varying levels of urbanization across different hydroclimates, is limited. This study investigated the long-term (1980s to 2010s) effects of increasing urbanization on key stormflow characteristics using observed 15 min streamflow data across six broad hydroclimate representative urban watersheds in the conterminous United States. The results indicate upward trends in peak stormflow and downward trends in time-to-peak stormflow at four out of six watersheds. The watershed in the Great Plains region had the largest annual increasing (decreasing) percent change in peak stormflow (time-to-peak stormflow). With the current change rates, peak stormflow in the Great Plains region watershed is expected to increase by 55.4% and have a 2.71 h faster time-to-peak stormflow in the next decade.