Development of the University of Delaware Experimental Watershed Project
Date
2001-03-31
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Abstract
One of the fundamental indicators of a stream's water quality is the condition or health of the watershed. Numerous studies have documented that impacts from the land in a watershed will affect stream water quality (Schueler, 1995). Urban and suburban land uses, impervious cover, lack of riparian buffers, deforested land, and contaminant sources in a watershed can have a deleterious effect on stream water quality.
There is a critical mass of water resources interests at the University of Delaware (UD) that are interested in the use of an experimental watershed on university land for research and educational purposes. The overall intention of this report and the project is to establish the groundwork for a watershed-based education and research program at the University of Delaware. This paper describes the goals and objectives of the project, the methods used to designate and characterize the health of the watershed and the final results and implications of a watershed rating system based on the methods we have established.
The concept of a on campus experimental watershed is not new. The following colleges and universities throughout the United States have established the precedent for experimental watersheds for education and research purposes:
• Cornell University/Dartmouth College/Syracuse University consortium
• Michigan State University (Witter, Robach, Poston and Lang, 2000)
• Pennsylvania State University
• Shippensburg University (Woltemade and Blewett, 2000)
• University of Arizona - Walnut Gulch watershed
• University of California, San Diego
• Williams College, Massachusetts