A Review of the Potomac River Low Flow Allocation Agreement (LFAA) was prepared for the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin by the Cruden Team. More information about the LFAA can be found on the CO-OP History webpage.
The Potomac Basin Comprehensive Water Resources Plan, adopted by the ICPRB Commissioners in June 2018, is the culmination of a multi-year, collaborative process that engaged diverse stakeholders. More information can be found on the webpage.
The report was published in the September 2018 edition of the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering.
The report was published in the July 2018 edition of the Journal of Water.
This project evaluated the relationship between forest cover and source water quality in the form of nutrients, sediments, and total organic carbon (TOC). More information can be found on ICPRB’s page, Forests and Water Treatment Costs.
Very small amounts of impervious cover can impact streamflows. In the Potomac basin, for example, significant streamflow alteration associated with watershed impervious cover >0.5%–2.0% have been found. Since these impacts were found with considerably lower amounts of impervious cover than previously documented in the literature, typically 10%–20%, this study evaluated whether certain watershed characteristics (e.g., watershed area, karst geology, precipitation, soil characteristics, physiographic province, and slope) make a stream reach more susceptible to the impacts of impervious cover than others. The results of this study indicate there are differences in streamflow sensitivity to impervious cover given certain landscape characteristics. The relationships of watershed characteristics with streamflow alteration in flashiness, high flow duration, and low pulse duration were evaluated. Flashiness alteration was positively correlated with impervious cover and influenced by watershed slope and area. High flow duration alteration was negatively correlated with impervious cover and influenced by mean annual precipitation and slope. Low pulse duration was poorly correlated with the watershed characteristics under consideration. These differences may assist in land management efforts and heighten awareness of the environmental impacts of impervious cover.
The full article was published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 54(6), 1169-1374, and is available at https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12681.
The report was published in the April 2018 edition of the Journal of Remote Sensing.
The report has been published in Freshwater Science 37, no. 4 (December 2018)