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Socio-Hydrology & Environmental Science in Cities
Laura Schifman, Ph.D.
National Academies of Science Postdoctoral Research Fellow U.S. EPA National Risk Management Research Laboratory
Today, >50% of people live in cities globally… by 2050 we can expect this number to be 66%
From Sanitary to Sustainable Cities
Ecosystem services for cities
• Flood mitigation regulating• Temperature regulationregulating• Carbon storage regulating• Air quality improvements regulating• Pollinator habitat supporting• Biodiversity supporting• Vegetation/food growth provisioning• Education cultural• Recreation cultural
freshwaterwatch.thewaterhub.org
How can cities take advantage of this?• Engineered green infrastructure solutions• Passive green infrastructure
Relies on our understanding of urban environmental processes.
phillywatersheds.org
Data-driven approaches to environmental management in citiesSite to plot scale• How do we understand
environmental processes?
• Soil assessments • Hydrologic monitoring/
measurements• Physico-chemical sampling• Impacts of disturbance (e.g.,
humans in cities)
City to regional scale• How do we understand large scale
processes?
• Geospatial land cover analysis • Field data driven numerical models• Geospatial and statistical modeling• Incidence monitoring of vector-
borne diseases and affiliated vector abundance
From the bottom up Urban Soils and their Ecosystem ServicesVolume regulation • Requires understanding of soil hydrology, function
• Depends on soil texture, location, vegetation• Engineered soil may target specifics (K, %OM,
texture) but cannot mimic all functions, processes
Water Quality• Pollutant loading driven by amount of impervious
surface • Retention/detention basins require proper
management to prevent hazardous pollutant accumulation in sediments
Mineral & humus
Mineral, leaching
Accumulation of clay from above
Partially altered parent material
Parent material
What is an urban soil?
Differences between urban and wildland soils
• Urban soils have a distinct loss in the number of horizons with depth
• Urban soils generally exhibit a loss of the B horizon
• How does this influence water cycling, plant growth, other ecosystem services?
Herrmann, Schifman, and Shuster (in prep)
Water cycling in cities – A lot of assumptions
What is the runoff volume?
What is the infiltration capacity? Drainage?
Precipitation Curve Number Soil Characteristics
Uncertainty multiplies throughout these processes
Let’s take a closer look.
• Microclimate may result in varying rainfall patterns not captured by distant rain gauges
• Unknown soil properties don’t allow us to quantify infiltration accuratelyAirport
Rain Gauge
Three common tools used in soil hydrology• USDA Rosetta
• Uses pedotransfer functions • Integrated into HYDRUS
modeling software
• SSURGO WebSoilSurvey• National soil survey datasets• Integrated into many surface
water models• National Stormwater EPA
Calculator• Uses interpolation of SSURGO
data for simulation
Which is best? … hard to tell
Texture extremes and engineered soils are not well captured
Surface Subsurface
Schifman and Shuster (under review) ASCE J. Hydrological Engineering
A closer look at Soil Hydrology in the EPA National Stormwater Calculator
• Evaluating hydraulic conductivityLocation Number of EPA
Sites % in NSWC % in SSURGO
Atlanta GA 12 8 8Camden NJ 21 10 10
Cincinnati OH 40 100 15
Cleveland OH 109 2 0
Detroit MI 55 16 0New Orleans LA 20 100 95
Majuro RMI 8 0 0Omaha NE 26 0 65Phoenix AZ 10 100 100
Portland ME 20 100 100San Juan PR 20 57 35Tacoma WA 17 12 0
Schifman et al. (2017) Journal of the American Water Resources Association
A closer look at Soil Hydrology in the EPA National Stormwater Calculator
Overall an underestimate, but dependent on location
Schifman et al. (2017) Journal of the American Water Resources Association
EPA National Stormwater Calculator and soil hydrologyCase study in Watkinsville, GA
• Depending on the LID feature chosen, soil hydrology drives runoff characteristics
• Runoff depth modeling output is only as good as the input data
Interaction with pre-existing soil
Soil hydrology is important
Interaction with engineered soil
Design specification normalizes hydrology
No soil interaction
Soil hydrology plays no role
Schifman et al. (2017) Journal of the American Water Resources Association
Water cyclingWhat about other ecosystem services?
Herrmann et al. (2016) Sustainability
Let’s use some of that green space!
Passive GI Active GI
Benefits from environmental processes and function
Designed according to Engineering specifications
Relies on ecosystem cycling and connects the eco-hydrological cycle
Contains engineered structures and likely to be connected to sewer system
Shuster, Herrmann, and Schifman (in prep)
Black Carbon in urban soils
• Black carbon concentrations in urban soil are influenced by
• Average annual daily traffic • City “greenness”• Depth of top soil horizon
Schifman et al. (in prep.)
Black Carbon and Green Infrastructure
Not all urban areas are like Detroit, but there is still plenty of green space
Black carbon creates a large contaminant sink in urban areas
Schifman et al. (in prep.)
unsat
Kunsat <13 mm/hr
K >13 mm/hr
Contaminant cyclingWhat about other ecosystem services?• Sustainable cities are about more than just stormwater regulation• How do we integrate multifunctionality in green infrastructure?
• Cultural, provisioning, supporting services
• Situating GI vs. Siting GI• The nexus of several contexts defines the placement and design of a GI
installation. • Assumes multiple functions of the system interact synergistically in sharing a
physical place.• Siting uses hydrologic objectives only.
Schifman et al. (2017) Water Resources Research
Four
arc
hety
pes o
f GI
The
Col
lect
ive
Lone
Ran
ger
U.S. EPA
A main organization connects individuals/ organizations and fosters environmental stewardship.
L. Schifman
An individual motivated to reduce their environmental impact on a parcel level or small scale.
A self-guided organization that has a single objective and approach to GI installations.
U.S. EPA
Wikimedia CommonsSpec
ializ
edSi
tuat
ed G
I Group of individuals or organizations has capital in a joint environmental project with each group’s interests represented.
Schifman et al. (2017) Water Resources Research
Situating ≠ Siting Green Infrastructure
Connected, de-centralized mesh style social network promotes interdisciplinary objectivesParticipation & inclusiveness of many organizations bring multifunctionality and versatilityAdaptation to local conditions may result in less impact, but higher multifunctionality
Schifman et al. (2017) Water Resources Research
How can this be put into action?
• Identifies key organizations and supporting partners
• Interdisciplinary organizational structure
• Multiple objectives in green space usage
• Temporal variation in organizational structure and project objectives
Schifman et al. (2017) Water Resources Research
Partnering with RIDOT and putting science into action
• Construction sites are a source of high sediment loads to water bodies
• RHODECAP program assess environmental compliance at construction sites
• Three inspection stages, baseline, intervention, final
Oyanedel-Craver, Schifman, and Hamel. (in prep)
How do natural and built environmental factors influence compliance?
• 9 pilot study sites that completed the program
• Sites in heavy traffic areas, removed from wetlands and water bodies showed lower compliance
Oyanedel-Craver, Schifman, and Hamel. (in prep)
Thinking ahead – how will urban areas change? • Changes in transportation (ride shares, better
public transit) may influence how we use cars • How will the transformations of parking lots, etc.
influence water management in cities?
• In areas with little rain fall runoff can be a valuable source of water
• How does increased green space or “off-the-water-grid houses” influence water governance downstream?
Thank you!
Questions?
Collaborators: Bill Shuster, US EPADustin Herrmann, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Postdoctoral Research Fellow with US EPAAlessandro Ossola, Centre for Smart Green Cities, Macquarie UniversityAhjond Garmestani, US EPAMichael Tryby, US EPAJason Berner, US EPAMatt Hopton, US EPAChris Nytch, University of Puerto Rico, Rio PiedrasDanny Wiegand, US EPARoberto Barrera, Centers for Disease Control Vinka Craver, University of Rhode Island
References
• Schifman, L.A., Herrmann, D.L., Shuster, W.D., Ossola, A., Garmestani, A. and Hopton, M.E. (2017), Situating Green Infrastructure in Context: A Framework for Adaptive Socio-Hydrology in Cities. Water Resour. Res.. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1002/2017WR020926
• Schifman L.A., M. Tryby, J. Berner, W.D. Shuster. 2017. Journal of the American Water Resources Association. A matter of estimation - the role of the Environmental Protection Agency National Stormwater Calculator in framing effective stormwater management. DOI:10.1111/1752-1688.12599
• Herrmann, D. L., Shuster, W. D., Mayer, A. L., & Garmestani, A. S. (2016). Sustainability for shrinking cities. Sustainability, 8(9), 911; doi:10.3390/su8090911