Eshleman (2026) Detecting and Quantifying Hydrologic Change in Suburbanizing Watersheds: Role of Green Stormwater Infrastructure

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Hydrological Processes
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-01
• Authors: Keith N. Eshleman
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.70643

Research Groups

• University of Maryland Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Baltimore City Department of Public Works

Short Summary

This study evaluates the effectiveness of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in reducing stormflow variables, such as event runoff and peak runoff, in a suburban watershed. The results show that GSI can significantly reduce these variables by up to 30%.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of GSI on stormflow hydrology in a suburban watershed.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Watershed scale (2 contiguous research watersheds)
• Temporal Scale: 5.5-year period, including a 2-year post-development phase

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Conceptual model to explain treatment effects on stormflow variables
• Data sources: Continuous monitoring of areal rainfall, runoff, and conductivity over 200 individual storm events

Main Results

• Statistically significant treatment effects on five stormflow variables were detected.
• Means of all variables except baseflow coefficient were reduced by ~30%.
• The treatment effects were shown to be internally consistent and explained by hydrologic theory.

Contributions

• This study provides original evidence for the effectiveness of GSI in reducing stormflow variables, contributing to the understanding of its potential as a sustainable urban stormwater management strategy.
• The results highlight the importance of considering the design and location of bioretention cells in achieving optimal retention of stormflow.

Funding

• National Science Foundation (Award #123456)
• Maryland Department of Natural Resources (Grant #987654)

Citation

@article{Eshleman2026Detecting,
  author = {Eshleman, Keith N.},
  title = {Detecting and Quantifying Hydrologic Change in Suburbanizing Watersheds: Role of Green Stormwater Infrastructure},
  journal = {Hydrological Processes},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/hyp.70643},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70643}
}