ID-228: Aquatic Macroinvertebrates: Biological Indicators of Stream Health

Carmen Agouridis, Blake Newton, Tyler Sanderson, Evan Wesley | May. 12, 2015 (New)

Streams are an important part of the landscape. Streams transport water, sediment and energy; provide habitat for aquatic life and support terrestrial life; provide a place for recreation; and in many cases serve as a water supply. The health of streams---or their ability to perform these important functions---is dependent on the conditions of the watersheds which they drain. Changes in land use within a watershed can affect a stream's health.

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AEN-126: Common Hazards in Karst Terrain

Carmen Agouridis | Nov. 11, 2014 (New)

Karst refers to terrain largely drained by subsurface conduits and caves. Karst landscapes are characterized by surface features such as springs, sinkholes, shallow depressions, and rolling hills. Karst regions are also known for their subsurface or below-ground features such as conduits and caves. What makes a karst region unique is the way runoff drains from the land. In karst regions, some of the runoff flows into surface features such as sinkholes where it then travels underground. Some of this infiltrated water re-emerges at springs, and some continues moving underground.

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AEN-124: Streambank Erosion

Carmen Agouridis, Matthew Burnette | Jul. 23, 2014 (New)

Streambank erosion refers to the removal of soil and other material, such as rock and vegetation, from the streambank. Streambank erosion is a naturally occurring process, but the rate at which it occurs is often increased by anthropogenic or human activities such as urbanization and agriculture. Changes in land use can cause streambanks to erode at rates much faster than those seen in natural, undisturbed systems.

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AEN-122: Restoring Streams

Carmen Agouridis, Evan Wesley | Mar. 4, 2014 (New)

Stream restoration is the re-establishment of the structure (dimension, pattern, and profile) and function (transport of water, sediment, and nutrients; habitat provision) of a degraded stream as closely as possible to pre-disturbance conditions.

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AEN-120: Groundwater Quality

Carmen Agouridis | Jan. 6, 2014 (New)

Groundwater is an important water source for activities such as drinking, bathing, cooking, and crop irrigation. Keeping our groundwater sources clean is becoming more challenging with an ever growing population. In watersheds underlain with karst, such as many of those in Kentucky, the groundwater is more susceptible to contamination. This is because surface waters, such as runoff and in some cases streamflow, travel into the subsurface of karst by way of fractures, sinkholes, swallow holes, conduits and caves Such direct paths into the groundwater mean that pollutants reach the aquifer much more quickly with little to no filtration. Thus, while waters from springs and wells may look clean, they may actually contain unsafe levels of pollutants such as bacteria and nitrogen.

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AEN-119: Keeping Trash Out of Streams

Carmen Agouridis, Rachel Williams | Nov. 14, 2013 (New)

Fresh water is an essential natural resource that is used every day for drinking, bathing, cooking, cleaning, and recreation. In Kentucky, the water used for these tasks mainly comes from streams and rivers, but it can also come from groundwater. Because our streams, rivers, and aquifers are so vital to our daily lives, it is important that we protect them from trash, debris, and other pollutants found in stormwater. What happens to the land around these water sources affects their condition and health.

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AEN-118: Managing Stormwater Using Low Impact Development (LID) Techniques

Carmen Agouridis, John McMaine | Aug. 21, 2013 (New)

As more land is covered by impervious surfaces, less rainfall infiltrates into the ground and instead becomes runoff. Too much runoff is problematic. Flooding increases, streambanks erode, and water quality is reduced. An increase of impervious area of as little 10 percent has been shown to negatively impact streams. The purpose of this publication is to explain low impact development strategies and how they can be used to improve stormwater management by reducing impacts on streams.

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ID-215: Stormwater Wetlands

Carmen Agouridis, Kristi Meier | Jul. 1, 2013 (New)

As our population has grown, so have our towns and cities, and this growth has led to an increase in stormwater runoff. Stormwater best management practices help mitigate the impact of stormwater runoff on water quality by reducing pollutant loads through physical, chemical and/or biological processes. One of the most effective BMPs at improving stormwater quality is the stormwater wetland.

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AEN-114: Using Weep Berms to Improve Water Quality

Carmen Agouridis, Ross Guffey, Richard Warner | Nov. 9, 2012 (New)

Non-point source pollution (NPS) occurs when rainfall and snowmelt flows over the ground, picking up pollutants such as pathogens, sediments, and nutrients on its way to streams, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. More than 50 percent of the nation's rivers and streams and nearly 70 percent of the nation's lakes are impacted by NPS. Pathogens, sediments, and nutrients are the biggest contributors to impairment of rivers and streams while mercury, nutrients, and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are the biggest contributors to the impairment of lakes. One method of managing NPS pollution is through the use of structural best management practices (BMPs). Structural BMPs are designed to decrease the volume of runoff that enters water bodies by increasing infiltration rates. Examples of structural BMPs include rain gardens, stormwater wetlands, and riparian buffers. A newer structural BMP is a weep berm.

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AEN-108: Permeable Pavement for Stormwater Management

Carmen Agouridis, Joe Luck, Jonathan Villines | Jul. 26, 2011 (New)

Managing runoff in urban areas offers many challenges for engineers, landscape architects, and planners. As cities grow, the amount of impermeable surfaces--those that do not allow water to infiltrate into the ground--increases. Examples of impervious surfaces are asphalt roads, concrete sidewalks, parking lots, building roofs, and areas of highly compacted soils such as in subdivisions. If not properly managed, the stormwater runoff produced by these impermeable surfaces can have negative effects on nearby surface waters.