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Prioritizing Subwatersheds for Stormwater Pollution to Wachusett Reservoir
Author(s) -
Cho Kyung Hwa,
Park MiHyun
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143012x13373575831114
Subject(s) - impervious surface , stormwater , environmental science , watershed , surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , urbanization , drainage basin , pollutant , pollution , water resource management , environmental engineering , geography , geology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , machine learning , computer science , biology
The Wachusett Reservoir is a primary drinking water resource for the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. With a drainage area of 280 km 2 , the watershed has been gradually urbanized with increased residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation land uses. Increased impervious surface area as a result of urbanization results in increased runoff volume and pollutant loads to the reservoir. This study estimated annual stormwater pollutant mass loads in the watershed to prioritize sub‐basins and to identify areas susceptible to stormwater pollution. Catchment Prioritization Index (CPI) was calculated using annual stormwater pollutant mass loads, which were further used to identify clustered hotspots through application of the Getis‐Ord Gi* statistic. Validation with observed data showed higher levels of fecal coliform bacteria loading from identified hotspots. This approach will be useful to prioritize sub‐basins for future (1) development of stormwater monitoring strategies and (2) best management practices (BMPs) in the watershed.