Work

Pollutant Reductions in Step-Pool Streamwater Conveyances as Stream Restorations in Urban Catchments

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Many degraded streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been structurally modified over the last two decades in an effort to reduce nutrient and sediment loads from urban catchments and contribute to the pollutant reduction goals of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The step-pool streamwater conveyance (SPSC) is a stream restoration design that has been extensively implemented in Maryland and the District of Columbia. In the summer of 2019, an SPSC was constructed in a degraded 800 m stream reach on the University of Maryland campus (i.e., Campus Creek). Precipitation, baseflow and stormflow runoff, and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and total suspended solid (TSS) concentrations were measured throughout pre- and post-restoration periods (~2 and 5 years, respectively) to determine the extent to which the SPSC structure reduced pollutant loads. A comparison of pre- (2018) versus post-restoration (2020) years with similar total annual rainfall volumes indicates that total annual runoff was 13% lower in the post-restoration period. Area yields of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and TSS were 33, 39 and 59% lower, respectively, in the same pre- versus post-restoration comparison.

Source: Water

DOI: 10.3390/w18060748

Authors: Michael R. Williams, Margaret A. Palmer, Solange Filoso

Institutions: University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Language: English

Topic: Urban Stormwater Management Solutions

Subfield: Environmental Engineering

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Clean water and sanitation, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137