Impervious Cover & Land Use in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
"Impervious Cover & Land Use in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed," prepared by the Center for Watershed Protection, describes a study that estimates the amount of impervious land cover in four Chesapeake Bay watershed communities. Included in the report is a simple four-step procedure that other communities could utilize to produce reliable estimates of impervious cover within their watersheds. Finally, research describing the relationship between impervious cover and stream quality is discussed.
The amount of impervious cover within a watershed is an important indicator of watershed health including key components such as sedimentation, temperature, pH and biodiversity. By knowing the percent impervious cover and the related indicators, a community can manage its future land use more effectively to protect stream quality.
