Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • ASLA Research Grant
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Landscape Journal
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
Landscape Journal

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • ASLA Research Grant
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Visit uwp on Facebook
Review ArticlePeer-Reviewed Articles

Simulating the Impact of Land Use Change on Contaminant Transferal during Flood Events in Houston, Texas

Rui Zhu, Galen Newman and Kayode Atoba
Landscape Journal, January 2021, 40 (2) 79-99; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.40.2.79
Rui Zhu
Rui Zhu is a PhD student studying in urban and regional sciences in the Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning department at Texas A&M University. She has a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. Her research interests include urban regeneration, community resilience, and landscape performance.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Galen Newman
Galen Newman is Associate Professor, Associate Department Head, Coordinator of the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Program, and Director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A’M University. His research interests include urban regeneration, community resilience, hazard exposure, and landscape performance.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kayode Atoba
Kayode Atoba is Assistant Research Scientist in the Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas at Texas A&M University, Galveston. He is also a Research Fellow at the Center for Housing and Urban Development at Texas A&M University. Atoba’s research focuses on using quantitative and geospatial methodologies to identify the interactions between urban development and environmental hazards. His research draws on the broader theory of hazard resiliency to propose mitigation and adaptation strategies. His recent work addresses issues related to property acquisition and buyouts as nonstructural mitigation strategies to reduce flood impacts.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Many studies have evaluated the impacts of urbanization on runoff and non-point source pollutants, few studies have combined hydrologic and water quality simulation models with spatial analyses to assess these impacts at the neighborhood scale, thereby exposing any environmental inequalities. This study applies the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA) model in Houston, TX, to estimate the current and future urban runoff and nonpoint pollutants for 88 Houston super-neighborhoods. We use hotspot analysis to explore the effects of land use changes on runoff and pollutant loads under different socioeconomic conditions. Comparing current land uses with the predicted 2045 Houston land uses shows that runoff and non-point source pollutants in all Houston super-neighborhoods would worsen by 55%, on average. Particularly, nitrogen, phosphorous, and nickel would have the greatest increase (76.88%, 60.29%, and 59.23%, respectively). Bacterial pollutants, including fecal coliform and fecal strep, are projected to increase by more than 60%. Results also show that disadvantaged communities tend to experience increased flood risk and are likely to face more public health problems from contaminant exposure, compared with advantaged communities. To reduce these risks, prevention and mitigation efforts should be diverted toward improving green infrastructure. Advocacy planning is needed to empower marginalized neighborhoods to combat inequitable effects related to land use change.

KEYWORDS
  • Contamination
  • population growth
  • inequality
  • L-THIA
  • urban runoff
  • non-point source pollution
  • © 2021 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Landscape Journal: 40 (2)
Landscape Journal
Vol. 40, Issue 2
1 Jan 2021
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Landscape Journal.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Simulating the Impact of Land Use Change on Contaminant Transferal during Flood Events in Houston, Texas
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Landscape Journal
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Landscape Journal web site.
Citation Tools
Simulating the Impact of Land Use Change on Contaminant Transferal during Flood Events in Houston, Texas
Rui Zhu, Galen Newman, Kayode Atoba
Landscape Journal Jan 2021, 40 (2) 79-99; DOI: 10.3368/lj.40.2.79

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Simulating the Impact of Land Use Change on Contaminant Transferal during Flood Events in Houston, Texas
Rui Zhu, Galen Newman, Kayode Atoba
Landscape Journal Jan 2021, 40 (2) 79-99; DOI: 10.3368/lj.40.2.79
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The Olmsteds and the Land-Grant Universities
  • The Vanishing Landscape of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields
  • Protecting the Identity of Sheep-Farming Landscapes in the Outer Carpathians: A Typology, Delimitation, and Interpretation
Show more Peer-Reviewed Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • Contamination
  • population growth
  • inequality
  • L-THIA
  • urban runoff
  • non-point source pollution
UWP

© 2023 Landscape Journal

Powered by HighWire