Quantifying Urban Land Use and Runoff Changes Through Service-Learning Hydrology Projects

Abstract

We have used land use change, driven by development of the University of Vermont campus and recent student occupancy of surrounding neighborhoods in Burlington, Vermont, as an opportunity for service learning and for teaching fundamental hydrologic and geologic skills in two undergraduate Geology courses. Two students, from a Geomorphology class, used historical maps and aerial photographs of the University campus to document the dramatic increase in impermeable surfaces on campus from 4% of the land area in 1869 to 42% in 1999. In Geohydrology, student teams used aerial photographs, field mapping, and door-to-door surveys to document green space losses of 40 to 50% over the past 20 years in neighborhoods inhabited predominantly by students, despite zoning controls enacted in 1973. Students used simple hydrologic calculations to demonstrate that this unregulated change in land use increased both the volume and peak flow of stormwater runoff. Senior research projects have also made field and demographic studies of individual neighborhoods and examined the percent of land use change. In each of these studies, students worked closely with City and University staff and presented results at local forums, professional national meetings, and on the World Wide Web. These service-learning projects have received positive feedback from the students, city officials, and community members.