Runoff Flow Path Mapping at Bucknell

Elaine Langone Center, Forum

Precision Conservation combines high resolution, remotely-sensed land surface data with analysis through a Geographic Information System (GIS). This particular application, pioneered by the Chesapeake Conservancy, can identify precise locations where concentrated storm runoff leaves individual fields, and provides a metric that estimates how likely the flow is to discharge harmful pollutants downstream. The analysis was applied to the Buffalo Creek watershed in Union County, PA during the summer of 2015. During the fall semester in 2015, the students in CEEG 421 (Hydrology) reproduced the analysis in the Bucknell GIS lab and identified sites on local farms that could benefit from better stormwater management practices. In collaboration with the Buffalo Creek Watershed Alliance (BCWA), students visited some of the farms, interacted with the farmers, and inspected the sites they identified. Working in groups of three, they designed engineered treatment facilities such as constructed wetlands, ponds, and filter strips. Research during the summer of 2016 is testing the validity of the metric used; alternatives will be suggested and tested as well. Finally, a similar class project is planned for the Fall 2016 offering of CEEG 421, and improvements to the project motivated by lessons learned the first time will be discussed.