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Brian Miller The Relationship Between Land Use Decisions and the Associate Director and Outreach Coordinator, Impacts on Our Water and Natural Resources Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program Communities throughout the state of Intensity of land use can be categorized Indiana are growing and changing. The as low intensity (open space including Robert McCormick changes that growth brings can have both farmland, wild lands, and managed green Coordinator, positive and negative impacts. A space) or high intensity (industrial, Planning with POWER community’s natural resources are one commercial, and urban centers). More asset that can be negatively impacted by intensively developed areas have a greater Planning with POWER growth if careful planning and proactive level of impervious surfaces, including 765-494-3627 steps are not taken. This publication roads, parking lots, sidewalks, rooftops, www.planningwithpower.org describes the relationship between land etc., than low intensity areas. Impervious use decisions and natural resources and surfaces prevent natural infiltration of explains how the Planning with POWER water and increase storm water runoff. program can help communities “Protect As the intensity of land use increases, Our Water and Environmental infiltration and the ability to recharge Resources” as they grow. ground water decreases because Land Use Decisions Can Affect percolation of surface water into the Table of Contents Natural Resources and Water Quality aquifer is inhibited. The increased Land Use Decisions Can Affect Natural Land use decisions are having significant runoff that results can also lead to Resources and Water Quality ...... 1 impacts on our water and other natural increased water pollution and physical Lands Providing and Supporting Natural resources in communities across the damage to our aquatic systems. Lands Resources ...... 1 country. The potential negative impacts providing natural resources are often Threats to Lands Supporting Wildlife to our water and natural resources increase removed from this purpose and Habitat ...... 2 as the intensity of land use increases. developed. Remaining wild lands Increased Runoff ...... 3 adjacent to intensive land use are Increased Pollution ...... 4 INCREASED AMOUNT negatively affected, and some of the What Can You Do About It ...... 5 OF IMPERVIOUS natural functions they provide (habitat SURFACE Natural Resource-Based Planning ...... 5 and travel corridors) can be impaired. Not All Growth Pays ...... 6 INCREASED Lands Providing and Supporting Appropriate Site Design and Best INTENSITY OF Management Practices ...... 7 LAND USE Natural Resources Remediation and Maintenance Open space includes farmlands, managed Practices ...... 8 INCREASED green space (golf courses, parks, recreation POTENTIAL WATER Planning with POWER Can Help You .. 10 QUALITY areas), and wild lands (forest lands, & Additional Information ...... 10-11 NATURAL RESOURCE unmanaged habitats, field corners, fence PROBLEMS rows, abandoned pastures, etc.).
PurdueIllinois-Indiana University Cooperative Sea Grant Extension College ProgramService • •West Purdue Lafayette, University IN 47907 1 Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program • Purdue University impact lands providing our natural Examples of Open Space resources and can negatively impact the quality of the remaining lands that provide natural resources or perform natural functions.
Farmland Unwise land use decisions can negatively impact wildlife populations in several ways. Critical habitat is lost each time wetlands, forestlands, grass lands, or Each year, over 50,000 acres Wild Lands Managed Green Space agricultural lands are converted to other of farmland is converted to development in Indiana What is open space? uses. The quality of the remaining wildlife habitat can also be affected by (according to the National These areas perform many vital and the adjoining land use. Predation on Resources Inventory). important functions such as collecting nests and wildlife is increased by the and filtering our water, filtering our air, growing population of dogs and cats in providing critical habitat for wildlife, the area. Increased levels of human providing places for recreational activity and shrinking habitat size can opportunities, and providing food and further reduce the use of habitats as fiber for the world. travel corridors or nesting areas by many Unfortunately, this open space is rapidly species sensitive to this disturbance. disappearing. From 1926 to 1997, the rate of development in the United States Loss of Open Space doubled to a level of three million acres per year. Indiana currently ranks second in the nation in total acreage of prime farmland, of which over 50,000 acres are lost each year. This is equal to 9 acres per hour – a trend in land use change that has a serious impact on the amount of prime farmland for future production needs.
Threats to Lands Supporting Indiana ranks second in Wildlife Habitat Land use decisions often result in acreage of prime farmland in parcelization, which breaks large areas the country, behind Illinois. Fragmentation and Habitat Loss of habitat into smaller parcels. This process fragments a landscape and can negatively impact wildlife populations by inhibiting their dispersal or migratory patterns, preventing them from moving from feeding areas to places providing cover, and can make animals vulnerable to predation as they move greater distances from one area of suitable habitat to another. What kind of threats? Fragmentation and parcelization of Our natural resources – such as timber, farmland, forestland, green space, and wildlife, water, food, and plants from wildlife habitat has three major impacts: which we derive medications – are all • It reduces the acreage of natural produced in the “open space” on our wildlife habitats and farmland. landscapes. Land use changes permanently
2 Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service • West Lafayette, IN 47907 • It increases contact between lands and velocity of storm water runoff to providing natural functions and poten- increase significantly. The results can be tially conflicting uses. For example, increased flooding, severe erosion, and increased development near wildlife physical degradation of stream and river habitats increases the conflicts between habitats that adversely impact the entire people and wildlife. This may result in watershed and our valuable water supply. wildlife damage or increased predation Studies have shown that streams in and disturbance to wild animals by watersheds with greater than 10 percent of house pets and people. their land area in impervious cover begin to • It increases isolation of wildlife and show signs of ecological impairment. As plants, which can inhibit their dis- the impervious cover in a watershed persal and genetic mixing and can lead As the intensity of land use approaches 25 percent, streams become to a species’ decline or even extinction degraded and the water quality, habitat increases, there is a in an area. corresponding increase in the quality, and biological diversity occurring in amount of impervious surfaces In the last 16 years, the number of watershed streams are all greatly reduced. such as roads, parking lots, private forest owners tripled, but the sidewalks, and rooftops. number of acres in forest remained about Impervious Cover is Integrative the same. This increased parcelization facilitates fragmentation due to the diversity of management and use of individual tracts of land. Planning with POWER encourages the protection of large tracts of farmland, forestland, other open spaces, and wildlife habitat in areas of your community most suited to this purpose. These valuable natural resource areas can then thrive and function as a cohesive unit for generations Flooding can have disastrous impacts on to come, thus maintaining a critical natural the local community, both in terms of resource base for the community. private property damage and use of public Increased Runoff tax dollars for clean up and removal of debris and sediment when floodwaters Increased Runoff recede. Erosion of our valuable topsoil resource can result in decreased agricultural productivity and increased sediment runoff. Sediment runoff often contains pollutants such as nutrients and pesticides, which degrade water. From 1979 to 1994, the number of private forest owners in Why is it a Problem? Indiana tripled, but the number of acres in forest remained What causes runoff? How can runoff approximately the same. impact natural resources? Scientific studies show a corresponding increase in the amount of impervious surfaces such as roads, parking lots, sidewalks, and rooftops as the intensity of land use increases. An increase in impervious surfaces causes the volume
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program • Purdue University 3 Physical degradation of natural streambeds, As storm water runoff increases in such as channelization and scouring, is also volume and velocity, the types and caused by increased runoff. Such amounts of pollutants detrimental to degradation is detrimental to aquatic life water quality and aquatic life may also and can result in the destruction of aquatic increase. Very little infiltration of storm Polluted runoff is the number ecosystems in rivers and streams. water occurs. This lack of infiltration one water quality problem in eliminates the natural breakdown and the United States today. Planning with POWER encourages the filtering processes of the soil profile that slowing of storm water runoff and normally cleanses and filters water as increasing infiltration through the use of part of the natural water cycle. vegetated swales, retention/detention ponds, buffers, pervious paving methods, Pollutants – such as sediment, nutrients, and other Best Management Practices pathogens, and toxic contaminants – pose (BMPs) to protect water and other natural a threat to our drinking water supply and resources. By doing so, the overall can reduce or destroy fish populations and integrity of our streams, rivers, and other aquatic life. Pollutants may also render waterways are maintained and improved. water resources unfit for recreational uses Increased Pollution such as swimming and fishing. Polluted runoff is the number one water Sources of Polluted Runoff quality problem in the United States Farmland and Industrial today. There are four main sources of Managed Greenspace polluted runoff: farmland, managed green space, commercial and industrial lands, and residential areas. The types of pollutants from each of these sources Pollutants – such as sediment, Residential Commercial vary, but some common pollutants are nutrients, pathogens, and shared by several of these sources. See toxic contaminants – pose a table below. threat to our drinking water.
Where does the pollution come from?
Sources and Types of Polluted Runoff Farmland Managed Greenspace Commercial & Residential (golf courses, lawns, parks) Industrial Nutrients Fertilizers Fertilizers Acid rain, Fertilizers, septic automotive exhaust system effluent Pathogens Domestic & wild Domestic & wild Malfunctioning/ Malfunctioning animal waste animal waste overloaded septic septic systems, systems and lagoons pet waste Sediments Erosion from fields, Erosion from fields, Construction sites, Construction sites, stream bank erosion stream bank erosion roadside erosion, road sand, erosion from animals from animals road sand from lawns and gardens Toxic Pesticides Pesticides Industrial pollutants, Household products, Contaminants automotive emissions pesticides & fluids Debris Litter, illegal Litter, illegal Litter, illegal Litter, illegal dumping dumping dumping dumping Thermal Removal of Shallow water Heated runoff, Heated runoff, streamside impoundments, removal of streamside removal of streamside vegetation removal of streamside vegetation, vegetation, vegetation impoundments impoundments
4 Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service • West Lafayette, IN 47907 What Can You Do About It How do we want to use our land? Natural resource-based planning is a What Can You Do About it? process that identifies critical natural resources, evaluates potential impacts to these resources from proposed land use changes, and identifies practical strategies Natural Resource that can reduce the impacts on natural Based Planning resources from land use change. Through this process, communities can effectively protect their valuable natural resources, Improving Site Design such as farmland, forests, open spaces, Remediation and and Best Management Maintenance Practices (BMPs) and wildlife habitat, and reduce the fragmentation of lands while still accom- What can I do? modating growth in their community. There are three main strategies in the Planning with POWER message for One of the most important elements in communities to use as they plan their land use decision-making is the future use and protection of vital and comprehensive land use plan for the critical drinking water, farmlands, forests, community. The comprehensive plan and recreation areas. They are: answers three key questions for the community: What kind of growth? How 1) Plan to protect critical natural re- much growth? Where should we put it? sources in your community while still accommodating growth through Finding the Balance natural resource-based planning. 2) Minimize the impact to initial natural resources resulting from land use change through appropriate site designs and use of best management practices. 3) Mitigate the negative impacts to critical natural resources or loss of open space providing these functions through remediation and maintenance measures. Planning with POWER provides education, resources, and technical assistance to local Comprehensive planning is a process communities as they address land use where the local community develops a decisions impacting water quality and long-term vision of what kind and how environmental resources. much development it wants, then finds the balance between protection of natural Natural Resource-Based Planning resources and economic growth and development. The comprehensive plan- ning process has to involve all segments of the public. Without public support and involvement, the planning process will not represent the entire community. A community that does not have a comprehensive plan, or a recently revised plan, is vulnerable to special interest groups. Development could occur in the community with little thought or concern Photos courtesy of Cindy Salazar and Renee Gunn, Purdue University for the resources that are unique and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program • Purdue University 5 valuable to the area. Without a plan, For help in watershed planning and severe degradation and loss of valuable incorporating protection of critical natural resources will occur. natural resources in your community, you can contact the Conservation Natural resources are part of the plan Partnership in Indiana (composed of the A comprehensive plan should have the Indiana Department of Natural Planning with POWER protection of a community’s water and Project Partners Resources (IDNR), the Natural Resource natural resources as one of its goals. The Conservation Service (NRCS), Purdue plan’s objective is to find the balance Purdue Cooperative Cooperative Extension Service (CES), between the protection of natural Extension Service and the Soil and Water Conservation resources and growth or development. Districts (SWCD)). Your local office of Illinois-Indiana Sea To effectively protect the natural the U.S. Department of Agriculture Grant College Program resources of a community, several key (USDA), including the Natural Resource Indiana Department of steps must be taken: Conservation Service (NRCS), the Farm Environmental Management (IDEM) 1) Inventory the natural resources in Service Agency (FSA), and your local the community. Soil and Water Conservation District Indiana Land Resources (SWCD), is a starting point for 2) Prioritize areas for protection. Council (ILRC) Conservation Partnership assistance (see 3) Target development to the most Indiana Department of local listing). appropriate areas. Natural Resources (IDNR) 4) Incorporate open space planning. Natural Resources 5) Develop a plan of action and revise Conservation Service zoning and subdivision regulations. (NRCS) Comprehensive Planning is a Key Step Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD)
Inventory natural Target development to Not All Growth Pays . . . resources most appropriate areas
Develop plan of action Revise zoning and Growth Increases Public Costs subdivision regulations Planning with POWER is Unequal Growth funded by: Prioritize areas Incorporate open for protection space planning Population Growth The Purdue Extension Land Use Team, Public Cost Purdue Cooperative Increase
Measure Extension Service made up of Extension educators from Assessed Value across the state, can assist local communi- Increase Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant ties with land use planning and the compre- Percentage College Program hensive planning process. Contact What kind of growth do we need to Indiana Department of Planning with POWER to locate your Environmental Management achieve our economic goals? nearest Land Use Extension Team member. (Sec. 319 Grant) Local decision-makers are often faced Looking at the Complete Picutre with the dilemma of how much and what NOAA Coastal Services Center kind of growth will be optimal in terms of economic benefits for their community. In addition, they must balance environmental goals and regulations with economic and growth goals of the community.
6 Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service • West Lafayette, IN 47907 Growth in single-family housing is often When business and residential growth is assumed to have a positive economic combined, counties must see 7 new jobs for benefit for the local community. In every 10 new people in order to break even. reality, increases in population and Currently in Indiana, there are around five housing growth generally increases existing jobs for every ten people. community costs for public services such as schools, roads, and police and fire protection. A recent study in Indiana found that “a 10 percent increase in population increased county government Designs that reduce grading costs approximately 8 percent while only and filling and retain natural increasing county assessed value features are often less approximately 5 percent” (Larry DeBoer, expensive and more pleasing Purdue University, Agricultural to the eye. Economist). To make up the difference, a tax increase is required. Photo courtesy of Renee Gunn, Purdue University The type of growth and development in your community can greatly influence fiscal impacts, either positively or negatively, which in turn affects the cost of providing public services. Ultimately, this affects tax rates and revenues. Incorporating open space (agricultural Jobs must grow at above and forest lands) into a community’s plan normal rates to provide other tax revenues to cover the cost may help achieve the positive fiscal goals of growth. a community desires while protecting Photo courtesy of Robert McCormick, Purdue University natural resources vital to the community.
The process of development has tended to Appropriate Site Design and Best raise tax rates because the positive fiscal Management Practices impacts of added business have not been Site Design and BMP’s for Natural enough to offset the negative fiscal Resources impacts of additional housing. Studies from across the country illustrate the fact • Implement that commercial and industrial develop- setback distances ments tend to have positive fiscal impacts from critical resources for a community, while residential development tends to have negative fiscal • Riparian buffer zones for streams Property tax rates must rise to impacts. Agriculture ranks between commercial/industrial and residential, but • Watershed provide more total tax approach revenues to cover the cost of tends to be positive in its fiscal impacts. growth. In order to support and balance increased How do we decide what to build and residential growth and the increased where to build it? public services required, the community Natural resource-based planning sets a must increase employment and keep jobs course to reduce negative impacts to above the present rate or increase tax natural resources that your community revenues to cover the shortfall in wants to protect. You can minimize providing public services. impacts through appropriate site design and Best Management Practices (BMPs).
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program • Purdue University 7 By incorporating improved site design Best Management Practices (BMPs) and use of BMPs to slow storm water Improving Site Design and Best flow and increase its infiltration, Management Practices (BMPs) communities can reduce and, in some • Encourage natural and vegetated storm cases, eliminate toxic pollutants carried water controls–swales vs. curbs. • Emphasize on-site drainage of storm throughout waterways and natural water–percolation vs. detention. resource areas. • Target and protect open space, prime farm land, and critical wildlife habitat– retain natural landscape and minimize Minimize, whenever possible, impervious surfaces. impervious surfaces such as roads, • Encourage agricultural BMPs. parking lots, structures, etc. and increase • Require proper septic systems placement, design, maintenance. the amount of open space and pervious Use cluster systems when possible. pavement alternatives. Doing so will Best Management Practices (BMPs) promote and encourage infiltration of include a range of methods designed to storm water. This is also a critical prevent, reduce, or treat storm water strategy for reducing pollutants entering runoff. Choosing the correct BMP is waterways and impairing drinking water often highly site-specific. Planning with and degrading natural wildlife habitat. POWER project partners can provide Site Design assistance and guidance. Here are some The site planning stage offers the best basic BMP concepts to keep in mind: chance for local officials, designers, 1) Encourage natural and vegetated The proper maintenance of and builders to work together to reduce storm water controls—swales vs. on-site septic systems by polluted runoff and negative environmental curbs when possible. homeowners is crucial to the impacts from a potential building site. 2) Emphasize on-site drainage of storm protection of our natural resources. Common steps in implementing site water to increase percolation and design practices that protect natural infiltration. Use of porous paving resources include: materials and percolation basins are two strategies that could be used. Evaluate site plans to minimize both 3) Target and protect open space, farm- impervious areas and disruption of land, and critical wildlife habitat. natural drainage and vegetation. Retain natural landscapes and mini- Consider cluster development areas mize impervious surfaces. that reduce the amount of paved 4) Encourage urban and agricultural surfaces and increase open space. BMPs. Use of buffer strips along Use brick, crushed stone, or pervious waterways and creation of wildlife pavements as a viable alternative in habitats in undeveloped areas are low traffic areas. examples of BMPs. Reduce proposed sidewalks, roads, 5) Require proper septic system place- and parking lot sizes as much as ment, design, and maintenance. Use possible. cluster systems when possible. Regu- Utilize vegetated swales or filter strips lar cleaning and maintenance is a instead of curbing and piping, when requirement for long-term septic possible. operation. Designs that reduce grading and filling Remediation and Maintenance and retain natural features should be Practices encouraged. In addition to protecting Is there a right way to lower impacts waterways, such designs are often less on natural resources? expensive and more pleasing to the eye. Remediation measures are practices designed to mitigate unavoidable impacts to natural resources caused by 8 Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service • West Lafayette, IN 47907 development. Most remediation measures are designed to slow or reduce storm water runoff, and associated sediment and pollutants that result from increased development.
Photo courtesy of Brian Miller, Purdue University Wetlands. Wetlands – natural and constructed – serve as nature’s sponges, soaking up rain and storing excess flood water runoff and then slowly releasing it
Photo courtesy of Shawnee County Conservation District, Kansas back into streams, lakes, and groundwater. Wetlands support natural Remediation measures are often most Wetlands also support natural processes processes that facilitate the effective when used in combination with that facilitate the deposition of sediment, deposition of sediment, BMPs. Both remediation measures and reduction of nutrients, and deposition and reduction of nutrients, and BMPs allow pollutant removal to take reduction of some pollutants. deposition and reduction of place through the settling of particles and some pollutants. Constructed wetlands are often designed through chemical and biological as part of a system of remediation interactions in the standing water or soil. measures to reduce the impacts of As with any management practice, development by reducing storm water remediation measures must be correctly runoff and improving the quality of water designed in order to work properly. For leaving the site. Wetlands can also be instance, basins must be large enough to designed to improve aesthetics and treat runoff generated by the combination wildlife habitat on a site and may cost less of local climate and site configuration. than some other remediation alternatives. Maintenance Measures Most structural BMPs require regular maintenance to ensure peak pollutant- removal efficiency. Maintenance ranges from the frequent and simple (sweeping parking lots, cleaning storm drains) to the infrequent and complex (sediment removal from detention/retention ponds or catch basins). But, maintenance must be budgeted and planned for in all cases.
Photo courtesy of Robert McCormick, Purdue University Remediation and Maintenance The following are some examples of constructed and natural remediation • Ensure maintenance practices: of roads, lots, catch basins, and BMPs. Detention/Retention Basins. Detention • Encourage proper basins are shallow depressions that are installation and maintenance of designed to slow and hold storm water onsite septic systems before releasing it, whereas retention • Clean storm drains basins are designed to hold water perma- • Sweep Streets nently until it infiltrates into the ground.
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program • Purdue University 9 In addition to maintenance of BMPs and Communities are all in different stages remediation practices (cleaning storm with respect to the planning process. drains, retention and detention ponds, Some communities may not have a etc.), the proper maintenance of onsite formal planning process initiated to septic systems by homeowners is crucial guide development to the most to the protection of our natural resources. appropriate areas, while other The on-site septic system should be communities may be in the process of cleaned approximately every three to updating their comprehensive land use five years, depending on water usage. plan for the first time in many years. Still, other communities may be The Purdue Residential Onsite continually revising plans and Wastewater Disposal (PROWD) Web site ordinances due to tremendous growth
How can we help?
10 Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service • West Lafayette, IN 47907 The Planning with POWER project is a Additional Information statewide educational program that links For additional information, or to learn land use and watershed planning at the how your community can start Planning local level. Credits: Unless otherwise with POWER, please contact: noted, all photo compilations The Planning with POWER program can are taken from the Planning assist you in learning more about how to with POWER multimedia start protecting your community from Robert McCormick presentation. polluted runoff by providing educational 765-494-3627 programming and resources. Fax: 765-496-6026 Planning with POWER has additional
NOTES
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program • Purdue University 11 Purdue Extension Knowledge to Go
New 10/02 It is the policy of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, David C. Petritz, Director, that all persons shall have equal opportunity and access to its programs and facilities without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, or disability. Purdue University is an Affirmative Action employer. This material may be available in alternative formats. http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia 1-888-EXT-INFO
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program is 1 of 30 National Sea Grant College Programs. Created by Congress in 1966, Sea Grant combines university, government, business and industry expertise to address coastal and Great 12 Lakes needs. FundingPurdue isUniversity provided Cooperativeby the National Extension Oceanic Service Atmospheric • West Administration,Lafayette, IN 47907 U.S. Department of Commerce, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.