Watershed Management in Hamilton County

Key Programs:

Watershed Planning                 ​​The Demonstration Watershed                 Regional Leadership​
HCCD is a regional leader in watershed management.  We are focused on mitigating water resource related impacts for Hamilton County landowners to restore healthy ecosystems and ecosystem services, and build climate resilient communities
 
We provide leadership and technical assistance in:
  • Assessment of water resource impacts on humans and ecosystems
  • Planning to mitigate impacts and build resilience
  • Assessment/demonstration of cutting-edge mitigation techniques

​Water Resource Problems in Hamilton County:

​The water resource problems that most impact people's lives in Hamilton County include:
  • Upland stormwater flooding
  • Stream flooding
  • Sewer overflows
  • Property damage from excessive streambanks erosion
  • Loss of Biodiversity and access to safe and ecologically healthy natural spaces

​While addressing these large-scale challenges may seem daunting, it is notable and encouraging that they all have a common underlying cause, and therefore effort to address any one of these problems, if done thoughtfully, may mitigate more than one problem at a time.

​A Common Cause:

A common cause of these problems is the way that human alteration of the landscape has altered how rainwater moves through the landscape - due to lack of planning/investment to preserve or mimic natural movement of water through the landscape.  In urban/suburban areas, these alterations include covering the ground surface with impervious materials (e.g. roads, parking lots, and buildings) which prevent rainwater from soaking into the underlying soils; and in rural areas, these alterations include ditching our creeks and installing drainage tiles in fields lowering groundwater levels.
 
Some of these problems can manifest quickly when the rain falls on upland areas (e.g. upland stormwater flooding and sewer overflows).  Others result from the way that these alterations impact flow patterns in streams.
​In-stream flow pattern changes fit into two categories:
  • Peak flow impacts - larger and more frequent erosive flash flows that lead to stream flooding, excessive stream bank erosion, and habitat destruction
  • Baseflow impacts – reduced groundwater levels resulting in creeks drying out in between rain events - a huge source of habitat degradation and loss; much of this lost groundwater is ending up in sanitary sewers driving sewer overflows.
 
A catch-all term for the underlying cause of these problems is hydrologic alteration.

Climate Change – An Exacerbating Factor:

It is important to note that the two categories of impacts from hydrologic alteration, peak flow impacts and baseflow impacts, also represent the primary ways in which climate changes has, and is projected to continue to, our impact water resources and communities in this region.  So, by implementing solutions to mitigate impacts of hydrologic alteration, we simultaneously build resilience in our community against the impacts of climate change. 

​Common Solutions:

To mitigate the impacts of hydrologic alteration and climate change, we need to restore or mimic the natural movement of water through the landscape.  This can be achieved by incorporating nature-based solutions.  A well placed and thoughtfully designed nature-based solution project could potentially alleviate stormwater drainage problems, reduce downstream flooding, reduce erosivity of in-stream flows, reduce sewer overflows, and create/enhance natural space for the enjoyment of humans and wildlife - all simultaneously.