| The way we plan the physical layout, or land use, of our communities is fundamental to sustainability.
Watershed models can prove to be
effective tools for projecting the water quality impact of potential land
development. Systech has experience using WARMF
to model future water quality conditions under various development
scenarios. These scenarios could include different levels of best
management practices (BMPs) such as buffer strips, or lower vs. higher
intensity of development based on lot size.
In North Carolina, the Palisades
Development Water Quality Management Plan was recently
approved by the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. The
land developers (Rhein Interests) were required to develop this plan due
to a re-zoning petition. The plan involved modeling the 1500 acre
development adjacent to Lake Wylie as well as eight (8) coves of the lake.
Systech calibrated WARMF to existing water quality conditions in the lake
and then performed multiple scenarios projecting various options for land
development intensity and BMPs.
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