Aquatic Life Declines at Early Stages of Urban Development

[Staff]

Aquatic Life Declines at Early Stages of Urban Development
Released: 6/3/2010 11:00:00 AM

USGS Release: Aquatic Life Declines at Early Stages of Urban Development (6/3/2010 11:00:00 AM)
excerpt from above:

The number of native fish and aquatic insects, especially those that are pollution sensitive, declines in urban and suburban streams at low levels of development — levels often considered protective for stream communities, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

“When the area of driveways, parking lots, streets and other impervious cover reaches 10 percent of a watershed area, many types of pollution sensitive aquatic insects decline by as much as one third, compared to streams in undeveloped forested watersheds,” said Tom Cuffney, USGS biologist. “We learned that there is no ‘safezone,’ meaning that even minimal or early stages of development can negatively affect aquatic life in urban streams.”