Using Urban Forestry Practices to Reduce Stormwater Runoff

Abstract

This study reviews the current thought and literature on urban watershed forestry and explains how increasing total forest canopy cover in an urban watershed will result in a corresponding decrease in stormwater runoff. The American Forests CITYGreen urban forestry model is applied to two sub-watersheds in the Vadnais Lake watershed, Ramsey County, Minnesota, to predict the outcome of applying urban watershed forestry practices. Results indicated a positive correlation between an increase in urban forest canopy cover and a reduction in volume of stormwater flow from precipitation events.