| Summary: | This study uses a distributed hydrologic model to assess the impact of wetland loss on
flood peaks. There is large agreement among hydrologists that wetlands have significant
flood-mitigation potential. However, the lack of data availability and the appropriate
model have generally prevented this impact from being quantified and applied to city
planning. From 1980 to 2008 sixty percent of the wetlands in Houston's Cole Creek
were destroyed. Because of its proximity to downtown, a wealth of historical, hydrologic
data are available for the subbasin. Distributed hydrologic models, which have become
more accessible with the increase of computer processing power, allow for the
consideration of finite areas, such as wetlands, on watershed response. This study found
that wetland loss from 1980 to 2008 has increased flood peaks by approximately 15
percent in Cole Creek, for 2, 5, and 10-year storms.
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