Evaluating the joint effects of climate and land use change on runoff and pollutant loading in a rapidly developing watershed

Communities are coping with changes in runoff quantity and quality, stemming mainly from changes in climate and land use/land cover (LULC); there is a need to identify the most adaptable strategies that improve community resilience. However, the joint impacts of climate and LULC change have rarely been assessed at local scales. To address these needs, we assessed the response of runoff and pollutant loads from Broad Run, a rapidly developing watershed in northern Virginia, to projected climate and LULC change. Climate data from two downscaled Global Climate Models (GCMs) were used to force an urban watershed model, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), while forecasts of LULC change were derived from the Chesapeake Bay Land Change Model (CBLCM). Two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), 4.5 and 8.5, a historic baseline (1995–2020), and projected periods (2040–2065); and four LULC change scenarios designated agricultural conservation (AC), forest conservation (FC), growth management (GM), and historical trend (HT) were used to create a series of ensemble simulations of coupled LULC and climate change. Results indicated that, under RCP 8.5, annual precipitation is projected to increase substantially more than RCP 4.5. Projected LULC change resulted in a projected increase in imperviousness from 6.3% to 13.1%. Results indicated that climate change will likely increase the seasonal variability of runoff, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Nitrogen (TN), and Total Phosphorus (TP) for both RCPs. The largest increase for a single LULC change (without climate change) scenario for runoff, TSS, TN, and TP was 32.6%, 33.4%, 31.6%, and 35.8%, respectively. which occurred with the HT scenario. Results of LULC change also indicated that more pollutant loads were associated with increased imperviousness from increased urban development and loss of deciduous forests and grasslands. The largest increase for climate and LULC change scenarios in runoff, TSS, TN, and TP was 67.6%, 66.7%, 63.4%, and 69.4%, respectively, which occurred with the RCP 8.5 and HT scenarios. Similar, but smaller increases were obtained for other scenarios, suggesting that climate and LULC change may be synergistic, likely undermining watershed restoration efforts. The results of our study also indicate that runoff, TSS, TN, and TP are expected to be more affected by changes in future LULC than by projected changes in climate. Our study can be used to inform watershed restoration efforts, urban planning, and environmental policy. The combined impact of climate and LULC change will likely generate increased runoff, and nutrients and sediment loading, indicating that robust mitigation strategies are needed for watershed restoration to succeed.