Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2017IL332B

Impacts of stormwater-induced road salt runoff on soil and water quality in urban greenspaces

Institute: Illinois
Year Established: 2017 Start Date: 2017-03-01 End Date: 2018-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $26,450

Principal Investigators: Aaron Packman

Project Summary: The proposed research will identify impacts of stormwater runoff and road salt on the soil and water quality of an important urban greenspace. This will be achieved by installing a network of sensors in a natural(undeveloped) urban prairie site to obtain time-series data on stormwater-induced salt intrusion into the prairie. The long term goal is to develop high-resolution models to understand salt transport to surface water, groundwater, and soil in order to recommend strategies for the protection of urban greenspaces. The specific project aims are to: (1) quantify the impact of winter deicing salt applied to a highway and residential roads on soil, surface water, and groundwater quality in an urban prairie nature preserve, and (2) quantify the effects of seasonality (winter storms and spring snowmelt) on salt delivery to the prairie.