THE DESYNCHRONIZATION OF STORM DISCHARGE PEAKS FROM MODELING LID IMPACTS IN A SMALL, URBANIZED WATERSHED IN NEW JERSEY

The urbanized Peckman River watershed (area of ~30 km²) in northeastern New Jersey has experienced several flood problems in recent years. We installed a series of depth sensors along the main stem and two tributaries of the Peckman River to augment two USGS river gages and found that flood peaks along the river were closely synchronized. With hydrographs peaking almost simultaneously during storm events, floods are worse and cause more damage than they would with desynchronized times. The flood times are especially synchronized downstream of a small reservoir in the upper part of the watershed compared to gage installed upstream, suggesting that this area should be an area for focus of flood mitigation efforts. Using the Curve Number Method of calculating peak discharges, this research is able to identify the best areas for reducing runoff during flood situations. This information can then be used to find the most cost-effective solutions including modeling low impact development methods such as green infrastructure, permeable pavements, and rain barrels. Pressure sensors in the river will continue to collect data to see if the synchronization is a seasonal occurrence or not. Information gathered from this study will be useful not just for the Peckman River watershed, but also for other small, urbanized watersheds.