Hannah Gordon

Urbanization and built-up areas affect hydrological components including runoff, infiltration, and evapotranspiration primarily from the increase in impervious surface area compared to natural areas. The Humber River Watershed, located in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario is highly urbanized and urban area in this region is projected to increase. Impacts from urbanization on the natural environment have already been seen in this area including; increased flashiness, flooding, erosion, and damage to infrastructure from channel incision. Using land use, land cover data and hydrologic data, changes in built-up area, hydrologic metrics and Flow Duration Curves in the Humber River Watershed are investigated over a 54 year period (1966 - 2020), and reasoning behind hydrological changes in relation to built-up area change and additional watershed characteristics are discussed.