Wukai Jiang

This research employs the SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model to evaluate the impact of urban land use changes on chloride levels in the Lake Simcoe watershed, focusing on the rise of impervious surfaces such as roads and parking lots. By integrating environmental characteristics with land use changes, SPARROW offers a dynamic and quantitative tool to predict and manage chloride. The key research questions are: 1. Can a SPARROW model be used to simulate Chloride loads in an urbanizing watershed? 2. What are the main sources and delivery/decay processes of chloride in the Lake Simcoe Watershed, and have they changed over time? The model confirmed the increasing export rate from impervious surfaces and the contribution of stormwater sewershed to chloride export. Although the models struggle to distinguish the contributions of different types of impervious surfaces, they all show good fits, indicating potential for chloride export modeling.