Bhaswati Mazumder

The application of spatial cross-correlation modelling was tested on continuous time series of electrical conductivity to estimate lateral and longitudinal chloride dynamics in an urbanizing watershed in Southern Ontario. Overall, the model appeared more robust for the winter salting season than for the summer growing season. The winter results showed shorter travel times with higher velocity longitudinally (upstream to downstream) in an urban stream reach with more impervious surfaces than in a rural reach with more permeable surfaces. The lateral exchange rates (stream-hyporheic zone) were observed to be affected by both local and catchment-scale land use and soil profiles. Cross-correlation results and time series data also indicated that road-salt applications in the urban catchment may be leading to underground storage of chloride, contributing to the streams in summer and producing year-round peaks of chloride in the urban stream reach.