ACWQ Austin Canopy Water Quality Progress Report Austin

ACWQ Austin Canopy & Water Quality Progress Report: Austin Tree. Canopy Resource, Phase II Urban Forestry Program and Urban Forestry Board, City of Austin, Texas Spring 2012, Geography 4427, Texas State University April 2, 2012

Team Members Ashley Zavala Ø Project Manager, GIS Analyst, and &Webmaster Lowell Ø GIS Hughes Analyst and Remote Sensing Analyst Eli Pruitt Ø GIS Analyst, Editor, &Webmaster

Purpose Statement To update the City of Austin Urban Forestry Program on the progress of Austin Canopy and Water Quality towards the completion of the Austin Tree-Canopy Resource, Phase II Project.

Background The City of Austin’s Urban Forestry Program approached ACWQ seeking information about the relationship between tree canopy and the water quality of creeks within the greater Austin area.

Project Description The objective of ACWQ is to determine the percentage of tree canopy coverage within the stream reach buffers. Create a tool Time permitting, clip datasets

Work Completed Initial Research Table 1 Distribution of tree canopy coverage We have determined stream flow direction We have established a website template

Data Table Data Set Source Tree Canopy City of Austin (COA) Watershed City of Austin (COA) Streams & Creeks City of Austin (COA) County Lines City of Austin (COA) City boundary City of Austin (COA) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) City of Austin (COA) Water Quality Data Sampling Sites City of Austin (COA) EII REACH Watersheds COA Urban Forestry Program Soil Type USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services Habitat (Eco Regions) Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPWD) Hydrology Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPWD) Impervious Cover United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Hydrography Dataset United States Geological Survey (USGS) Table 1. Data sets and their source

Stream Flow Direction Model Table 2. Stream Flow Direction Model

Buffered Canopy Model Table 3. Buffered Canopy Model

Figure 1 A. Tree Canopy Located in Study Area

Figure 1. Tree Canopy Located within Stream Buffer

Figure 2. City Limits

Figure 3. Tree Canopy Located Within Watershed

Figure 4. Stream Flow Direction

Figure 5. Impervious Cover Within Watershed

Figure 6. Land Cover Within Watershed

Figure 7. Natural Ecological Regions

Figure 8. Soil Type

Figure 9. Vegetative Cover

Work in Progress Locating datasets Develop a stream network Organizing water quality data Reviewing USGS National Hydrography Dataset Website development

Problems Locating datasets Stream Network Stream- unique identifying feature Stream Buffer extent How far upstream USGS sampling sites or COA sampling sites provided

Work To Be Completed Locating datasets Develop a stream network Organizing water quality data Reviewing USGS National Hydrography Dataset Complete the website Delineate sub-watersheds Clip all datasets Revisit research-isolate a connection between tree/tree canopy and water quality Complete all final deliverables

Proposed Timeline

Current Timeline

Summary Overall the progress of the team has slowed as further clarification is needed on several issues. Once feedback is provided, the team is confident that we will be able to move forward and complete the project by the May 4 th deadline.

Questions?