Urban Intensification and Environmental Sustain Ability: The Maintenance of Infiltration Gradients

The trends toward urban intensification and the implications to adjacent wetlands in response to the changes in the quantity and quality of runoff are considered. Four urbanization scenarios are examined as they influence inputs to wetlands; these are characterized by changes in quantity, frequency of inputs and the pathways of migrating water. The findings indicate that the mitigation of changes to the hydrologic balance, as it relates to the maintenance of gradients for ground water recharge, will require significant costs in dollars and space.