Arthur Fitzpatrick

B.Sc. (Honours) Thesis

LAND USE CHANGE IN THE MCINTOSH RUN WATERSHED SPRYFIELD, NOVA SCOTIA

(PDF - 19.3 Mb)

Many of the world's watersheds are under constant pressures from land use change and urban sprawl, increasing potential flood risk. Studying and increasing our understanding of land change in these environments helps in mitigating environmental degradation. Nirupama and Simonovic (2006} studied the Thames River in London, Ontario and established that increasing urbanized area correlated with an increase in the magnitude and number of annual flood peaks. This study seeks to classify and quantify land use change over the past century within the Mcintosh Run Watershed located southwest of Halifax, NS, using high-resolution historical air photos and satellite imagery. By classifying land into six classes (forest, barrens, water, wetland, high density urban and low density urban), I have established a timeline of urbanization within the watershed. Since 1931, the watershed has transformed from a largely forested environment with some scattered. agricultural use, to forest with no agriculture, and considerable low and high density urban development. These changes will increase surface runoff, resulting in more pronounced . and regular flood peaks within the Mcintosh Run Watershed.

Keywords: Mcintosh Run; Watershed; Land Change Analysis; Land Use Change; Hydrology; Remote Sensing; Spryfield; Long Lake
Pages: 78
Supervisors: Charles Walls and Lawrence Plug