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Publication Brief analysis of the Tan Brook watershed in Amherst, Massachusetts(2014-01-01) McKenna, Andrew; Smith, Robert FThe Tan Brook is a small 3.91 square kilometer watershed that runs through and encompasses the highly urbanized areas of Amherst, MA. It is part of the Connecticut River basin and the Mill River sub-basin. In order to meet the high demands of the local middle and high school, and heavy runoff from high amounts of impervious cover from downtown Amherst and the University of Massachusetts, the Tan Brook has been highly culverted.Publication Watershed as Metaphor for Nested Hydrologic System(2009-01-01) Lynch, Christopher ToddThe Tan Brook watershed vision and recommendation matrix give the town of Amherst a road map for making the watershed into a resilient ecosystem that could sustain life across many scales. The Master Plan for Amherst Regional high school nested within the Upper Reach of the Tan Brook Watershed, specifically implements components of the recommendations so that it becomes a model for what stream restoration, rain gardens and impervious materials might do to improve water quality, provide social benefit and restore habitat. The landscape of the high school is a metaphor for what the Watershed might become, and with its improvements, supports the science curriculum at Amherst Regional high school. Tracing the history of stormwater management, understanding fundamentals of hydrologic process and researching evolving technologies of LID provides the context of the current stormwater field. Precedent studies illustrate creative ways designers have applied that understanding to sites to improve water quality, provide social benefit and restore habitat.Publication Modeling Effectiveness of Low Impact Development on Runoff Volume in the Tan Brook Watershed(2013-01-01) Hewes, Christopher; Smith, Robert F; Nicolson, CraigThe Tan Brook is a heavily channelized stream that runs through an urbanized watershed in Amherst, MA. It poses a stormwater management problem for the University of Massachusetts Amherst due to flooding of soccer fields and erosion of a drainage ditch. The purpose of this study was to estimate reductions in runoff volume to the Tan Brook based on the hypothetical implementation of permeable pavements in various combinations of parking lots, driveways, roadways, and sidewalks, which cover 26% of the watershed area. A spreadsheet model-based approach utilized the Watershed Treatment Model to estimate runoff volume. The percent imperviousness of various land uses was altered to model permeable pavements. Total replacement of parking lots, roadways, sidewalks, and driveways were found to reduce runoff by 18%, 15%, 12%, and 3%, respectively. Recommendations were made to begin replacing parking lots on the UMass Amherst campus and Town of Amherst property.Publication The Environmental Condition of Tan Brook and Campus Pond, A Community and University Concern(2014-01-01) Clay, Marita; Smith, Robert FSmall streams have the unfortunate ability to be greatly impacted by human intervention. Civilizations for centuries have attempted to alter the natural state of their environment, and Amherst's own Tan Brook is a local example of the consequences of human alterations on a stream. The brook flows over and under what many local citizens call home, and where many UMass students go to learn. A healthier Tan Brook would be expected to provide for improvement of ecosystem services such as flood control and nutrient processing, resulting in a cleaner campus pond and a better connection between the stream and the local community. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare previously recorded biochemical characteristics with current conditions in the Tan Brook and campus pond to determine if the health of this system has changed. Additional parameters related to the geomorphology and biology of the Tan Brook will also be characterized. Community concern in concurrence with the fact that the majority of the stream is piped underground through culverts indicates that the Tan Brook is currently impacted. The data collected can provide clues about levels of ecological impairment in Tan Brook and the source of these impairments. With interpretation, the information gathered could eventually lead to the development of infrastructure to remediate the sources of impairment, consequently leading to a cleaner Tan Brook. This is an optimistic transformation that would aid both the town of Amherst and the University.Publication Qualitative and Comparative Analysis of Stormwater management in the Tan Brook Watershed(2014-01-01) von Hausen, Natalia; Smith, Robert FThe Tan Brook Watershed is both a daylighted and diverted underground stream that runs through the Town Center of Amherst and the campus of UMass Amherst. Various stormwater management practices have been used to infiltrate stormwater runoff from streets, lots, buildings and/or vehicles. These systems are custom-designed relative to the surrounding permeability of the soil, vegetation and geographical topography. Some systems have higher success rates than others.Publication The Potential for Restoration of Tan Brook, an Urban Headwater stream in Amherst, Massachusetts(2014-01-01) Tenhulzen, Alison; Black, Alyssa; Smith, Robert FThe goal of the Tan Brook Student Conservation Group is to educate undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst about freshwater sustainability. to accomplish this, the group will act to provide opportunities in original research, applied field and laboratory methods, and outreach. The initial goal for the group will be a collaborative project describing the ecological, historical, and social significance of the Tan Brook, which will result in an informative website and educational signage located at several locations in the town of Amherst and on University property where the Tan Brook enters campus. Ultimately, the group will contribute to multidisciplinary projects on applied and basic research about the sustainability of freshwater resources using the Tan Brook as the focus.