Scope 5-Kenton Sena-104B Water Resources Research Institute Annual Base Program 2021-2026

Urbanization drives significant ecological degradation, some of the most persistent of which occurs in stream ecosystems. This degradation, known as the “urban stream syndrome,” includes altered streamflow regimes, water quality impairment, and habitat loss. While riparian reforestation is known to provide a variety of ecological benefits, such as wildlife habitat and carbon storage, the effectiveness of riparian reforestation for stream-water quality improvement is unclear. Riparian reforestation, in part for water quality improvement and stormwater management, is a major focus of Reforest the Bluegrass, a community reforestation program in Lexington, KY, started in 1999. Since its inception, the Reforest program has established new forests on over 190 acres in Lexington, with several planted sites in riparian areas of permanent streams. To date, the effects of the Reforest program on stream-water quality have not been the subject of detailed investigation. The proposed project will evaluate water quality, using both chemical analyses and macroinvertebrate surveys, in streams passing through Reforest sites, including upstream, within-reach, and downstream sampling points. The proposed project will also engage local middle school students in deploying, retrieving, and processing leaf packs. This work is expected to improve our understanding of the effects of riparian reforestation on stream-water quality, and will significantly expand and extend a recently launched project to evaluate forest development on Reforest the Bluegrass sites.