The impact of Shokarski stormwater canal on the quality of the Bulgarian Black Sea bathing waters in the area of discharge

The impact of Shokarski stormwater canal on the bathing waters quality of Varna Bay located in the northern Bulgarian Black Sea was investigated during 2007–2014. A total of five monitoring stations were selected: three city beaches near the area of discharge of the stormwater canal and two nearby resorts beaches. The water quality was assessed following the requirements of the old EU Bathing Water Directive (BWD) 76/160/EEC and the new BWD 2006/7/EC. The resort beaches exhibited excellent water quality through the whole period. The situation at the city beaches was worst. The “Officers Beach” situated exactly at the area of discharge of Shokarski stormwater canal exhibited concentrations of ammonium and nitrates significantly above the guide value in most of the cases, the lowest compliance with the total coliforms and faecal coliforms guide values and the highest concentrations of Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci.     

Effects of urbanization on stream water quality in the city of Atlanta,Georgia, USA

A long‐term stream water quality monitoring network was established in the city of Atlanta, Georgia during 2003 to assess baseline water quality conditions and the effects of urbanization on stream water quality. Routine hydrologically based manual stream sampling, including several concurrent manual point and equal width increment sampling, was conducted ～12 times annually at 21 stations, with drainage areas ranging from 3·7 to 232 km². Eleven of the stations are real‐time (RT) stations having continuous measures of stream stage/discharge, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature and turbidity, and automatic samplers for stormwater collection. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, and a broad suite of water quality and sediment‐related constituents. Field parameters and concentrations of major ions, metals, nutrient species and coliform bacteria among stations were evaluated and with respect to watershed characteristics and plausible sources from 2003 through September 2007. Most constituent concentrations are much higher than nearby reference streams. Concentrations are statistically different among stations for several constituents, despite high variability both within and among stations. Routine manual sampling, automatic sampling during stormflows and RT water quality monitoring provided sufficient information about urban stream water quality variability to evaluate causes of water quality differences among streams. Fecal coliform bacteria concentrations of most samples exceeded Georgia's water quality standard for any water‐usage class. High chloride concentrations occur at three stations and are hypothesized to be associated with discharges of chlorinated combined sewer overflows, drainage of swimming pool(s) and dissolution and transport during rainstorms of CaCl₂, a deicing salt applied to roads during winter storms. One stream was affected by dissolution and transport of ammonium alum [NH₄Al(SO₄)₂] from an alum‐manufacturing plant; streamwater has low pH (<5), low alkalinity and high metals concentrations. Several trace metals exceed acute and chronic water quality standards and high concentrations are attributed to washoff from impervious surfaces. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impacts of stormwater runoff in the Southern California Bight: Relationships among plume constituents

The effects from two winter rain storms on the coastal ocean of the Southern California Bight were examined as part of the Bight ‘03 program during February 2004 and February–March 2005. The impacts of stormwater from fecal indicator bacteria, water column toxicity, and nutrients were evaluated for five major river discharges: the Santa Clara River, Ballona Creek, the San Pedro Shelf (including the Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers), the San Diego River, and the Tijuana River. Exceedances of bacterial standards were observed in most of the systems. However, the areas of impact were generally spatially limited, and contaminant concentrations decreased below California Ocean Plan standards typically within 2–3 days. The largest bacterial concentrations occurred in the Tijuana River system where exceedances of fecal indicator bacteria were noted well away from the river mouth. Maximum nitrate concentrations (~40 μM) occurred in the San Pedro Shelf region near the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Based on the results of general linear models, individual sources of stormwater differ in both nutrient concentrations and the concentration and composition of fecal indicator bacteria. While nutrients appeared to decrease in plume waters due to simple mixing and dilution, the concentration of fecal indicator bacteria in plumes depends on more than loading and dilution rates. The relationships between contaminants (nutrients and fecal indicator bacteria) and plume indicators (salinity and total suspended solids) were not strong indicating the presence of other potentially important sources and/or sinks of both nutrients and fecal indicator bacteria. California Ocean Plan standards were often exceeded in waters containing greater than 10% stormwater (<28–30 salinity range). The median concentration dropped below the standard in the 32–33 salinity range (1–4% stormwater) for total coliforms and Enterococcus spp. and in the 28–30 salinity range (10–16% stormwater) for fecal coliforms. Nutrients showed a similar pattern with the highest median concentrations in water with greater than 10% stormwater. Relationships between colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and salinity and between total suspended solids and beam attenuation indicate that readily measurable, optically active variables can be used as proxies to provide at least a qualitative, if not quantitative, evaluation of the distribution of the dissolved, as well as the particulate, components of stormwater plumes. In this context, both CDOM absorption and the beam attenuation coefficient can be derived from satellite ocean color measurements of inherent optical properties suggesting that remote sensing of ocean color should be useful in mapping the spatial areas and durations of impacts from these contaminants.     

Subsurface Transport of Inorganic and Organic Solutes from Experimental Road Spreading of Oil-Field Brine

A study designed to evaluate ground water quality changes resulting from spreading oil-field brine on roads for ice and dust control was conducted using a gravel roadbed that received weekly applications of brine eight times during the winter phase and 11 times during the summer phase of the study. A network of 11 monitoring wells and five pressure-vacuum lysimeters was installed to obtain ground water and soil water samples. Thirteen sets of water- quality samples were collected and analyzed for major ions, trace metals, and volatile organic compounds. Two sets of samples were taken prior to brine spreading, four sets during winter-phase spreading, five sets during summer- phase spreading, and two sets during the interim between the winter and summer phases. A brine plume delineated by elevated specific-conductance values and elevated chloride concentrations developed downgradient of the roadbed during both the winter and summer phases. The brine plume caused chloride concentrations in ground water samples to exceed U.S. EPA public drinking-water standards by two-fold during the winter phase and five-fold during the summer phase. No other major ions, trace metals, or volatile organic compounds exceeded the standards during the winter or summer phases. More than 99 percent dilution of the solutes in the brine occurred between the roadbed surface and the local ground water flow system. Further attenuation of calcium, sodium, potassium, and strontium resulted from adsorption, whereas further attenuation of benzene resulted from volatilization and adsorption.     

西藏金沙江缝合带一些岩石的初步研究(Ⅱ):基性、超基性岩

对采自藏北无人区西藏金沙江缝合带的基性、超基性岩样品进行了岩石学、岩石化学、稀土和微量元素、同位素等分析测试 ,以及主要矿物成分的电子探针分析。研究结果表明 ,这些样品为辉长岩和辉石岩 ,属于钙碱性至碱性系列 ,其矿物组成没有斜方辉石 ,未见变形显微构造特征。其化学成分以高Al2 O3,FeO ,Na2 O +K2 O和低SiO2 ,MgO含量为特征。稀土元素配分型式以斜率较大的微弱负铕异常的右倾曲线为特征 ,LREE富集。它们具有较高的Sr丰度和87Sr/ 86 Sr比值 (>0 70 6 9)以及高的2 0 7Pb/ 2 0 4 Pb ,2 0 8Pb/ 2 0 4 Pb和2 0 6 Pb/ 2 0 4 Pb比值。上述特征有别于藏北蛇绿岩的基性、超基性岩 ,表明它们不是蛇绿岩套组合 ,其形成可能与金沙江缝合带的弧后扩张有关     

Spatiotemporal variation of stable isotopic composition in precipitation: Post‐condensational effects in a humid area

In the present study, a 2‐year dataset on δ¹⁸O and δ²H in precipitation is used to investigate hydrometeorologic controls on the isotopic compositions in a temperate maritime climate. Data was collected in Denmark along a transect of Six sampling stations across a landscape with a small topographic gradient and predominant westerly winds. Data showed the local meteoric water line for this region is expressed by the equation δ²H = 7.4δ¹⁸O + 5.4‰. A significant trend correlating enriched isotopic values to humidities around 70% during dry season and more depleted isotopic values to humidities around 90% during wet season was derived from the dataset. Temperature was found to only influence the isotopic composition in a secondary way, whereas no significant relationship was obtained for precipitation amount and evapotranspiration. It is suggested that subcloud post‐condensation exchange strongly influences the isotopic composition at the study site. A simple model of evaporation on falling rain was applied with the aim to reproduce observational data and show the potential influence of changing humidity conditions on precipitation compositions. The rather simple model approach did not fully explain the observational data, but it highlights the drastic isotopic changes from a falling raindrop that potentially can occur due to its release into a dryer atmosphere. This study shows that regional conditions and especially humidity can alter the isotopic composition in precipitation substantially even in regions without major topographic and hydrometeorologic gradients.     

北天山泥火山对2012年6月30日 新源-和静MS6.6地震的响应

2012年6月30日新源-和静M_S6.6地震前后, 北天山泥火山出现了喷溢和地球化学异常变化. 该地震前、 后4天内两次观测了北天山泥火山, 采集了两批温泉和泥火山气体样品, 测定了样品的气体组分和He、 Ne同位素及CH₄、 CO₂的碳同位素组成. 结果表明, 泥火山发生了同震喷发, 气体排放量增加, 温泉和泥火山气体出现了不同程度的微量气体浓度异常, 独山子泥火山震前出现了3He/4He高值异常. 研究结果有利于确定利用泥火山和温泉监测地震活动的方法和指标.      

Use of NADP archive samples to determine the isotope composition of precipitation: characterizing the meteoric input function for use in ground water studies

Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes have been used in ground water studies to investigate recharge, mixing, ground water/surface water interaction, advective-diffusive transport, paleohydrogeologic interactions and to estimate ground water ages. Such studies require that the isotopic composition of precipitation be known, as precipitation is a major input to ground water and surface water systems. As oxygen-18 and deuterium data for precipitation are lacking across much of the United States, there is need to establish additional local meteoric water lines as isotope input functions across the region, as well as to develop better understanding of the isotopic climate linkages that control oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in precipitation. In the absence of long-term monitoring stations, one possible solution to this problem is to determine the delta 18O and delta 2H values of precipitation using archive samples collected at monitoring stations managed by the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP). This study describes and interprets the seasonal delta 18O and delta 2H composition of archived precipitation samples collected in eastern Nebraska near the town of Mead during the years 1992-1994. Values for delta 18O range from -23.6 to -0.7@1000. Values for delta 2H range from -172 to 0@1000. Yearly arithmetic mean delta 18O and delta 2H values for the Mead station are -8.1@1000 and -53@1000, respectively. Weighted yearly means for delta 18O and delta 2H were -7.4@1000 and -48@1000, respectively. Mead values show a strong isotopic enrichment between winter and summer precipitation, and a strong delta 18O-T correlation (r2 = 0.91) for mean monthly values of about 0.5@1000 per degree Celsius. The local meteoric water line for the Mead site is delta 2H = 7.40 delta 18O + 7.32. Deuterium excess values suggest that most of the moisture across the region is derived primarily from a Gulf of Mexico source. The results of this study demonstrate that in the absence of long-term monitoring stations such as those operated globally by the International Atomic Energy Association, NADP archive samples can be used to determine the isotopic composition of precipitation, to characterize the local meteoric water line and establish the various climatic relationships, and define the meteoric input function for use in ground water studies.     

Origin of a native sulfur chimney in the Kueishantao hydrothermal field, offshore northeast Taiwan

Analyses of rare earth and trace element concentrations of native sulfur samples from the Kueishantao hydrothermal field were performed at the Seafloor Hydrothermal Activity Laboratory of the Key Labo-ratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Using an Elan DRC II ICP-MS, and combining the sulfur isotopic compositions of native sulfur samples, we studied the sources and formation of a native sulfur chimney. The results show, when comparing them with native sulfur from crater lakes and other volcanic areas, that the native sulfur content of this chimney is very high (99.96%), the rare earth element (REE) and trace element constituents of the chimney are very low (ΣREE<21×10?9), and the chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the native sulfur samples are similar to those of the Kueishantao andesite, implying that the interaction of subseafloor fluid-andesite at the Kueishantao hydrothermal field was of short duration. The sulfur isotopic compo-sitions of the native sulfur samples reveal that the sulfur of the chimney, from H2S and SO2, originated by magmatic degassing and that the REEs and trace elements are mostly from the Kueishantao ande-site and partly from seawater. Combining these results with an analysis of the thermodynamics, it is clear that from the relatively low temperature (<116 ℃ ), the oxygenated and acidic environment is favorable for formation of this native sulfur chimney in the Kueishantao hydrothermal field.     

Differences between the actual and natural water quality in a small drainage area with a high level of groundwater discharge

Abstract

In the central part of the Netherlands, a 20 km² drainage basin contains a morainic ridge of Pleistocene sandy deposits and a backswamp area where the sandy subsoil is covered with river clay deposits. Agricultural and “natural” ecosystems are present in both parts. A continuous groundwater flow exists from the ridge to the clay area. A channel network drains the area. For these channels a two-dimensional model for simulating discharge and water quality has been developed. In computations, discharges and concentrations in groundwater, precipitation, and overland flow are treated separately. With a model option for calculating the effects of land use changes, water quality was calculated for base-line conditions. Mean nitrate concentrations were 1/2 to 1/7 of the actual concentrations, mainly caused by manure inputs. Storm events occasionally give very high concentrations, also under base-line conditions. Therefore base-line conditions for ions cannot be described as a single steady value.     

Stable isotopic characteristic of Taiwan's precipitation: A case study of western Pacific monsoon region

The stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopic features of precipitation in Taiwan, an island located at the western Pacific monsoon area, are presented from nearly 3,500 samples collected during the past decade for 20 stations. Results demonstrate that moisture sources from diverse air masses with different isotopic signals are the main parameter in controlling the precipitation's isotope characteristics. The air mass from polar continental (Pc) region contributes the precipitation with high deuterium excess values (up to 23‰) and relatively enriched isotope compositions (e.g., ? 3.2‰ for δ¹⁸O) during the winter with prevailing northeasterly monsoon. By contrast, air masses from equatorial maritime (Em) and tropical maritime (Tm) supply the precipitation with low deuterium excess values (as low as about 7‰) and more depleted isotope values (e.g., ? 8.9‰ and ? 6.0‰ for δ¹⁸O of Tm and Em, respectively) during the summer with prevailing southwesterly monsoon. Thus seasonal differences in terms of δ¹⁸O, δD, and deuterium excess values are primarily influenced by the interactions among various precipitation sources. While these various air masses travel through Taiwan, secondary evaporation effects further modify the isotope characteristics of the inland precipitation, such as raindrop evaporation (reduces the deuterium excess of winter precipitation) and moisture recycling (increases the deuterium excess of summer precipitation). The semi-quantitative estimations in terms of evaluation for changes in the deuterium excess suggest that the raindrop evaporation fractions for winter precipitation range 7% to 15% and the proportions of recycling moisture in summer precipitation are less than 5%. Additionally, the isotopic altitude gradient in terms of δ¹⁸O for summer precipitation is ? 0.22‰/100 m, greater than ? 0.17‰/100 m of winter precipitation. The greater isotopic gradient in summer can be attributed to a higher temperature vs. altitude gradient relative to winter. The observed spatial and seasonal stable isotopic characteristics in Taiwan's precipitation not only contribute valuable information for regional monsoon research crossing the continent–ocean interface of East Asia, but also can serve as very useful database for local water resources management.     

Molecular and stable carbon isotopic characterization of PAH contaminants at McMurdo Station, Antarctica

The molecular and stable carbon isotopic compositions of contaminant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at McMurdo Station, Antarctica were analyzed in samples collected from land and sub-tidal area. PAHs in the study areas were characterized by high amounts of naphthalene and alkylated naphthalenes from petroleum products introduced by human activities in the area. Principal component analysis (PCA) of PAH composition data identified multiple sources of PAH contamination in the study area. Compositional assignments of origins were confirmed using compound specific stable carbon isotopic analysis.     

A study on the spatial variations in stable isotopic composition of precipitation in a semiarid region of Southern India

The stable isotope analysis of all major rain events from Moinabad (MB), Rajendranagar (RN) and Osmanasagar (OS) reservoir, three closely placed locations in Hyderabad, India, were carried out during the 2005 to 2008 period. The OS station recorded the highest amount of rainfall with an average value of 1000 mm, whereas the MB station recorded the lowest average rainfall of 790 mm. The stable isotope (δ¹⁸O) values of the precipitation samples during these period varied from ?11.43‰ to ?0.03‰ for the MB station, ?8.21‰ to 0.54‰ for the RN station and ?11.47‰ to 0.72‰ for the OS station. The d‐excess of precipitation at the three stations also showed considerable variations and revealed that the precipitation in the region undergoes significant modification through secondary evaporation during its fall. The possible causes for these observed spatial and temporal variations in amount and the isotopic composition of precipitation in a small geographical area within the city were studied. The observed variations may be attributed to the regional scale differences in water budget induced by rapid urbanisation activities in the city coupled with the differences in secondary effects undergone by the falling drops. This study elucidating changes in precipitation patterns in the city and its possible causes may largely help in its water balance calculation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal variation of suspended sediment transport in the Koga catchment,North Western Ethiopia and environmental implications

Event sediment transport and yield were studied for 45 events in the upstream part of the 260 km² agricultural Koga catchment that drains to an irrigation reservoir. Discharge and turbidity data were collected over a period of more than a year, accompanied by grab sampling. Turbidity was very well correlated with the sediment concentrations from the samples (r = 0.99), which allowed us to estimate the temporal patterns of sediment concentrations within events. The hysteresis patterns between discharge and sediment concentrations were analysed to provide insight into the different sediment sources. Anticlockwise patterns are the dominant hysteresis patterns in the area, suggesting smaller contributions of suspended sediment from the river channels than from the hillslopes and agricultural areas. Complicated types of hysteresis patterns were mostly observed for long events with multiple peaks. For a given discharge, sediment yields in August and September, when the catchment was almost completely covered with vegetation, were much smaller than during the rest of the rainy season. The hysteresis patterns and timing suggest that the sediment availability from the agricultural areas and hillslopes affects sediment yields more strongly than does peak discharge. Two distinct types of sediment rating curves were observed for the season when the agricultural land was covered with vegetation and when it was not, indicating the dominating contribution of land use/cover to sediment yields in the catchment. The rate of suspended sediment transport in the area was estimated as 25.6 t year^?1 ha^?1. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization and prediction of stormwater runoff quality in sub-tropical rural catchments

Due to scarcity of local data on stormwater pollution levels and rainfall-runoff generation process, very few attempts have been made towards the management of stormwater in sub-tropical rural catchments. An attempt has been made in the present study to characterize and predict the stormwater runoff characteristics using regression modeling from five rural catchments in north-west India. Stormwater samples and flow data were collected from 75 storm events. Samples were analyzed for pH, total suspended solids (TSS), 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total kjeldhal nitrogen (TKN), total phosphorous (TP), nitrate-nitrogen (NO ₃ ^- –N), total coliform count (TC), fecal coliform count (FC), Zn, Cu and Fe. It was found that size of the catchment and the land use practices influenced the stormwater quality even in predominantly rural areas, otherwise thought to be homogeneous. The results obtained were related with the antecedent dry days (ADD) and average rainfall. ADD was found to be positively correlated with pollutant loads whereas average rainfall showed negative correlation. The study highlights the importance of ADD in causing greater mean pollutant concentrations except for TKN, TP and NO ₃ ^- –N. Regression models were developed for the studied catchments to estimate mean pollutant concentrations as a function of rainfall variables. Results revealed that measured pollutant concentrations demonstrated high variability with ADD and average rainfall in small rural catchments, whereas in large catchments, factors like land use, extent of imperviousness etc. resulted in low predictability of measured parameters.     

Microbiological water quality at non-human influenced reference beaches in southern California during wet weather

Although urban wet weather discharges may have elevated concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria impacting water quality at swimming beaches, not all of these bacteria may arise from human sources. In this study, the contribution of non-human fecal indicator bacteria was quantified by sampling coastal reference beaches in southern California. Samples were collected at beaches near stormwater discharges from undeveloped watersheds and analyzed for total coliform, Escherichia coli, and enterococci. Surfzone samples exceeded water quality thresholds >10 times more frequently during wet weather than dry weather. Exceedences were greatest <24 h following rainfall, then steadily declined on successive days. Early season storms exceeded thresholds more frequently, and by greater magnitude, compared to late season storms. Large storms exceeded thresholds more frequently than smaller-sized storms, partly due to the breaching of sand berms. When discharges did reach the surf zone, bacterial concentrations in the wave wash were correlated with watershed bacterial flux.     

Trace element accumulation in fishes collected from coastal waters of the Caspian Sea

Concentrations of 13 trace elements (V, Mn, Cr, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Mo, Ag, Cd, Hg, Tl and Pb) were determined in muscle of bony fishes collected from coastal areas of the Caspian Sea (Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran). In all the fishes, Zn concentration was highest, followed by Cu, Se, Mn and Co, while levels of toxic elements (Ag, Cd, Cd, Tl and Pb) were relatively low. Concentrations of several elements were significantly varied between the species in each sampling area. For most of the trace elements examined, the concentrations decreased significantly with body weight of fishes. In contrast, a positive correlation with body weight was found for Co, Se and Pb concentrations in one fish species, and Hg in 2 fish species. Geographical difference in the concentrations of trace elements was examined using the Caspian roach collected from five stations of Iranian coastal waters. The concentrations of Co, Mo, Ag, Cd and Tl were higher in fishes from western stations than those from eastern stations, whereas the opposite trend was observed for Hg, indicating that local sources of trace metal pollution may be present in the Iranian coastal areas of the Caspian Sea. Levels of trace elements in Caspian fishes were relatively low in comparison to those of other regions, but Zn and Hg levels in some specimens exceeded the guideline values for food.     

Isotopic characteristics of precipitation in Slovenia and Croatia: Comparison of continental and maritime stations

The stable isotopic composition of hydrogen and oxygen (δ²H and δ¹⁸O) and tritium activity (³H) were monitored in monthly precipitation at two continental stations (Ljubljana, Zagreb) and six stations along the eastern Adriatic coasts of Slovenia and Croatia in the period 2001–2003. Mean air temperatures and amount of precipitation were also recorded.

Distinct differences in both meteorological and isotopic data between the continental and maritime stations were observed. Seasonal variations in δ¹⁸O are smaller at the maritime stations than at the continental ones due to smaller seasonal temperature variations. A good correlation between δ¹⁸O and δ²H was obtained for each station, and the local meteoric water lines are close to the Global Meteoric Water Line, with a decreasing trend of slope for the south-Adriatic stations. Good correlations between δ¹⁸O in monthly precipitation and mean monthly air temperature were observed at all stations. The slope of δ¹⁸O vs. T varied between 0.37‰ °C⁻¹ and 0.15‰ °C⁻¹. Mean ³H activity and seasonal variation of ³H activity are smaller at maritime stations than at continental ones. Additionally, ³H activity decreases in the NW–SE direction of the Adriatic coast.

The study of spatial variations over this relatively small area rich in geographical and climatic diversities showed the complexity of the isotopic composition of precipitation and the isotopic data obtained for eight stations, most of them in the karstic area along the Adriatic coast, and gave valuable information for regional hydrological investigations and modelling of isotope variability over the Mediterranean basin.     

2013年第23号“菲特”台风期间太湖流域洪水运动分析

2013年"菲特"台风影响期间,太湖流域普降暴雨,10月6-8日杭嘉湖区、浙西区和浦东浦西区过程降雨量均位列1951年以来第1位;在强风、暴雨、高潮、洪水"四碰头"的影响下,湖泊河网水位、沿江沿海潮位迅速上涨,多个站点水位(潮位)超历史记录,严重制约流域排洪和区域排涝.通过模型计算、统计分析等方法,计算"菲特"台风造峰期的径流量、调蓄量、外排水量,分析流域洪水运动规律,并与降雨特性较为相似的1999年大水相比较,提出流域防洪的蓄泄关系建议,可为水利工程调度以及今后防洪工程布局设计提供参考依据.     

Assessing urban rainfall-runoff response to stormwater management extent

We report an empirical analysis of the hydrologic response of three small, highly impervious urban watersheds to pulse rainfall events, to assess how traditional stormwater management (SWM) alters urban hydrographs. The watersheds vary in SWM coverage from 3% to 61% and in impervious cover from 45% to 67%. By selecting a set of storm events that involved a single rainfall pulse with >96% of total precipitation delivered in 60 min, we reduced the effect of differences between storms on hydrograph response to isolate characteristic responses attributable to watershed properties. Watershed-average radar rainfall data were used to generate local storm hyetographs for each event in each watershed, thus compensating for the extreme spatial and temporal heterogeneity of short-duration, intense rainfall events. By normalizing discharge values to the discharge peak and centring each hydrograph on the time of peak we were able to visualize the envelope of hydrographs for each group and to generate representative composite hydrographs for comparison across the three watersheds. Despite dramatic differences in the fraction of watershed area draining to SWM features across these three headwater tributaries, we did not find strong evidence that SWM causes significant attenuation of the hydrograph peak. Hydrograph response for the three watersheds is remarkably uniform despite contrasts in SWM, impervious cover and spatial patterns of land cover type. The primary difference in hydrograph response is observed on the recession limb of the hydrograph, and that change appears to be associated with higher storm-total runoff in the watersheds with more area draining to SWM. Our findings contribute more evidence to the work of previous authors suggesting that SWM is less effective at attenuating urban hydrographs than is commonly assumed. Our findings also are consistent with previous work concluding that percent impervious cover may have greater influence on runoff volume than percent SWM coverage.