Watershed urbanization and changing flood behavior across the Los Angeles metropolitan region

This article examines the effects of watershed urbanization on stream flood behavior in the Los Angeles metropolitan region. Stream gauge data, spatially distributed rainfall data, land use/land cover, and census population data were used to quantify change in flood behavior and urbanization in multiple watersheds. Increase in flood discharge started at the very early stage of the urbanization when the population density was relatively low but the rate of increase of flood discharge varied across watersheds depending on the distribution of the imperviousness surface and flood mitigation practices. This spatial variability in rainfall–runoff indices and the increasing flood risk across the metropolitan region has posed a challenge to the conventional flood emergency management, which usually responds to flood damages rather than being concerned with the broader issues of land use, land cover, and planning. This study pointed out that alternative land use planning and flood management practices could be mitigating the urban flood implemented hazard.