The paper "Environmental Effects of Metropolitan Growth on Water Resources" discusses the effects that development has on water resources. It includes several problems that either do affect Colorado Springs or will in the future.
According to the paper urbanization may increase the amount of precipitation over a city by 10 to 30%. This is due to the extra heat produced by cities, heat that is stored in concrete surfaces, and the suspended particles that are by-products of cities. This increases the danger of flooding in a city because the natural drainages in and around a city may not be able to hold the extra water.
One of the most important problems is the large amount of impermeable surfaces in Colorado Springs. Rooftops, parking lots, roads and any other paved surface causes rainfall and snowmelt to become runoff since it has no where else to go. Also most urban areas including Colorado Spring
Pollution is another important issue for Colorado Springs. Wastewater in the city is not a major problem since it is well treated before it is released, but it does contain a high amount of nitrates and phosphates that can cause too much algae growth. The main problem is water that drains from the city as runoff carries with it many pollutants that it picks up from the ground. These pollutants include trash, oil and various other chemicals and contaminants. This contaminated runoff may pose a threat to plants and animals downstream as well as the people who rely on the water downstream.
Colorado Springs has many buildings and other structures that are built in the floodplains of streams. During a flood these will cause water to rise higher by displacing it. Also bridges built over streams will act as a dam by backing water up behind them. Both of these will cause floodwaters to rise above the level
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