Geographical And Historical Assessment Of Jordan Creek Restoration Site, Springfield, Missouri

The Jordan Creek runs through an urbanized and industrialized landscape in Springfield, Missouri. Once a meandering, spring fed stream, the Jordan Creek has evolved into an urban storm sewer. With the aid of aerial photographs, historical documents and the global positioning system, a geographical and historical assessment of the Jordan Creek was conducted. Historical documents displayed the evolution in land use and overall appearance of the study area. Change detection techniques performed on aerial photographs detected negative impacts of land use changes within the study area from 1936 to present day. Analysis of the channel morphology detailed the bank and bed composition, bankfull discharge and overall makeup of the Jordan Creek within the 3000-foot reach located in the study site. Historical documents established a timeline ranging from the settlement of Springfield in 1830 to present day, detailing the impact of industries on the study site. Change detection images were able to detail changes in land use that were not visible in visual analyses. The change detection images and historical documents provided spatial relationships to potential on-site pollution sources. The channel surveys showed a moderate decrease in width and depth in the Jordan Creek while moving downstream. Discharge measurements of the stream showed that the concreted upstream reach can contain a ten-year flood while the downstream reach cannot. The data gathered, along with the results of this study, will aid planners and researchers during the restoration of the Jordan Creek site