Eno River Discharge and Flashiness Time Series (1964-2020)

Riverine flooding creates hazardous conditions for surrounding communities that can threaten lives and property. Flood inundation modeling for communities is limited due to the tremendous amount of time and money required to generate a hydraulic model. Therefore, decision-makers tend to rely on FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) flood maps for information about flooding and related hydrological hazards. FEMA flood maps offer guidance about areas at risk of flooding based on historic stream gauge information; however, these maps are not regularly updated with recent changes to stream morphology, watershed land cover conditions, precipitation characteristics, or river discharge. The evaluation of the river flashiness can provide some awareness of how the modification of land cover within a watershed by removing vegetation, sediment, or the addition of impervious surfaces can impact a river flow. Increasing the rate of erosion and flashiness in a moving body of water can negatively impact downstream. Running an assessment on a watershed flashiness before any form of development involving removing vegetation and increased runoff could be beneficial to state and local regulators. By evaluating 57 years of United States Geological Survey discharge data for the Eno, the current study found an increasing trend in river flashiness for the Eno River. Additional evidence suggests this could be cause by slight changes in land cover and precipitation. Such outcomes are of concern for downstream communities where increased river flashiness serves as a proxy for increased flash floor potential. Furthermore, the outcome reported provide immortal hydrological information as decision makers plan for future development in the Eno River Watershed.