Greater Cleveland Decision Support System
A pilot project to integrate watershed planning with transportation planning in the Cleveland area, while integrating urban sprawl
Partners: The US Geological Survey (USGS), the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan (RAP), United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the Ohio Department of Transportation, and others.
Can
watershed and transportation planning be accomplished together in a cooperative
manner while developing in a smarter, more sustainable manner? What can be
done to help the Greater Cleveland area community grow smart while incorporating
transportation and watershed planning? We think such a situation does exist
in the Northeast Ohio area. There are a number of transportation issues that
could impact numerous environmentally sensitive areas, historic sites, and
tourist venues. Community planning, a watershed approach, compact development,
mixed-use zoning, street design, natural drainage systems, and multiple modes
of transportation are all avenues to sustainability. The concept of smart
growth, sustainability, and urban sprawl fit into the context of watershed
management. Organizations charged with protecting the environment recognize
that land-use has had a profound impact on the environmental quality in metropolitan
areas. The key here is to intertwine the planning processes for all the interconnected
variables as they all impact each other at varying stages.
A broad range of partners working together on a wide range of issues can lead to solutions. The United Stated Geological Survey (USGS), the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan (RAP), United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and others joined together in just this type of partnership to answer this challenge. The USGS and the Cuyahoga RAP have been supported by the Lake Erie Protection Fund and the US EPA to develop a computer-based decision support system which would begin to address the inter-related nature of the issues described above.
The partners have developed a computer-based decision support system (DSS) named "WatTrans" to integrate watershed and transportation planning. Transportation planning is commonly performed using political boundaries because of human-factors; political boundaries are historically how people have organized themselves. However, without disregarding county or municipality boundaries, the geographic information systems (GIS)-based DSS uses watersheds as an analysis unit. Watersheds are natural boundaries because watersheds are a more meaningful and often a more effective entity in which to evaluate and remediate stressors to the natural environment. A DSS is a computer-based "smart map" or "spatial database" where information about the map features can be viewed, analyzed, and manipulated.
The primary goal of the DSS is to provide environmental information in a visual and tabular form about the study area and affected watersheds. Based on this information users can better avoid or minimize some of the negative effects of transportation development. While the DSS is developed as an early planning (not project design) tool, a suite of potential Best Management Practices (BMPs) are included, based on the chosen transportation project type. The BMPs are designed to raise awareness of the types of things that can be done to avoid, minimize, or mitigate negative effects of the transportation project to the environment. Since the tool is designed to aid in decision support, in addition to the BMPs web links to information about wetlands, riparian forests, smart growth, and the like are included. The DSS is geared towards the non-GIS professional and the aim is to provide access to this environmental data and information to a large group of people early in the planning process.
Numerous workshops have been held with the transportation sector and other interested parties to communicate the message and establish feedback about the pilot project, and then to work with responses from community stakeholders. The project partners then incorporated the community stakeholder's feedback into designing a more effective and user-friendly DSS tool.
In December 2005, the RAP held a rollout workshop of WatTrans v 1.4. The workshop included a presentation of the tool's features and provided an overview of some sample applications. All attendees received a self contained CD of the tool. User feedback was gathered regarding the tool's utility and limitations and these comments will help strengthen a possible Version 2 of WatTrans.
The DSS was also presented and distributed at the Cuyahoga River RAP's Coordinating Committee Meeting and Case Western Reserve University 2006 GIS Conference and showcased at the USGS booth of the 2006 National GIS for Transportation Symposium.
Regionally, solutions to the question of what can be done to help the Greater Cleveland area community grow smart while incorporating transportation plans and watershed management are brewing from all directions. Each solution is focused on a different part of the problem, whether it is transit-oriented development, new urbanism, conservation development, urban best management practices, or brownfield redevelopment. The challenge is to piece all the solutions together in a complete picture. The decision support system is a first step towards fitting the puzzle of smart growth, transportation planning and watershed management together.
CD Copies of WatTrans are available. Please contact Jim White.
Contacts:
Stephanie Kula, US Geological Survey, 614-430-7739, spkula@usgs.gov
Lyn Luttner, US Environmental Protection Agency, 440-250-1711, luttner.lyn@epa.gov
Jim White, Cuyahoga Remedial Action Plan, 216-241-2414 ext. 307, WhiteJ@CuyahogaRiverRAP.org