A comparison of channel erosion in small urban and rural catchments, Armidale, New South Wales

Abstract

Abstract Five years after the cessation of housing construction in a small urban catchment in Armidale, New South Wales, the stability of the channel bed and banks was investigated with the use of erosion pins. After eighteen months of monitoring, the rate of channel bank erosion was found to be 3.6 times greater than that of a nearby rural channel and the rate of knickpoint retreat was 2.4 times greater. There was, however, no evidence to suggest that the urban channel was inherently unstable, but that the increased rate of erosion was the product of changed runoff conditions associated with urban development. Both channels are considered to be in a state of equilibrium.