Attached.

Running head: LAND USE CHANGE IN CORPUS CHRISTI

Land use change in Corpus Christi
Institution Affiliation
Date

1

LAND USE CHANGE IN CORPUS CHRISTI
Abstract
This paper is a report of a study project that was aimed to examine the relationship
between land cover or land use change and changes in water quality that occurred in Corpus
Christi. Literature was reviewed and various types of information divulged. From the sources
used, it was found that to examine the importance of trends of water quality variables, nonparametric and parametric tests were used after variance was eliminated because of
discharge. The non-parametric tests were those like the Mann-Kendall and the seasonal
Kendall while the parametric tests were those like the linear regression and ANCOVA. The
data available for the water quality and quantity analysis in this study project were observed
for a period of 34 years, at a lake station found around the Corpus Christi area. The study
showed that with the exclusion of pH, which showed no actual trend and Sulfate which had a
negative trend, all the other variables of water quality such as water hardness, electrical
conductivity, calcium, the rate of sodium absorption, potassium, chloride, magnesium and all
the solids dissolved in the water had positive trends. To find out what factors bring about
changes in the quality of water, a study was done on land cover and land use changes in
Corpus Christi. Noteworthy changes that had occurred within a span of 43 years were singled
out. The changes were obtained from images from satellites and aerial photographs. The
analysis done showed that within 5 decades a lot of wetlands had been converted to
residential areas, roads, and croplands. There is also bare land. From the literature review, it
was found that changes in how land is used are a major source of change for the quality of
water around that region. The information obtained thus helps those who manage water
sources to come up with laws that will protect water from changing in terms of its quality.
They should also have a plan to purify water so that its original quality is restored.

2

LAND USE CHANGE IN CORPUS CHRISTI
Introduction
Freshwater is a precious naturally occurring resource that is essential to the wellbeing
of those using it. This means that its quality should be one that is fit for human consumption
as well as creatures that live in it (Ji, 2017). This is because when water fails to have the
required quality; it may adversely affect human and ecological health as well as the use of
these water sources. Water sources such as rivers and lakes are usually contaminated by
surface runoff from their environs. The management of the quality of water from the water
sources is therefore imperative. When the quality of water is monitored and analyzed, we are
able to understand how natural disturbances affect its quality (Ji, 2017). Authorities managing
water resources are also able to manage water resources better and also to curb water
pollution that could occur both now and in future. Changes in trends in the chemistry of water
bring out the factors that contribute to such changes such as changes in how land is used (Ji,
2017). This research therefore explores and looks into the relationship between land use
changes and the changes in water quality in Corpus Christi.
Methodology
The method used to acquire information for this project was mainly literature review.
Various sources were used both from the library and academic databases online. The articles
that were considered were those that were talking about land use changes and its association
with changes in the water quality trends. There were however various articles that were
talking about this but for different areas other than Corpus Christi. These articles were
therefore disregarded. Many of the articles that were obtained were case studies of Corpus
Christi and they proved to be very useful. Information was then extracted from these articles
and synthesized to come up with comprehensive results.

3

LAND USE CHANGE IN CORPUS CHRISTI
Literature Review
The region of focus is Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is a city found in South Texas in
the US. It comprises the counties of Aransas, Kleberg, San Patricio and Nueces (DeFries &
Eshleman, 2014). I...