Effect of Precipitation on Runoff: Theory and Case Studies

To investigate the effect of changing precipitation on water and pollution runoff under climate change conditions, theory using the National Resources Conservation Service’s Curve Number Method and modeling of real watersheds with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pollutant Load Estimation Tool (PLET) were performed showing that runoff was linearly proportional to precipitation with a nearly 1:1 slope, thereby highlighting the importance of water managers allocating more funds towards mitigation in the future.