Coastal watersheds differ from others by their unique features, including proximity to the ocean, weather and rainfall patterns, subsurface features, and land covers. Land use changes and competing needs for valuable water and land resources are especially more distinctive to such watersheds. This book covers recent research relevant to coastal watersheds. It addresses the impact of a stream’s chemical, biological, and sediment pollutants on the quality of the receiving waters, such as estuaries, bays, and near-shore waters. The contents of the book can be divided into three sections; a) overview of hydrological modelling, b) water quality assessment, and c) watershed management. This book differs from other hydrology books by dealing with coastal watersheds which are characterized by their unique features: including weather and rainfall patterns, subsurface characteristics, and land use and cover. In addition to academia, the book should be of interest to organizations concerned with watershed management, such as local and federal governments and environmental groups. Overall, the book is expected to satisfy a great need toward understanding and managing critical areas in many parts of the world.

Winner of the J. B. Jackson Prize from the Association of American Geographers Three centuries ago, the Los Angeles River meandered through marshes and forests of willow and sycamore. Trout spawned in its waters and grizzly bears roamed its shores. The bountiful environment the river helped create supported one of the largest concentrations of Indians in North America. Today, the river is made almost entirely of concrete. Chain-link fence and barbed wire line its course. Shopping carts and trash litter its channel. Little water flows in the river most of the year, and nearly all that does is treated sewage and oily street runoff. On much of its course, the river looks more like a deserted freeway than a river. The river's contemporary image belies its former character and its importance to the development of Southern California. Los Angeles would not exist were it not for the river, and the river was crucial to its growth. Recognizing its past and future potential, a potent movement has developed to revitalize its course. The Los Angeles River offers the first comprehensive account of a river that helped give birth to one of the world's great cities, significantly shaped its history, and promises to play a key role in its future.