Impervious Surface Growth in Cookeville and Algood (2008-2012)
Imperious surfaces (IS) are characterized as those which water cannot permeate. Pavements like roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots are examples, as are rooftops, bricks, stone, and concrete. IS can be classified from aerial imagery and shown on a map revealing where urban areas have developed and are developing. IS can be used to gauge the growth and development of a city, but it's not all fun and strip malls when it comes to IS. IS is problematic for growing cities like Cookeville. Anyone who has driven on Jefferson or Willow after a hard rain knows that the water runs off quickly and turns the roads into rivers and pools. This is why the local, state, and federal governments regulate development and the runoff caused by them. What happens on private property doesn't stay on private property; it can wash down your driveway. To complicate matters, local geology causes 28% of Algood, and 36% of Cookeville (which are conservative estimates) to drain through sinkh