Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Major(s)

Environmental Economics and Management

Document Type

Immediate Campus-Only Restricted Access

Abstract

Numerous factors affect water quality, and one of these factors that has become of more concern recently is the expansion of land use for agriculture and urban purposes, which is called agricultural extensive margin and urban sprawl. These expansions contribute to water quality degradation through increased pollution sources and reduced natural filtration buffers found in natural and undeveloped areas. This study examines the effects of urban sprawl and agricultural expansion on local water quality in the US. I construct county-level panel data for 2008-2022 of water quality from the monitoring site data collected by the USGS, USDA, and EPA, land use data from the USDA Cropland Data Layers, and socio-economic indicators related to water quality, including population data from the Census Bureau. The analysis first establishes the trend of increasing urban sprawl and agricultural expansion across the US and then quantifies its impact on key water quality indicators, such as transparency and chemical contaminants linked to urban and agricultural pollution sources, using panel fixed effects and long-term difference regression models. Findings suggest that urban sprawl and agricultural expansion significantly contribute to water quality degradation.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.54718/FFJV6070

Date Defended

4-29-2025

Funding Source

MAFES URSP

Thesis Director

Seong Yun

Second Committee Member

Brenna Jungers

Third Committee Member

Christian Flow

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