Land cover change and water quality response of forested lands due to construction of oil and natural gas wells in East Texas

Over the past twenty years East Texas has had a large influx in oil and gas well construction. With this influx much of the area has experienced a change in land cover. This study analyzed the transformation of a period of 45 years in one East Texas watershed, to determine the amount of change attributed to oil and natural gas well pads.;A Geographic Information System (GIS) model, was used to compare stimulated and observed field data; discharge and sediment loss, was utilized to determine the effects of the construction of oil and gas well pads and land cover changes have had on the Attoyac watershed.;After the model was run the simulated output was compared to observed data to determine if the discharge of the stream has been altered, and if the sediment loss through the stream had increased. As a result, with a slight change in land cover and an increase in construction of oil and gas well pads, the watersheds experienced a decrease in discharge and a decrease in sediment mass loss.