In October 2008, the National Research Council released the report Urban Stormwater Management in the United States which determined that urbanization has ‘‘… degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system,” an effect known as the “urban stream syndrome.” As porous agricultural and forest lands are cleared of vegetation, compacted, and converted to impermeable pavement and buildings, watershed hydrology is dramatically altered. Changes in stormwater quantity, rates, and timing result in stream channel downcutting and widening, decreases in groundwater recharge and base flows to streams, and the disruption of stream ecosystem dynamics. My research group seeks to improve the design of urban areas and stormwater management practices to reduce the impacts of urban development on stream systems.