Pipe flow in James Bay coastal wetlands

Pipes are common along the banks of streams that drain the wetlands of the James Bay coast. The primary source of water to the pipes is overland flow, which responds very quickly to rainfall events. Pipe flow, therefore, becomes insignificant shortly after the termination of surface runoff. An assessment of the relative contributions of pipe flow and Darcy's groundwater flow to a small coastal creek shows that whereas groundwater flow contributed less than 1% to summer stormflow, pipes provided about 10% of stream runoff.