Many portions of the southeastern United States are undergoing rapid urban development. In particular, the Piedmont physiographic region which encompasses Atlanta, GA, Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, and Charlotte, NC has undergone extensive land use change. While most research on urban impacts in the Piedmont has focused on major cities, there have been substantial changes around small and mid-size urban centers as well. This study focuses on  the environmental footprint of development near a mid-size city, Columbus, in the Georgia Piedmont.  Eighteen watersheds (500-2500 ha), which represented a range of land uses / covers, were monitored from 2001-2005 for concentrations and loads of nitrate, ammonium, chloride, potassium,  phosphorus, total suspended and dissolved solids, dissolved organic carbon, and fecal coliform counts.  As proportions of watersheds in impervious surface increased,  hydrology and channel morphology became less stable.  Also, as forest cover declined and impervious surface increased, concentrations of nitrate and sediment and fecal colioform counts increased as well. In some cases, fecal coliform counts exceeded those noted in floodwaters associated with major disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.