In an effort to help preserve the future of the natural environment through planning, this research focuses on the evaluation of impervious surfaces in land use development. While still embracing current growth and future development plans, an understanding of land use and the impact it has on the environment, especially water quality is needed. One way for planners to better evaluate the land use-water quality connection is the use of GIS and BASINS as a tool to plan for future land use scenarios. Also, within the research is an evaluation of low impact development as a land use planning technique for water resource management. BASINS, a software package and extension to GIS distributed by the EPA, allow users to evaluate imperviousness, runoff and nutrient loadings for watershed areas within a framework for planning. To illustrate these evaluation methods, the North Raccoon River Watershed past, current and future land use scenarios are used to understand the role impervious surfaces have on runoff and water quality. The outcome of this research is an evaluation of impervious surfaces in water resource management, and an examination of BASINS as an analytical tool for land use planning to contribute to water resource management for future development.