Can Smart Stormwater Systems Outsmart the Weather? Stormwater Capture with Real-Time Control in Southern California

Abstract

Stormwater capture systems have the potential to address many urban stormwater management challenges, particularly in water-scarce regions like Southern California. Here, we investigate the potential best-case limits of water supply and stormwater retention benefits delivered by a 10,000 m 3 stormwater capture system equipped with real-time control (RTC) on a university campus in Southern California. Using a copula-based conditional probability analysis, two performance metrics (percent of water demand satisfied and the percent of stormwater runoff captured) are benchmarked relative to (1) precipitation seasonality (historical rainfall and a counterfactual in which the same average annual rainfall is distributed evenly over the year); (2) annual precipitation (dry, median, and wet years); and (3) three RTC algorithms (no knowledge of future rainfall or perfect knowledge of future rainfall 1 or 2 days in advance). RTC improves stormwater retention, particularly for the highly seasonal rainfall patterns in Southern California, but not water supply. Improvements to the latter will likely require implementing stormwater capture RTC in conjunction with other stormwater infrastructure innovations, such as spreading basins for groundwater recharge and widespread adoption of green stormwater infrastructure.

Warming Overwhelms the Efficacy of Wet Conditions to Moderate Extreme Heat and Atmospheric Aridity Across the Central Plains

“…We then found the probability density function (PDF) of temperature conditioned on a specified high precipitation value: $$${f}_{X\vert Y}(x\vert y)=c\left[{F}_{X}(x),{F}_{Y}(y)\right]\cdot {f}_{X}(x)$$$ where c represents the copula PDF and f X (x) is the marginal temperature PDF (Madadgar et al., 2017; Parker et al., 2022). The resulting PDF represents the conditional distribution of temperature at the high precipitation value.…”

“…where c represents the copula PDF and f X (x) is the marginal temperature PDF (Madadgar et al, 2017;Parker et al, 2022). The resulting PDF represents the conditional distribution of temperature at the high precipitation value.…”

Decision making for implementing non-traditional water sources: a review of challenges and potential solutions

“…Results showed clear benefits in pollution reduction. A simulated runoff model using a stormwater tank with real-time control for capture and storage on a college campus 64 highlighted the benefits of SWH for water supply and flood risk reduction based on rainfall event prediction, precipitation, and tank size simulation.…”

Real-time controlled rainwater harvesting systems can improve the performance of stormwater networks

“…One important driver of implementation relates to the costs and benefits of RTC RWH systems. While the cost of such system is context specific, several studies have concluded that rainwater storages retrofitted by RTC technology is a more cost-effective solution when broader criteria, such as flood control and environmental benefits, are considered (Melville-Shreeve et al, 2016;Parker et al, 2022). Additional benefits could also be obtained from the coordinated control of multiple rainwater storages at network scale given the synergies it can provide.…”