Rainfall–Runoff Simulations to Assess the Potential of SuDS for Mitigating Flooding in Highly Urbanized Catchments

Abstract

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) constitute an alternative to conventional drainage when managing stormwater in cities, reducing the impact of urbanization by decreasing the amount of runoff generated by a rainfall event. This paper shows the potential benefits of installing different types of SuDS in preventing flooding in comparison with the common urban drainage strategies consisting of sewer networks of manholes and pipes. The impact of these systems on urban water was studied using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which are useful tools when both delineating catchments and parameterizing the elements that define a stormwater drainage system. Taking these GIS-based data as inputs, a series of rainfall–runoff simulations were run in a real catchment located in the city of Donostia (Northern Spain) using stormwater computer models, in order to compare the flow rates and depths produced by a design storm before and after installing SuDS. The proposed methodology overcomes the lack of precision found in former GIS-based stormwater approaches when dealing with the modeling of highly urbanized catchments, while the results demonstrated the usefulness of these systems in reducing the volume of water generated after a rainfall event and their ability to prevent localized flooding and surcharges along the sewer network.

Integrating Local Scale Drainage Measures in Meso Scale Catchment Modelling

“…The deficits in current hydrologic catchment models to simulate the effectiveness of LSDM include the following issues: (1) the model is intended to be developed for large drainage areas; (2) it is mainly developed for flood modelling (derived by large storms); (3) it is based on lumped parameters, which do not allow individual setup and precise placement of local stormwater management measures; (4) it shows weak soil water modelling; (5) it shows weak representation of physical phenomena; (6) it shows a lack of GIS or/and user-friendly interface [17][18][19][20]. These deficits illustrate the need for improved understanding of how local scale drainage measures can be addressed on the catchment scale in numerical models [18,20].…”

Conceptualization and Schematization of Mesoscale Sustainable Drainage Systems: A Full-Scale Study

“…Numerous studies indicate that these systems, besides delivering multiple ecosystem services and promoting public health [1][2][3], have large retention capacities for the management of rainfall events up to the design magnitude [4]. It has also been pointed out that SuDS have positive effects on flood mitigation [5,6]. Therefore, SuDS are occupying more space in urban landscapes either as an alternative solution or as a complement to the existing combined or separate wastewater collecting infrastructure.…”

“…While some potentially suitable measures were tentatively suggested at each level from upstream to downstream, the hydraulic and hydrologic performance of the suggested SCMs and of the entire system were not addressed. With the more intense rainfall events that have been experienced in many parts of the world as well as an elevated densification of our cities, the interest in SCMs especially in already built areas has grown [6,11].…”

Effectiveness of ABC Waters Design Features for Runoff Quantity Control in Urban Singapore

“…There are modelling as well as field monitoring studies on the effectiveness of SuDS/LID/WSUD/GI in reducing peak flow within temperate catchments internationally [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. However, the studies on SuDS application in tropical climates are limited.…”