Incorporating infiltration modelling in urban flood management

Abstract. Increasing frequency and intensity of flood events in urban areas can be linked to increase in impervious area due to urbanization, exacerbated by climate change. The established approach of conveying storm water by conventional drainage systems has contributed to magnification of runoff volume and peak flows beyond those of undeveloped catchments. Furthermore, the continuous upgrading of such conventional systems is costly and unsustainable in the long term. Sustainable drainage systems aim at addressing the adverse effects associated with conventional systems, by mimicking the natural drainage processes, encouraging infiltration and storage of storm water. In this study we model one of the key components of SuDS, the infiltration basins, in order to assert the benefits of the approach. Infiltration modelling was incorporated in the detention storage unit within the one-dimensional urban storm water management model, EPA-SWMM 5.0. By introduction of infiltration modelling in the storage, the flow attenuation performance of the unit was considerably improved. The study also examines the catchment scale impact of both source and regional control storage/infiltration systems. Based on the findings of two case study areas modelled with the proposed options, it was observed that source control systems have a greater and much more natural impact at a catchment level, with respect to flow attenuation, compared to regional control systems of which capacity is equivalent to the sum of source control capacity at the catchment.