Innovative Technologies for Stormwater Management Programs in Small Urbanized Areas

Small urbanized areas (UAs) as defined by the U.S. Census and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have a population between 50,000 and 100,000, and a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile. Under Phase II of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, stormwater m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of water resources planning and management 2013-09
Main Authors: Aguilar, Marcus F, Dymond, Randel L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Discharge
Geographic information systems
Hydrology
Satellite navigation systems
Stormwater
Stormwater management
Watersheds
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Summary:Small urbanized areas (UAs) as defined by the U.S. Census and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have a population between 50,000 and 100,000, and a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile. Under Phase II of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, stormwater managers in these UAs must preserve pre-development hydrology through compliance with qualitative regulations - an often impracticable task given the limited resources of these municipal authorities and the diffuse hydrologic impacts of urbanization. The objective of this paper is to assist stormwater managers by providing a Geographic Information System (GIS) workflow supported by Python scripting that produces a geographic database of stormwater infrastructure that can subsequently be used to create a fully parameterized hydrologic/hydraulic model. Guidance on calibrating this model is then provided, with suggestions for measuring discharge in storm sewer systems. The application of these objectives is demonstrated in a watershed in Blacksburg, Virginia, where a unique municipal-academic partnership fostered the development of this work. Finally, improvements and further research ideas are suggested for stormwater management in small UAs.
ISSN:0733-9496
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000410