Application of multi-criteria decision-making on low-impact development practice selection for the Kinyerezi River sub-catchments in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Abstract

The impermeable areas in catchments are proportional to peak flows that result in floods in river reaches where the flow-carrying capacity is inadequate. The high rate of urbanization witnessed in the Kinyerezi River catchment in Dar es Salaam city has been noted to contribute to floods and siltation in the Msimbazi River. The Low-Impact Development (LID) practices that includes bio-retention (BR) ponds, rain barrels (RBs), green roofs (GRs), etc. can be utilized to mitigate portion of the surface runoff. This study aims to propose suitable LID practices and their sizes for mitigating runoff floods in the Kinyerezi River catchment using the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach. The results indicated that the BR and RBs were ranked high in capturing the surface runoff while the sediment control fences were observed to be the best in reducing sediments flowing into the BR. The proposed BR ponds were greater than 800 m2 with 1.2 m depth while RB sizes for Kinyerezi and Kisungu secondary schools and Kinyerezi and Kifuru primary schools were 2,730; 2,748; 1,385; and 1,020 m3, respectively. The BR ponds and RBs are capable of promoting water-demanding economic activities such as horticulture, gardening, car washing while reducing the school expenses and runoff generation.