Assessment of the hydrological response of an urban watershed to rainfall-runoff events in different land use scenarios - Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Abstract

Intense urbanization results in greater soil sealing and a consequent increase in surface runoff. When high soil sealing rates and high slopes are encountered in small catchments, high volume and short duration precipitation events increase the probability of flash floods. This study evaluates the hydrological response of an urban catchment with regard to rainfall-runoff events in the following scenarios: current land use, without a detention basin which has been part of the system since the 1970s, with the maximum soil sealing allowed by legislation, and with green infrastructure implantation in 100%, 50% and 10% of the suitable area. Hydrological modelling was performed using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). Six level gauges installed along the length of the stream provided the data used in model calibration and validation. The model calibration process provided adequate results: the average Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient was 0.72, the mean error of peak flow was 11% and the mean error of the runoff volume was 12%. Rainfall based on 2-, 10-, 50- and 100-year events were simulated for each scenario, as well as two observed events. In the scenario without the detention basin, an average elevation of 10% in the peak flow was observed in the catchment outlet. In the scenario with maximum soil sealing, the catchment outlet peak flow increased by 30% on average. On the other hand, in the scenario with green infrastructure implementation in 100%, 50% and 10% of the available areas, the outlet peak flow was reduced by 60%, 30% and 5%, respectively. Results indicated the efficiency of the detention basin to reduce flooding, the importance of green area preservation to reduce peak flows, as well as the catchment potential of green infrastructure implementation and the hydrological benefits that they can provide, increasing infiltration and reducing runoff volume and peak flow.