Hydroeconomic optimization of mesoscale blue-green stormwater systems at the city level

Abstract

The development of tools to help cities and water utility authorities communicate and plan for long-term sustainable solutions is of utmost importance in the era of a changing and uncertain climate. This study introduces a hybrid modeling concept for the cosimulation of mesoscale blue-green stormwater systems and conventional urban sewer networks. The hybrid model successfully introduces the retention/detention effects of mesoscale blue-green stormwater systems to the hydraulic dynamics of the sewer network. The cosimulation package was further facilitated with a cost-oriented multiobjective optimization algorithm. The aim of the scalar multiobjective optimization was to minimize the total cost comprising both flooding costs and action costs – both parameters solely representing the financial components of cost – through optimal placement of mesoscale blue-green systems of optimal size. The suggested methodology provides a useful platform for sustainable management of the existing sewer networks in cities from a hydroeconomic perspective.