Abstract
The impact of stormwater drainage and detention ponds on flooding is assessed using statistical analysis and physically based computer simulation of a 45-year case study for a peri-urban catchment. In 1978, the 54 km2 Ouseburn catchment in Newcastle upon Tyne was impacted by the connection of a new 2.1 km2 residential development, directly to the Ouseburn River, via a stormwater drain, which reduced the time to peak and increased flood risk. Further residential developments of 1.6 km2 have been built since 2004, again with separated sewer systems, but this time linked to stormwater detention ponds before draining into the Ouseburn River. Detailed analysis of the data, confirmed with computer simulation, shows that in contrast with the 1978 intervention, these new developments had only a minimal effect on the flows in the Ouseburn River, in fact achieving a small reduction in peak flows for large events. This study assesses the post-construction efficiency of such systems, and we show that the stormwater detention ponds are working as designed.
Highlights
Urban expansion reduces the time to peak, enhances peak flows and increases runoff volumes in urban and peri-urban river catchments [1,2,3,4]
Stormwater detention ponds are a type of Green Infrastructure (GI) or Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) feature that are often incorporated into new housing developments in urban catchments [13,14]
The aim of this work is to investigate whether this expansion, which occurred in two different periods, produced different responses in terms of flow in the catchment, and answer the following research question: “How well do stormwater detention ponds work in a real peri-urban catchment?”
Summary
Urban expansion reduces the time to peak (increases flashiness), enhances peak flows and increases runoff volumes in urban and peri-urban river catchments [1,2,3,4]. It increases the potential flood risk [5,6]. Stormwater detention ponds ( known as dry ponds or detention basins) are a type of GI or SuDS feature that are often incorporated into new housing developments in urban catchments [13,14]. In addition to helping to reduce flooding, stormwater detention ponds are beneficial to the water quality in nearby rivers, as they trap pollutants and sediment [15,16,17]
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