Optimization of green infrastructure network at semi-urbanized watersheds to manage stormwater volume, peak flow and life cycle cost: Case study of Dead Run watershed in Maryland
Abstract
Green Infrastructure (GI) has become widely known as a sustainable solution for stormwater management in urban environments. Despite more recognition and acknowledgment, researchers and practitioners lack clear and explicit guidelines on how GI practices should be implemented in urban settings. This study is developing a noisy-based multi-objective, multi-scaled genetic algorithm that determines optimal GI networks for environmental, economic and social objectives. The methodology accounts for uncertainty in modeling results and is designed to perform at sub-watershed as well as patch scale using two different simulation models, SWMM and RHESSys, in a Cloud-based implementation using a Web interface. As an initial case study, a semi-urbanized watershed— DeadRun 5— in Baltimore County, Maryland, is selected. The objective of the study is to minimize life cycle cost, maximize human preference for human well-being and the difference between pre-development hydrographs generated from current rainfall events and design storms, as well as those that result from proposed GI scenarios. Initial results for DeadRun5 watershed suggest that placing GI in the proximity of the watershed outlet optimizes life cycle cost, stormwater volume, and peak flow capture. The framework can easily present outcomes of GI design scenarios to both designers and local stakeholders, and future plans include receiving feedback from users on candidate designs, and interactively updating optimal GI network designs in a crowd-sourced design process. This approach can also be helpful in deriving design guidelines that better meet stakeholder needs.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFM.H51A1425H
- Keywords:
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- 1834 Human impacts;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty;
- POLICY SCIENCESDE: 6344 System operation and management;
- POLICY SCIENCES