Assignment #6

This is a review of the article "Optimization of Regional Storm-Water Management Systems" by Behera et.al. in the ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management in April, 1999.

In this paper Behera et al. discuss the use of an optimization based methodology for determining the lowest cost Stormwater Management (SWM) scheme to abate stormwater quantity and quality related issues. The optimization methodology is described for obtaining design parameters like storage volume, release rate and pond depth for a SWM pond and a dynamic programming approach is discussed to extend to a multiple parallel catchment system (each with a single detention pond).

The authors say, "The natural storage capacity of urban catchments lost through the development process is offset by engineered storage facilities in the form of different types of detention ponds, which are often considered as one of various best management practices (BMPs) for storm-water control. They are implemented for peak flow attenuation, runoff volume control, and runoff quality control. Common practice is to design these facilities such
that the release from the facility maintains the pre-development runoff conditions or satisfies other local environmental regulations for runoff quantity and quality control." For the land developers the construction of SWM ponds is a loss of developable expensive land in addition to the cost of construction and O&M for these ponds. The main objective would be to optimize the costs of construction and O&M without violating relevent environmental regulations on discgarges and stormwater quality. A computational example of the proposed procedure is provided by the optimization of a system of three parallel catchments.

My thoughts:

I like the concept of using a stochastic measure for the run-off and quality control but I think this method will be more effective if we play with the release rates and look at a temporal variation on the control measure.