Evaluating the performance of low impact development practices in urban runoff mitigation through distributed and combined implementation

Rapid urbanization and increasing impervious surfaces in cities lead to a serious reduction in infiltration rate of the surface and cause challenges in stormwater management. The Low Impact Development (LID) concept is considered as a potential solution for sustainable urban growth by contributing in urban flood mitigation. However, its effects on hydrologic response of the urbanized catchments, especially in broad scale implementation, are not fully understood and practically examined. In this study a hydrologic-hydraulic model of a small catchment was developed in EPA storm water management model (SWMM) program and calibrated and validated through field measurements. The hydrologic response of the catchment was investigated after replacing proportions of impervious surfaces with combinations of LID practices such as green roof, permeable pavement and bio-retention cell, through four land cover conversion scenarios and under five different designed storm events. The simulation results which are derived by comparison of outflow hydrographs between each scenario and conventional drainage system indicated that implementing 5-20% of LIDs has a noticeable impact on runoff peak flow and volume reduction, especially in storm events with shorter return periods. Also the runoff reduction trends show a linear response due to the increase in LID implementation ratio in the study area.