Stormwater

Floods: lessons to be learnt from the massive flooding in Surat city

A report by IIM criticises the way in which dams are managed in the country and calls for the need to apply Management Science / Operations Research techniques and information technology to improve dam management and prevention of floods

Flood fury: are we ready to face such an event?

The study endeavors to test the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) in an urban area. The report presents the technical summary of the model, its structure, interaction between the various blocks of SWMM, the input requirements and the output. The Windows implementation of the blocks, including descriptions of the screen sequences, corresponding blocks, changes made for ease of use and limitations of the implementation are presented. The minimum hardware requirements and installation information for the Windows SWMM are discussed.

Get trained in SWMM - Storm water management modelling.

Visit the link for software capabilities http://www.epa.gov/ednnrmrl/models/swmm/

The study presents a preliminary hydrological investigation of the Deepar Beel, a natural freshwater lake near Guwahati, and notes the theoretical aspects of the techniques to be used, methodologies and instruments for conducting a detailed study of the natural processes at hand.

Deepar Beel acts as a natural stormwater reservoir during monsoon period and is greatly influenced by the rapid urbanization and improper land use pattern of Guwahati. It receives a large portion of sewage of the city, but the preliminary investigations reveal that the Beel is largely free from significant levels of pollution. This is due to the dilution effects of large storm water runoff during monsoons as also the release of the Beel water to river Brahmaputra through the Khanajun outlet. Yet, the soil quality is found to have deteriorated to a large extent.

Various parameters of soil and water quality indicate that the process of eutrophication is in progress in this wetland. Although many trace elements are present in the Beel sediments, no known toxic effects are observed on aquatic life. Increasing sedimentation and reduction in lake water capacity and inflow are also observed.

The report presents the status of urban hydrology and highlights some of the hydrological problems related to urbanization in the world and in India. It covers a discussion on urban hydrologic cycle, hydrological and related problems of India, impact of urbanization on streamflow and urban water management. Some information on available urban hydrological models and the recommendations for the management of urban areas is also included.

The problems of urban hydrology have been of world concern for several years, but there have been few compilations of background information and even fewer comprehensive investigations of specific urban situations. The new information and data are of vital importance to the development of urban hydrology research in future.

Content Courtesy: GIS Development

Forwarded to the portal by: Sangeeta Deogawanka

Ponds are important sources of fresh water in the world as they store surface runoff produced by the storms. In this research paper, demarcation of the portion of land contributing runoff to ponds in village Nandgaon (Uttar Pradesh) has been done using topographical information of the surrounding area of the ponds, in a GIS interface.

Friends,

Please see attached PPT on an Australian Company's permanent solution of Storm Water Drains. They recommend infiltration of storm water at the point where rain falls rather than it being taken away to some other point through open drains.

Do you think this is workable in Bengaluru?

Chari

SWITCH is an action research programme, implemented and co-funded by the European Union and a cross-disciplinary team of 33 partners from 15 countries around the world. Increasing global change pressures, escalating costs and other risks inherent to conventional urban water management are causing cities to face ever increasing difficulties in efficiently managing scarcer and less reliable water resources. As well, satisfying water uses/services and waste water disposal without creating environmental, social or economic damage is an increasingly difficult challenge.

Forwarded to the portal by: Biswanath Sinha, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Water MOVES is a quarterly published by Soci