Daniels, B.J.; Yeakley, J.A. Catchment-Scale Hydrologic Effectiveness of Residential Rain Gardens: A Case Study in Columbia, Maryland, USA. Water2024, 16, 1304.
Daniels, B.J.; Yeakley, J.A. Catchment-Scale Hydrologic Effectiveness of Residential Rain Gardens: A Case Study in Columbia, Maryland, USA. Water 2024, 16, 1304.
Daniels, B.J.; Yeakley, J.A. Catchment-Scale Hydrologic Effectiveness of Residential Rain Gardens: A Case Study in Columbia, Maryland, USA. Water2024, 16, 1304.
Daniels, B.J.; Yeakley, J.A. Catchment-Scale Hydrologic Effectiveness of Residential Rain Gardens: A Case Study in Columbia, Maryland, USA. Water 2024, 16, 1304.
Abstract
To mitigate the adverse impacts of urban stormwater on streams, watershed managers are increasingly using low impact development and green infrastructure (LID-GI) stormwater control measures such as rain gardens—vegetated depressional areas that collect and infiltrate runoff from rooftops and driveways. Their catchment-scale performance, however, can vary widely, and few studies have investigated the cumulative performance of residential rain gardens for event runoff control in intermediate-sized (i.e., 1-10 km2) suburban catchments. We modeled three years of continuous rainfall-runoff from a 3.1 km2 catchment in Columbia, MD, USA, using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). Various extents of rain garden implementation at residential houses were simulated (i.e., 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% coverage) to determine the effects on peak flow, runoff volume, and lag time. On average, treating 100% of residential rooftops in the catchment reduced peak flows by 14.3%, reduced runoff volumes by 11.4%, and increased lag times by 3.2% for the 223 rainfall events during the simulation period. Peak flow reductions were greater for smaller storm events (p<0.01). Our results show that residential rain gardens can significantly improve the runoff response of suburban catchments, and that they represent an effective and relatively low-cost option for urban watershed management and restoration.
Keywords
green infrastructure; low impact development; best management practices; urban stormwater; SWMM; stormwater management; urban hydrology
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Water Science and Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
