Hydrological Modeling for Sustainable Water Resources Management in Urban Areas

Abstract

Focusing on the urgent issue of quick, unplanned urbanization that produces water stress and flood hazards, and degrades the quality of aquatic environments through expanded impervious areas and pollution, this work simulates urban hydrologic response to such events in the Adyar River Basin, India, by applying the EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). Combining the inputs of the Sentinel-2 (10-meter) land cover, GPM (global precipitation) data, and contemporary environmental sensor data streams, this work produces a predictive tool for the urban water regime. Based on the outcomes, there will be an increase in flood volume and pollutant loads in the 'Business-as-Usual' development scenario, and the consequence will be considerable harm to the water quality of the aquatic ecosystem. In contrast, 'Sustainable Interventions' (including targeted bioswales, permeable pavement, and rainfall harvesting) resulted in a reduction of runoff volumes and loads. Based on a spatial output, hot spots of  high-water stress were determined, which can be useful in deciding on an optimal retrofit of infrastructure. More importantly, this study argues for a shift from a reactive 'gray infrastructure' flood management approach to a more proactive 'green infrastructure' planning approach; this is important for the decisions made. Linking hydrologic outcomes to ecosystem health indicators will allow urban planners to design and target interventions to protect aquatic ecosystems, recover the base flow of the streams, and promote long-term water sustainability. Though the complex biochemical reaction modeling and uncertainty regarding morphology in the long term will have limitations in this study's approach, this integrated framework will provide guidance to sustainable planning of aquatic ecosystem services.