Designing Stormwater Drainage Network for Urban Flood Mitigation using SWMM: A Case Study on Dhaka City of Bangladesh

Siam Alam^1, , Afeefa Rahman^{2, 3} and Anika Yunus³

¹Institute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

²Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA

³Department of Water Resources Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Cite this paper:
Siam Alam, Afeefa Rahman and Anika Yunus. Designing Stormwater Drainage Network for Urban Flood Mitigation using SWMM: A Case Study on Dhaka City of Bangladesh. American Journal of Water Resources. 2023; 11(2):65-78. doi: 10.12691/ajwr-11-2-3

Abstract

The drainage congestion problem is getting intensified in Dhaka city of Bangladesh over recent years due to rapid urbanization, inadequate drainage channels, and improper operation of the existing channels. The areas of Shantinagar, Rajarbag, Motijheel, Paltan, and T&T Colony serve as vital economic hubs in South Dhaka, yet they are highly prone to flooding during the rainy season. This study aims to address this problem by employing mathematical modeling to design a robust drainage network capable of effectively managing stormwater for existing and projected rainfall scenarios over 50 and 100 years. To achieve this, we utilize the frequency analysis method to estimate the design storm corresponding to 50 and 100 years return period for the study area. EPA SWMM 5.1 is employed to calculate the parameters of each sub-catchment, conduit network, junction node, and outlet for the drainage model setup. Through model simulation, we analyze the water level of each of the junctions to generate an inundation and hazard map of the study area. The accuracy of our SWMM model is validated in two ways: firstly, by comparing the inundation map produced from the model's water level outputs with the observed flood extent derived from Google Earth imagery, and secondly, by cross-checking the model's simulated runoff coefficient with manually estimated coefficients based on the land use map created from Google Earth. The total runoff volume from the model simulation is used to design the minimum cross-section of each of the conduits. By incrementally adjusting the conduit areas we analyzed the response of the flood hazard scenario of the study area. The findings of this analysis provide insights into the percentage increase in cross-section area required for drainage channels to effectively manage the runoff volume for a 50- and 100-year return period. With the developed model, we are equipped to design and size new components of the drainage system necessary for flood control during extreme scenarios. We anticipate that the outcomes of this study will prove valuable to relevant organizations and experts involved in addressing the drainage congestion issue in Dhaka City. The findings offer insights and recommendations for effectively managing and mitigating flooding through the design and implementation of improved drainage infrastructure.

Keywords:
urban flood drainage network runoff volume SWMM Dhaka City Bangladesh

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Dewan, A., & Corner, R. (Eds.). (2013). Dhaka megacity: Geospatial perspectives on urbanisation, environment and health. Springer Science & Business Media.
[2]	Bashar, T., & Fung, I. W. (2020). Water pollution in a densely populated megapolis, Dhaka. Water, 12(8), 2124.
[3]	Booth, D. B. (1991). Urbanization and the natural drainage system--impacts, solutions, and prognoses.
[4]	Needhidasan, S., & Nallanathel, M. (2013). Design of storm water drains by rational method–an approach to storm water management for environmental protection. International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 5(4), 3203-3214.
[5]	Dewan, A. M., Nishigaki, M., & Komatsu, M. (2004). DEM based flood extent delineation in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. 岡山大学環境理工学部研究報告, 9(1), 99-110.
[6]	Akhter, S. R. (2019). Management Issues of Ecologically Critical Areas in and around Dhaka City: A Case Study of Gulshan-Baridhara Lake (Doctoral dissertation, University of Dhaka).
[7]	Mowla, Qazi Azizul, and Mohammed Saiful Islam. “Natural drainage system and water logging in Dhaka: measures to address the problems.” Journal of Bangladesh Institute of Planners ISSN 2075 (2013): 9363.
[8]	Mohammed, M. H., Zwain, H. M., & Hassan, W. H. (2021). Modeling the impacts of climate change and flooding on sanitary sewage system using SWMM simulation: a case study. Results in Engineering, 12, 100307.
[9]	Sebastian, A., Juan, A., & Bedient, P. B. (2022). Urban flood modeling: Perspectives, challenges, and opportunities. Coastal Flood Risk Reduction, 47-60.
[10]	Jiang, L. E. I., Chen, Y. A. N. G. B. O., & Wang, H. U. A. N. Y. U. (2015). Urban flood simulation based on the SWMM model. Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 368, 186-191.
[11]	Agarwal, S., & Kumar, S. (2019). Applicability of SWMM for semi urban catchment flood modeling using extreme rainfall events. Int. J. Recent Technol. Eng, 8(2), 245-251.
[12]	Rangari, V. A., Prashanth, S. S., Umamahesh, N. V., & Patel, A. K. (2018). Simulation of urban drainage system using a storm water management model (SWMM). Asian Journal of Engineering and Applied Technology, 7(S1), 7-10.
[13]	Haris, H., Chow, M. F., Usman, F., Sidek, L. M., Roseli, Z. A., & Norlida, M. D. (2016, March). Urban stormwater management model and tools for designing stormwater management of green infrastructure practices. In IOP conference series: earth and environmental science (Vol. 32, No. 1, p. 012022). IOP Publishing.
[14]	Basnet, K., Khadka, S., & Shrestha, K. K. Sustainable Urban Storm Water Drainage Design using SWMM: a Case Study of Lamachaur, Pokhara, Nepal.
[15]	Akter, A., & Tanim, A. H. (2016). Estimating Urban Flood Hazard Zones Using Swmm in Chittagong City. Technical Journal River Research Institute, 13(1), 87-101.
[16]	Mostafa, S. H. A. S. I., & Fahad, A. M. B. G. IMPCAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE OF BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER BASIN ON URBAN DRAINAGE OF GORANCHATBARI, DHAKA.
[17]	Datta, K. K., & De Jong, C. (2002). Adverse effect of waterlogging and soil salinity on crop and land productivity in northwest region of Haryana, India. Agricultural water management, 57(3), 223-238.
[18]	Hazarika, N., Barman, D., Das, A. K., Sarma, A. K., & Borah, S. B. (2018). Assessing and mapping flood hazard, vulnerability and risk in the Upper Brahmaputra River valley using stakeholders’ knowledge and multicriteria evaluation (MCE). Journal of Flood Risk Management, 11, S700-S716.
[19]	Loo, Y. Y., Billa, L., & Singh, A. (2015). Effect of climate change on seasonal monsoon in Asia and its impact on the variability of monsoon rainfall in Southeast Asia. Geoscience Frontiers, 6(6), 817-823.
[20]	Mark, O., Weesakul, S., Apirumanekul, C., Aroonnet, S. B., & Djordjević, S. (2004). Potential and limitations of 1D modelling of urban flooding. Journal of Hydrology, 299(3-4), 284-299.
[21]	Ahammad, M., Tarek, M. H., & Khan, M. S. M. (2018, May). Stormwater management in Begunbari Canal Catchment of Dhaka, Bangladesh. In World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2018: International Perspectives, History and Heritage, Emerging Technologies, and Student Papers (pp. 313-324). Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.
[22]	Yang, L., Meng, X., & Zhang, X. (2011). SRTM DEM and its application advances. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 32(14), 3875-3896.
[23]	Hussain, S. M., & Hoque, M. S. (2020, June). Climate Exodus: The Migration Catastrophe of Bangladesh. In 2020 IEEE Region 10 Symposium (TENSYMP) (pp. 1185-1188). IEEE.
[24]	Sañudo, E., Cea, L., & Puertas, J. (2020). Modelling pluvial flooding in urban areas coupling the models iber and SWMM. Water, 12(9), 2647.
[25]	Rossman, L. A., & Huber, W. (2017). Storm water management model reference manual volume II–hydraulics. US Environmental Protection Agency: Washington, DC, USA, 2, 190.
[26]	Solomon, O., & Prince, O. (2013). Flood frequency analysis of Osse river using Gumbel’s distribution. Civil and environmental research, 3(10), 55-59.
[27]	Bhagat, N. (2017). Flood frequency analysis using Gumbel's distribution method: a case study of Lower Mahi Basin, India. Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science, 6(4), 51-54.
[28]	Maliha, M., & Khan, S. M. (2017). Design of stormwater drainage network with limited data using GeoSWMM: a case study for Bogra city (Doctoral dissertation, B. Sc. thesis, Department of Water Resources Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh).
[29]	JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). (1987). Study on Storm Water Drainage System Improvement Project in Dhaka City.
[30]	Boyraz, U., Gülbaz, S., & Kazezyılmaz-Alhan, C. M. (2013). A casestudy: Flood Analysis of Çayırova Stream in Turkey with a Hydrodynamic Model, 3. In International Bursa Water Congress and Exhibition, Bursa, Türkiye (pp. 826-833).
[31]	Tu, M. C., & Smith, P. (2018). Modeling pollutant buildup and washoff parameters for SWMM based on land use in a semiarid urban watershed. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 229(4), 1-15.
[32]	Taher, A. M., & Haque, A. INUNDATION PROBLEM AND DRAINAGE SYSTEM ANALYSIS OF BUET USING EPA SWMM.
[33]	Lambin, E. F. (1999). Land-use and land-cover Change (LUCC)-implementation strategy. A core project of the international geosphere-biosphere programme and the international human dimensions programme on global environmental change.
[34]	Huang, F., Liu, D., Tan, X., Wang, J., Chen, Y., & He, B. (2011). Explorations of the implementation of a parallel IDW interpolation algorithm in a Linux cluster-based parallel GIS. Computers & Geosciences, 37(4), 426-434.
[35]	Mark, O., Kalken, T. V., Rabbi, K., & Jesper, K. (2001). A mouse GIS study of the drainage in Dhaka city. Surface Water Modeling Center (SWMC), Dhaka.