Adaptation of a Storm Drainage System to Accommodate Increased Rainfall Resulting from Climate Change

Waters, Darren; Watt, W. E.; Maršálek, Jiří; Anderson, Bruce

doi:10.1080/0964056032000138472

Cited by 89 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…They also recognized that uniform climate changes could produce varying levels of impact on any individual municipality, because of differences in topography, watershed size, level of development, and(or) existing infrastructure drainage capacity. Waters et al (2003) evaluated how a small (23 ha [58 ac]) urban watershed in the Great Lakes region (Burlington, Ontario) would be affected by a 15% increase in rainfall depth and intensity. This increase was presumed from a literature review and prior analysis of other nearby catchments.…”

Section: Future Projections and Adaptation Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precipitation extremes and the impacts of climate change on stormwater infrastructure in Washington State

et al. 2010

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Stormwater management facilities are important elements of the civil infrastructure that can be sensitive to climate change, particularly to precipitation extremes that generate peak runoff flows. The design and anticipated performance of stormwater infrastructure is based on either the presumed characteristics of a "design rainstorm" or the continuous simulation of streamflow driven by a time series of precipitation. Under either approach, a frequency distribution of precipitation is required, either directly or indirectly, together with an underlying assumption that the probability distribution of precipitation extremes is statistically stationary. This assumption, and hence both approaches, are called into question by climate change. We therefore examined both historical precipitation records and simulations of future rainfall to evaluate past and prospective changes in the probability distributions of precipitation extremes across Washington State. The historical analyses were based on hourly precipitation records for the time period 1949-2007 from weather stations surrounding three major metropolitan areas of the state: the Puget Sound region (including Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia), the Vancouver (WA) region (including Portland, OR), and the Spokane region. Changes in future precipitation were simulated using two runs of the Weather Research and Forecast regional climate model (RCM) for the time periods 1970-2000 and 2020-2050, statistically downscaled from the ECHAM5 and CCSM3 Global Climate Model and biascorrected against the SeaTac Airport rainfall record. Downscaled and bias-corrected hourly precipitation sequences were then used as input to the HSPF hydrologic model to simulate streamflow in two urban watersheds in central Puget Sound. Few statistically significant changes in extreme precipitation were observed in the historical records, with the possible exception of the Puget Sound. RCM simulations generally indicate increases in extreme rainfall magnitudes throughout the state, but the range of projections is too large to predicate engineering design, and actual changes could be difficult to distinguish from natural variability. Nonetheless, the evidence suggests that drainage infrastructure designed using mid-20 th century rainfall records may be subject to a future rainfall regime that differs from current design standards.

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Section: Future Projections and Adaptation Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precipitation extremes and the impacts of climate change on stormwater infrastructure in Washington State

et al. 2010

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“…[WGII 14.5.1] • To cope with a 15% increase in heavy precipitation, Burlington and Ottawa, Ontario, employed both structural and non-structural measures, including directing downspouts to lawns in order to encourage infiltration, and increasing depression and street detention storage (Waters et al, 2003). [WGII 14.5 Columbia produced a water management plan in 2004 for a planning area known as the Trepanier Landscape Unit, which explicitly addresses climate scenarios, projected changes in water supply and demand, and adaptation options (Cohen et al, 2004;Summit Environmental Consultants, 2004 …”

Section: Adaptationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resistance and Resilience of A Stream Salamander To Supraseasonal Drought

2012

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“…Urban areas are especially vulnerable to increased rainfall intensities, especially during convective summer storms (Smith et al 2002;Waters et al 2003;Kundzewicz et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A relation between extreme daily precipitation and extreme short term precipitation

et al. 2010

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The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has published the KNMI'06 climate scenarios in 2006. These scenarios give the possible states of the climate in The Netherlands for the next century. Projections of changes in precipitation were made for a time scale of 1 day. The urban drainage sector is, however, more interested in projections on shorter time scales. Specifically, time scales of 1 h or less. The aim of this research is to provide projections of precipitation at these shorter time scales based on the available daily scenarios. This involves an analysis of climate variables and their relations to precipitation at different time scales. On the basis of this analysis, one can determine a numeric factor to translate daily projections into shorter time scale projections.

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Adaptation of a Storm Drainage System to Accommodate Increased Rainfall Resulting from Climate Change

Cited by 89 publications

References 4 publications

Precipitation extremes and the impacts of climate change on stormwater infrastructure in Washington State

Precipitation extremes and the impacts of climate change on stormwater infrastructure in Washington State

Resistance and Resilience of A Stream Salamander To Supraseasonal Drought

A relation between extreme daily precipitation and extreme short term precipitation

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