Sustainable Management of Stormwater to Prevent Urban Flooding

Over the last few decades, the world has witnessed rapid urbanization. One of the many complex problems resulting from increased urbanization is related to management of stormwater. Due to increased impervious carpeting of the urban areas - the rainfall retention, infiltration and subsequent percolation to soil and the underground water table, evapo-transpiration by grass etc. are non-exitent and practically all the rainfall is emerging as surface runoff with higher flow velocity, resulting in frequent flooding of streets and other urban areas. The point and non-point source release of various pollutants is also adversely affecting the stormwater quality. If stormwater is not managed properly, it may lead to economic losses, spread of diseases like leptospirosis due to the frequent flooding of urban areas, and deterioration of water quality in rivers and receiving waters. Urban drainage systems are used to manage urban stormwater. This chapter provides a brief overview about the present study.