Estimation of Urban Runoff for Determine Potential Flooding Points Using SWMM Model in Malayer City

Due to the large volume of human and commercial activities, one of the most important goals of infrastructure is to collect and transfer urban runoff, control floods and prevent flooding in cities. To correctly estimate the runoff and characteristics of hydrological units and channels, it is important to use appropriate hydrological and water models. Considering the importance of this topic, this research was conducted with the aim of estimating the urban runoff of the Malayer to determine the potential flooding points using a storm water management model (SWMM).

On the basis of available technical reports, the area of the sub-watersheds, nodes and main channels of the city were first determined. Flow direction and slope of the area was determined using a digital elevation model and 11 sub-watersheds were identified. In addition, 11 nodes were determined, regardless of the initial water depth and water level. Using the daily rainfall data of the Malayer synoptic station during the 1992–2020 statistical period, a nine-hour rainfall with a return period of 2 years was calculated and entered into the model. The geometrical shape of the channels was an open rectangle and the flow trend in the channels was determined using the kinetic wave method. The size of the maximum flow of water through the channels was calculated using the relationship between the cross-section of the flow and the speed of the flow a 9-hour the rainfall with a return period of 2 years. To calibrate the model, the variables of percentage of impervious areas, pond storage and roughness coefficient of impervious areas were used in the change range of the allowed modification range. In order to evaluate the model, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient and the root mean square error were used.

The results showed that after optimizing the sizes of the variables, the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient and the root mean square error were 0.73 and 0.02, respectively. Of the total rainfall of 14.54 mm, 5.53 mm was related to infiltration losses, 7.55 mm was related to surface runoff, and 1.45 mm was related to pond storage. The results showed that the sub-watersheds that were in the north of the city and overlooking the heights and leading to node number 10 had more volume and drainage and it is necessary to revise the design and expansion of the channels in this area. In addition, the sub-watersheds of the western part of the city (sub-watersheds no. 4) and the southwestern part (sub-watersheds no. 8) had the highest and lowest flood potential of 0.651 and 0.547, respectively.

In this research, the results showed that almost half of the city would be affected by flood risks in the event of rains. Therefore, the current drainage network does not have the necessary efficiency to discharge urban runoff in the northern part of the city, and it is necessary to determine the optimal dimensions of the channels. Because the eastern elevations of the studied area are snow-covered and considering the geology of the area, in future research, models capable of calculating the runoff caused by snow melting should be used.