Managing Stormwater as a Complex Adaptive System
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 10
Abstract
Understanding the cumulative impact of a set of stormwater interventions is of paramount importance in urban stormwater planning. A model is introduced to study the effect of 179 stormwater projects in the Cub Run watershed in Fairfax County, Virginia. The results showed gains in environmental benefits when the system was treated as a network of interacting and coevolving measures. The study demonstrates the importance of considering broader system benefits in the planning of stormwater projects instead of point performance. Under different implementation strategies, the dynamics of coevolution reveals a fixed pattern of growth in the number of projects to be implemented. However, their environmental benefits are not necessarily the same. Thus, any decision to advance some projects for early implementation would have a long-term impact on the system’s overall trajectory. Furthermore, at a certain threshold, the environmental benefits from these interventions could diminish since more control does not yield a linear increase in benefits.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Abramowitz, M., and I. A. Stegun. 1972. Bessel functions J and Y: Handbook of mathematical functions. New York: Dover.
Allen, P. M. 2000. “Knowledge, ignorance and learning.” Emergence 2 (4): 78–103. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327000em0204_09.
Allen, P. M. 2001. “What is complexity science: Knowledge of the limits to knowledge.” Emergence 3 (1): 24–42. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327000EM0301_03.
Allen, P. M., and J. S. Baldwin. 2006. “Evolutionary drive: New understanding of change in socio-economic systems.” Emergence 8 (2): 2–19.
Barbosa, A. E., J. N. Fernandes, and L. M. David. 2012. “Key issues for sustainable urban stormwater management.” Water Res. 46 (20): 6787–6798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.05.029.
CBP (Chesapeake Bay Program). 2014. “Strengthening verification of best management practices implemented in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: A basin wide framework.” Accessed October 29, 2014. https://www.chesapeakebay.net/documents/Complete%20CBP%20BMP%20Verification%20Framwork%20with%20appendices.pdf.
Clauset, A. 2011. Inference, models and simulation for complex systems. Boulder, CO: Univ. of Colorado at Boulder.
Dooley, K., and A. Van de Venn. 1999. “Explaining complex organizational dynamics.” Organ. Sci. 10 (3): 338–372. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.10.3.358.
Fairfax County. 2007. Cub run and bull run watershed management plan: Final report stormwater planning division, Vol. 1 and 2. Fairfax, VA: Dept. of Public Works and Environmental Services.
Galan, J., A. Lopez-Paredes, and R. D. Olmo. 2009. “An agent-based model for domestic water management in Valladolid metropolitan area.” Water Resour. Res. 45 (5): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007WR006536.
Geldof, G. D., and P. Stahre. 2006. “On the road to a new stormwater planning approach: From Model A to Model B.” Water Pract. Technol. 1 (1). https://doi.org/10.2166/wpt.2006.005.
Giacomoni, M. H., and E. Z. Berglund. 2015. “Complex adaptive modeling framework for evaluating demand management for urban water resources sustainability.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 141 (11): 04015024. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000543.
Giacomoni, M. H., L. Kanta, and E. M. Zechman. 2013. “Complex adaptive systems approach to simulate the sustainability of water resources and urbanization.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 139 (5): 554–564. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000302.
Giacomoni, M. H., and E. M. Zechman. 2010. “A complex adaptive systems approach to simulate urban water resources sustainability.” In World Environmental and Water Resources Congress: Challenges of Change, Environmental and Water Resources Institute. Providence, RI: ASCE.
Holland, J. H. 1995. Hidden order: How adaptation builds complexity. Reading, MA: Adddison-Wesley.
Holling, C. S. 2001. “Understanding the complexity of economic, ecological, and social systems.” Ecosystems 4 (5): 390–405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-00-0101-5.
Ibrahim, Y. A., and A. F. Behzad. 2018. “Strategic insight on the role of farm ponds as nonconventional stormwater management facilities.” J. Hydrol. Eng. 23 (6): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001666.
Ibrahim, Y. A., and S. Islam. 2017. Chapter 7 in Water diplomacy in action: Contingent approaches to managing complex water problems, 112–140. New York: Anthem Press.
Islam, S., and L. Susskind. 2012. Water diplomacy: Negotiated approach to managing complex water networks. New York: NY RFF Press.
Kanta, L., and E. Zechman. 2014. “A complex adaptive systems framework to assess supply-side and demand-side management for urban water resources.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 140: 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1061/%28ASCE%29WR.1943-5452.0000301.
Petrucci, G., E. Rioust, J. F. Deroubaix, and B. Tassin. 2013. “Do stormwater source control policies deliver the right hydrologic outcomes?” J. Hydrol. 485 (Apr): 188–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.06.018.
Railsback, S. F. 2001. “Concepts from complex adaptive systems as a framework for individual-based modelling.” Ecol. Modell. 139 (1): 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3800(01)00228-9.
Ramel, C., S. Stage, and H. Wilfing. 2007. “Managing complex adaptive system: A co-evolutionary perspective on natural resource management.” Ecol. Econ. 63 (1): 9–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.12.014.
Roy, A. H., S. J. Weneger, T. D. Letcher, C. J. Walsh, A. R. Ladson, W. D. Shuster, H. W. Thurston, and R. R. Brown. 2008. “Impediments and solutions to sustainable, watershed-scale urban stormwater management: Lessons from Australia and the United States.” Environ. Manage. 42 (2): 344–359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9119-1.
Schelhorn, T., D. O. Sullivan, M. Haklay, and M. Thurstain-Goodwin. 1999. STREETS: An agent-based pedestrian model. London: Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis UCL.
Schueler, T., and C. Lane. 2012. “Recommendations of the expert panel to define removal rates for urban stormwater retrofit projects.” Chesapeake Stormwater Network Final Report. Accessed July 15, 2012. https://www.chesapeakebay.net/documents/Final_CBP_Approved_Expert_Panel_Report_on_Stormwater_Retrofits--_short.pdf.
Tufekci, S. 1995. “An integrated emergency management decision support system for hurricane emergencies.” Saf. Sci. 20 (1): 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/0925-7535(94)00065-B.
Wolfram, S. 1983. “Statistical mechanics of cellular automata.” Rev. Mod. Phys. 55 (3): 601–644. https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.55.601.
Zellner, M. 2007. “Generating polices for sustainable water uses in complex scenarios: An integrated land-use and water-use model for Monroe County, Michigan.” Environ. Plann. 34 (4): 664–686. https://doi.org/10.1068/b32152.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 30, 2018
Accepted: May 16, 2019
Published online: Jul 30, 2019
Published in print: Oct 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Dec 30, 2019
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.