07/26/2018 Congratulate Kristina Macro on her MS thesis defense

Kristina Macro successfully defended her MS thesis on July 26. Congratulations!

Achieving Urban Watershed Management Goals through Optimization of Green Infrastructure with OSTRICH-SWMM

Abstract The successful revitalization of urban centers depends on the consideration of both community needs and sustainability goals in planning decisions. Green infrastructure (GI) and low impact development (LID) are strategies that can reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) while enhancing the urban landscape. The Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) is commonly used to simulate the addition of GI/LID projects in urban areas and their impacts on stormwater management objectives. However, few tools exist that support the multi-objective optimization of GI/LID projects within SWMM models. To address this need, a new SWMM optimization tool was developed that connects SWMM with an existing optimization program, the Optimization Software Toolkit for Research Involving Computational Heuristics (OSTRICH). The optimization tool, OSTRICH-SWMM, was applied in a case study regarding the placement of GI/LID in Buffalo catchments. This study illustrates how OSTRICH-SWMM can be used to add GI/LID to catchments in a SWMM model and find the optimal placement of GI/LID that balances the number of CSO events, CSO volume, and/or pollutant loads with GI/LID implementation costs. GI/LID type was also optimized by considering the impact of rain barrels and permeable pavement on CSO volume. In the future OSTRICH-SWMM will be used to optimize other types of GI/LID and contribute to a broader decision support framework for urban land use, GI/LID, and stormwater management.

Advisor: Dr. Zhenduo Zhu Committee: Dr. L. Shawn Matott, Dr. Alan Rabideau