Flood retention basins are commonly used in urban areas to reduce the impact of urbanization on downstream flooding. When more than a few acres are developed, systems of retention basins are often required. A procedure has been developed whereby the optimum (least cost) system of basins can be determined to meet a given downstream flow requirement. The method considers several design options including basins on all subwatersheds, basins on only some of the subwatersheds, basins of various sizes and basins with various stage-discharge characteristics. The procedure has been developed in the form of a computer program to aid the designer in selecting the optimum system of stormwater retention basins.
This report develops the methodology, presents the computer program and illustrates the use of the program