Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program in Water Research at  Colorado State University

Mentor Information

Name Larry A. Roesner

Title Professor

Department Civil Engineering

Work Phone 970-491-7430

FAX 970-491-7727

e-mail roesner@engr.colostate.edu

Project Title The Effect of Detention Facilities and BMPs on the Flow-Duration Curves for Urbanizing Areas

Project Abstract The work comprises the examination of the effect of urban development on the flow-duration curve for small urban streams. The student will apply the USEPA SWMM model to a small watershed (~25 ac), simulating the time series of flows that result from a 40-year trace of hourly rainfall on the catchment. The student will process time series of flows to determine the flow-duration curve for the undeveloped condition. The model will then be applied to the developed watershed for various percents of impervious cover, and the flow-duration curves from these various levels of development will be computed and compared to the pre-development flow duration curve. The student will then create flow-duration curves for the watershed with detention basins for flood control and extended detention BMPs for pollutant removal. The objective of the exercise is to see if it is possible with some combination of flood control ponds, designed to control peak runoff from various return interval storms, plus extended detention BMPs to reproduce the pre-development flow-duration curve. If time allows, certain infiltration BMPs will be introduced to examine their effectiveness on lowering the post development flow-duration curve to pre-development levels.