Municipality Impacts Due to Local Watersheds

Dominick Kohnke, EIT, Water Resources Engineer, AECOM

Municipalities along the east coast of the United States of America are the frontrunners in need of stormwater infrastructure retrofits, mainly due to the age of their crumbling infrastructure and increase in population. A common example of this issue are cities near the coast lines - more specifically a city in North Carolina near Pasquotank River. The city experiences frequent flooding due to 2 separate issues coined as "Dry and Wet Days".  The Dry Day flooding referrers to roadway flooding caused by the local River that drains the city's streets and roads. The Wet Day flooding referrers to roadway flooding caused by precipitation. The impact of a Dry Day flooding is best explained as increase in the Pasquotank River's water surface elevation (WSE) consequently bypassing the land barrier block and trespassing into the local streets via the stormwater infrastructure network. The impact of a Wet Day flooding is a more commonly known flooding due to precipitation and lack of adequate stormwater infrastructure to convey the surface runoff. As precipitation flooding is a frequent event along the east coast, it is important to note the Dry Day's impact on the available outfall WSE - the combined effect of the Dry and Wet Days yields a significant issue with a lack of simple solutions. Addressing the impact of both 'Days', the way forward requires an in-depth analysis  via a stormwater model conducted in PCSWMM.

Author Bio

Dominick is a stormwater engineer with nearly 4 years of experience in the stormwater engineering industry. His early years were spent conducting stormwater infrastructure inspections in the field learning the details of the nature and impacts of stormwater on local municipalities, and an entry into the stormwater design and hydraulic/hydrologic (H&H) modeling of best management practices (BMPs). Currently, Mr. Dominick focuses on Design and H&H studies for Municipal, State, and Federal clients. Mr. Dominick moved to USA from Poland in freshman year of Highschool and has been a Virginia resident for nearly 12 years with a brief stay in Chicago for 1.5 year. Consequently, Mr. Dominick harbors sentimental affection to pierogies and deep dish pizza.