Decision Analysis: Designing Storm Drainage Systems
Lead: Siqi Ke
Counselor: Klaus Keller
For this research, Siqi Ke explores how well simple techniques for designing storm drainage systems work when future climate and planning conditions are constantly evolving. Flooding is getting worse due to impacts from climate change along with the increase of impermeable surfaces being built, like cement and sidewalks, in urban areas. Simultaneously, many city’s stormwater systems are aging and may not be able to keep up with the increased demand from flood waters. Most current design manuals do not account for major unknowns in future conditions, such as changes in rainfall or city development patterns. This can lead to overly optimistic predictions about system performance. Ke's research tests the limits of a commonly used drainage design manual that does not consider these uncertainties and evaluates two new methods for sizing storm pipes against a computationally expensive global optimization approach. The project aims to deliver practical, accessible solutions for better preparing for the future.
To learn about other decision analysis research efforts, check out these other MACH projects:
- Decision Analysis: Flood Risk and Federal Funding
- Decision Analysis: Coastal Protection Strategies
- Eric's Forsythe project
Other Projects in the Adaptation Strategy Design Focus Area
Products
Ke, S., Gutierrez, J., Vaze, V., & Keller, K. (2025). How well do simple heuristics perform in designing urban storm drainage systems under deep uncertainties? [Poster]. Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. Dartmouth College. Hanover, NH.
Ke, S., Gutierrez, J., Vaze, V., and Keller, K. (2024). How well do simple heuristics perform in designing urban storm drainage systems under deep uncertainties?. 11th Annual Conference of the Society for Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty. Denver, CO.