Abstract

Better Urban Stormwater Modeling Through GIS
Track: Water Resources
Authors: Matt Manges, Chris Agnew, Gabe Johnson, Romin Khavari

With over one-third of the City in the floodplain, The City of Grand Prairie, Texas is currently developing watershed level drainage master plans for open channel and closed conduit stormwater drainage systems. Due to the substantial costs involved, the City must wisely invest funds for studies and planning. In order to maximize the return on the City's investment and ensure the most beneficial use of tax dollars to minimize flood risk, City staff and consultants have developed and adopted efficient standardized GIS workflows for this ambitious effort.

These standardized methods include the identification of "hot spot" problem areas, data collection, field verification, database design, results presentation, and data management. This presentation will highlight the innovative approaches, workflows, analysis methodologies, results interpretation, and benefit determinations used during City stormwater studies to reduce study cost and ultimately deliver superior solutions and recommendations to better serve the citizens of Grand Prairie.