Paper Title
Impact of Urbanization on Hydrological Responses and the Efficiency of Low Impact Development (LID) Implementation in Amman, Jordan
Abstract
Water scarcity is a continuing concern in Jordan which is currently experiencing the two contradictories: droughts
and floods. This implies applying innovative solutions to manage storm water. The present paper investigates the efficiency of
LID in mitigating urbanization impacts in Jordan. The performance of LID devices (infiltration trenches) was evaluated. The
analysis was based on comparing the hydrological responses of a 500-hectare catchment located in Amman, in different
scenarios using the software Personal Computer Storm Water Management Model (PCSWMM). The predevelopment
conditions were compared with two hypothetical future settings of post-development with and without LID implementation.
Results showed that the peak flow increased by 183% whereas the lag time was reduced by 78% when the level of urbanization
increased from predevelopment conditions to 60%. However, by implementing LID devices, the predevelopment conditions
could be partially restored. LID effectively controlled storms at smaller return periods (2, 5, and 10 years) while storms at
higher return periods (25, 50 and 100 years) required more mitigation. Continuous modelling of historical rainfall data for the
period (1990-2016) indicated the potential to manage approximately 80% of annual rainfall through infiltration trenches.
Index Terms - Hydrological Responses, LID, PCSWMM, Urbanization.