Quantifying the impact of the urban karst on infiltrated stormwater

Abstract

Urbanization alters the flow regime of streams, including increasing the frequency and magnitude of storm flows, along with reducing baseflows. An increasingly common management strategy is stormwater infiltration, which is thought to reduce surface runoff and recharge groundwater and thus restore lost baseflows to streams. Recent research has pointed to considerable uncertainty on the fate of infiltrated stormwater, particularly due to the presence of human-made underground infrastructure – e.g. sewer and water supply pipes and telecommunication cables. Such infrastructure is commonly housed in trenches partially filled with highly permeable material which can cause urban karst like flow co..