ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Storm Water Management Model

Imagine you are painting a picture and you accidentally spill some water on the page. If you don't do anything about it, the water will spread and create a big mess. Now imagine that instead of a painting, we are talking about a city with lots of buildings, roads, and sidewalks. When it rains a lot, the water can't soak into the ground fast enough and creates a mess on the streets just like on your painting.

To prevent flooding, we need to manage the stormwater in a city. This is where the Stormwater Management Model comes in. This tool helps us understand what happens to rainwater when it hits the ground and where it goes. It's like a calculator that helps us figure out things like how much water is going into the sewer system or how much water is soaking into the ground.

To use the Stormwater Management Model, we need to create a virtual version of a city. We enter information about things like the size of buildings, the type of soil, and the width of streets. The calculator uses this information to figure out how much water will flow over the streets and sidewalks, how much will soak into the ground, and how much will go into the sewer system.

This information can help us make important decisions about how to manage stormwater in a city. For example, if we know that there is a lot of water flowing over one street, we can add rain gardens or green roofs to that area to help soak up the excess water. Or if we find that the sewer system is overflowing during heavy rainfall, we can design bigger pipes or storage tanks to hold more water.

In summary, the Stormwater Management Model is a tool that helps us understand what happens to rainwater in a city and how we can prevent flooding by managing it in a smart way.