In recent years, climate change has intensified the frequency of severe rainfall events, raising concerns, particularly in urban areas where impervious surfaces dominate. The resultant reliance on man-made drainage increases pluvial flooding risks, threatening infrastructure and urban resilience. As the global population increasingly shifts to urban living, the vulnerability to flooding grows. Understanding how areas respond to rainfall is crucial for proactive flood risk mitigation. Available hydrological models offer insights and predictions, but are often linked with long simulation times and high computational cost. Semi-distributed models, like the Spatially Distributed Travel Time (SDTT) approach, offer simplified model formulations suitable for screening applications. This thesis extends Ekeroth's (2022) SDTT model for watershed delineation and travel time formulations, focusing on ensemble runs of multi-input rainfall/infiltration scenarios. As there is often many uncertain factors in hydrological modeling, there is a need for faster models capable of generating a distribution of scenarios to represent the uncertainty of real systems. Even a quick and simple model should account for the multifaceted aspects of urban flooding, including rainfall-infiltration dynamics and the variations in rainfall intensity. Script modules were developed to analyze rainfall severity, peak discharge distribution, and parameter impact efficiently. In three urban watersheds with an average size of 0.45 km2, 120 scenarios distinguished by intensity distribution, rainfall duration, soil composition of pervious areas, and antecedent moisture conditions, were simulated within approximately 3.5 minutes, enabling comprehensive hydrological analysis. The successful implementation of the new modules implicate a promising tool for hydrological risk-screening analysis in urban environments, although further research should investigate incorporating probability-based scenarios and bigger input rainfall datasets. / Under senare år har klimatförändringarna intensifierat förekomsten av skyfall, något som är särskilt oroväckande i stadsområden där marktäckningen huvudsakligen består av hårdgjorda ytor. Genom att asfaltera och bygga försvinner markens naturliga infiltrationsförmåga. Detta leder till ett ökat beroende av konstgjorda dräneringssystem som sällan är dimensionerade för särskilt intensiva regnhändelser. Urbana översvämningar innebär inte bara ett hot mot infrastruktur och den bebyggda miljön, men den globala befolkningens ökade bosättning i urbana områden medför att sårbarheten vid översvämningar ökar även den. För att kunna hantera översvämningsrisken i ett urbant område är förståelse för avrinningsområdets respons till ett skyfall viktigt. Det finns hydrologiska modeller på marknaden som erbjuder prognoser, men dessa är oftast baserade på komplexa fysiska beskrivningar som medför långa processtider och beräkningskostnader. Samtidigt finns nytänkande modeller som skär ner på processtiderna genom att minska den spatiala upplösningen på beräkningarna, såsom SDTT (Spatially Distributed Travel Time) formuleringen, som erbjuder förenklade analyser lämpliga som screeningverktyg. Denna studie utvidgar Ekeroths (2022) SDTT-modell med fokus på ensemblekörningar av regn- och infiltrationsscenarier. Eftersom det ofta finns flertalet osäkra faktorer i hydrologisk modellering finns ett behov av snabbare modeller som kan genera en fördelning av möjliga utfall givet olika scenarier. Samtidigt behöver även en snabb och enkel modell beakta de mångfacetterade aspekterna av urbana översvämningar, exempelvis gällande dynamiken mellan regn och infiltration och skyfallsegenskaper. Kodmoduler utvecklades för att effektivt analysera utfallen av regnscenarierna och att finna de mest allvarliga händelserna, fördelningen av värden inom de simulerade utfallen, samt inflytandet från parametrarna som definierar scenarierna. I tre urbana avrinningsområden med en genomsnittlig storlek på 0.45 km2 simulerades 120 scenarier inom 3,5 minuter, vilket möjliggör hydrologisk analys på en hanterbar tid. Implementeringen av de nya modulerna pekar mot ett lovande verktyg för hydrologisk risk-screeninganalys i urbana miljöer. Samtidigt bör framtida studier fortsatt undersöka möjligheten att inkludera sannolikhetsbaserade scenarier och körning av större dataset.

Thesis (MA (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / River basins have long been attracting human settlement and development, promising water and fertile lands (Newson 1992). The Bot River Catchment on the southern coast of South Africa is no exception. However, much of the development in this catchment has not been controlled and its land and water resources are being abused. This is affecting the water quality and quantity of the river system and estuary at an alarming rate. In this thesis, the ‘reference’ land cover in the Bot River Catchment is recreated. This term is used to describe “the hydrological state of the catchment as it was when completely covered in natural vegetation, thus before it was impacted by humans” (Jacobs & Bruwer 2002:12). A rainfall-runoff model is employed to investigate the effects of various land covers on the catchment’s runoff quantity, by comparing the simulation results of the catchment’s reference and current state. The results of the model point to a large reduction in runoff since the reference state of the catchment. As the rainfall-runoff model applied did not allow for modelling of the annual agriculture that dominates the catchment, the runoff reduction was attributed to the smaller areas of perennial agriculture, forestry and alien vegetation infestation. The simulation results confirmed the threat of current land use practices on the environmental integrity of the Bot River Catchment. A transition to agricultural practices that are more suited to the climate is suggested and the eradication of alien vegetation should be seen as a priority. Most importantly, a holistic approach should be taken towards the management of the Bot River Catchment. The altered hydrodynamic regime of the Bot River Estuary is symptomatic of misuse of the entire catchment. As ongoing demographic and land use pressures create a new generation of water management problems (Department of Water Affairs & Forestry 1993), a deeper understanding of the relationships between the different components in the Bot River Catchment becomes increasingly urgent.

Cape Town, South Africa, falls within a winter rainfall region, making it difficult to assess the feasibility of rain- and stormwater harvesting. The reason for this is because the region’s high water demand period coincides with the low rainfall summer season, thereby limiting the availability of this alternative water resource when most needed. During this study, rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing purposes, collected from roof surfaces, was practically assessed by means of inserted flow meters at a pilot study site in Kommetjie, Cape Town. The combined and single system roof- and land surface runoff yields and savings of commercial buildings within the Kommetjie business area, were also theoretically assessed by making use of a mathematical roof- and land surface runoff model specifically developed during this study. The statistical testing of the hypotheses statements relating to the pre- and post-harvesting savings at the pilot study building, compared against the average actual municipal water usage, were performed. Hypotheses testing were also performed in order to compare the theoretical rain- and stormwater runoff yields for the commercial business area against the average actual municipal water consumption. The conclusions drawn from this study indicated that valuable potable water, as well as related financial savings, can be achieved within a winter rainfall region, thereby making rain- and stormwater harvesting a feasible option for commercial businesses in Cape Town. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc. (Environmental Management)

Cape Town, South Africa, falls within a winter rainfall region, making it difficult to assess the feasibility of rain- and stormwater harvesting. The reason for this is because the region’s high water demand period coincides with the low rainfall summer season, thereby limiting the availability of this alternative water resource when most needed. During this study, rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing purposes, collected from roof surfaces, was practically assessed by means of inserted flow meters at a pilot study site in Kommetjie, Cape Town. The combined and single system roof- and land surface runoff yields and savings of commercial buildings within the Kommetjie business area, were also theoretically assessed by making use of a mathematical roof- and land surface runoff model specifically developed during this study. The statistical testing of the hypotheses statements relating to the pre- and post-harvesting savings at the pilot study building, compared against the average actual municipal water usage, were performed. Hypotheses testing were also performed in order to compare the theoretical rain- and stormwater runoff yields for the commercial business area against the average actual municipal water consumption. The conclusions drawn from this study indicated that valuable potable water, as well as related financial savings, can be achieved within a winter rainfall region, thereby making rain- and stormwater harvesting a feasible option for commercial businesses in Cape Town. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc. (Environmental Management)