Development of a Handy Tool for the Selection of Urban Stormwater Best Management Practices

he City of Norfolk, Virginia faces substantial stormwater management challenges due to shallow groundwater, tidal influence, dense urban development, and limited right-of-way. These constraints limit the applicability of many Best Management Practices (BMPs) and require the early identification of feasible practices before detailed hydrologic modeling. This thesis introduces a decision-support tool that quickly and systematically identifies and prioritizes BMPs that are both feasible and well-suited to Norfolk’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program, streamlining early-stage selection and saving time and resources. The tool implements a two-stage methodology. First, feasibility gates are applied using catalog attributes derived from the Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook (VSMH v1.1), including minimum treatment area, allowable slope range, phase applicability, urban retrofit compatibility, and structural requirements. Second, feasible BMPs are scored using a Weighted Sum Model (WSM) based on seven normalized criteria: Design Complexity, Lifecycle Burden, Relative Construction Cost, Footprint Flexibility, Aesthetic Value, Practice Alignment Index, and Urban Retrofit Compatibility. Min–max normalization is used for all criteria, with lower raw values indicating better performance. Sensitivity analyses evaluate ranking stability across alternative weighting profiles. The analysis uses two Areas of Interest (AOIs). A demonstration AOI at Kaufman Hall, Old Dominion University, shows AOI selection and interface functionality. A fixed analytical AOI of 10,000 square feet and a 3% slope is used for feasibility screening, WSM scoring, sensitivity analysis, and validation. Applying feasibility gates reduces the initial catalog from 83 to 52 BMPs. The remaining BMPs are then ranked under both equal- and alternative-weighting scenarios.