An innovative method for selecting efficient Best Management Practices

The current state of the stormwater management in the province of Quebec in Canada indicates that the issue of uncontrolled rainwater rejection into water receivers is gaining interest from water infrastructure managers. Structural Best Management practices (BMPs) have drawn significant attention given their importance in improving water quality, in effectively addressing water quantity-related issues, and in establishing norms for regulatory compliance. The aim of this paper is to allow current BMPs selection – which at present , due to the lack of appropriate documentation, largely rely on subjective considerations – to be processed through an efficient and innovative methodology as to guarantee the selection of optimal BMPs for a given city area. Such a methodology would enable technical professionals to provide proven and valuable guidance to decision-makers and citizens for the adoption of more sustainable stormwater managing avenues. The proposed method – based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) – was applied to a case study in Quebec, and its promising results are here presented.