Drainage Basin
A drainage basin is both:
(a) an area of land where all surface water from rain, melting snow, or ice converges to a single point at a lower elevation;
(b) an artificial basin designed to hold stormwater runoff for a limited period of a time.
An artificial drainage basin (definition (b) above) is usually constructed when the cost of installing underground stormwater drainage with enough capacity to handle peak flows is prohibitive and no overland flow path is available.
Depending on the situation, the collected stormwater is either:
- drained after the storm event through a lower capacity gravity pipeline;
- pumped via a pressure pipeline to a higher point in the Drainage Network;
- left to evaporate away;
- injected into the underlying aquifer
Types of Drainage Basins
Related Pages
Contributors
The following site members have contributed to this page: