Environment Seminar Series: The potential of nature-based solutions for controlling flooding in urbanized areas with Dr. Hamed Ibrahim
When and Where
Speakers
Description
The School of the Environment invites you to virtually attend this seminar led by Dr. Hamed Ibrahim, as part of our 2025-26 Environment Seminar Series.
Register here to attend online.
About the Seminar
It is difficult to overcome the problem of not knowing the impact of anthropogenic interruptions (e.g., land-cover changes) on the natural environment during urbanization. This impact develops and compounds over time as the interruptions interact with the operating hydrologic phenomena. Calculations of possible shifts in the local hydrologic regime are therefore essential for proper urbanization. In this talk I will describe the results of numerical experiments to assess the potential of nature-based solutions, in the form of land-cover vegetation changes, for mitigating flooding in the Upper Illinois River Basin where more than 70% of the people in Illinois reside in urbanized regions, including the city of Chicago. These regions have a persistent and recurring flooding problem, accounting for 85% of total flood insurance payouts between 2007 and 2014. In the experiment in which this basin is surrounded by trees during a rainstorm event, the belt of trees impeded the rainstorm movement, resulting in a substantial decrease in rainfall amount inside the basin during the rainstorm. Because this type of rainstorm accounts for more than 80% of rainstorms in the region, the vegetation belt of trees approach can be combined with other measures for long-term mitigation of flooding in this basin. This study illustrates an approach that can be used to explore the potential of other natural analogies (e.g., swamps, urban forests, meadows) for mitigating flooding in urbanized basins with extensive impervious surfaces.
About the Speaker
Dr. Hamed Ibrahim
Dr. Ibrahim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering and the School of Environment at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on understanding processes of the hydrological cycle for engineering and operational purpose. His team is currently working on characterizing the occurrence of natural water-resources for infrastructure systems design and adaptation in a changing climate.