Evaluation of the Implementation of Sustainable Stormwater Management Practices for Landed Residential Areas: A Case Study in Malaysia

Abstract

In Malaysia, the Stormwater Management Manual for Malaysia (Manual Saliran Mesra Alam or MSMA) was introduced to manage stormwater and solve water-related problems. However, massive development caused the conventional stormwater system to be unable to cater to the excessive runoff and led to flooding, also affecting residential areas. This shows that there is an urgent requirement for a sustainable stormwater management practice (SSMP) in residential areas. This study is conducted to evaluate stormwater practitioners’ opinions on the proposed SSMPs, including green roofs, rain gardens/bioretention systems, and porous pavements, based on Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) factors through surveys and correlation analysis. The questionnaire was distributed to 14 branches of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), 14 branches of the City Council, and 28 selected private engineering companies. In total, 118 respondents were targeted to obtain their perspectives on the SWOT factors for each selected SSMP according to the Likert scale. The survey showed that the respondents agreed with most of the SWOT factors on the selected SSMPs. The results of the distributed questionnaire were used as the data for the correlation analysis. The analysis indicated that green roofs, rain gardens/bioretention systems, and porous pavements have a strong positive relationship, with a p-value of less than 0.05 for the Strength and Opportunity factors, and a weak positive relationship, with a p-value of more than 0.05 for the Weakness and Threat factors. This shows that the proposed SSMPs are suitable to implement in residential areas. Observations were conducted to obtain the residents’ opinions on the performance of stormwater management in their residential areas and to evaluate the suitability of the proposed SSMPs to be implemented in the observed areas. Based on the observations, it can be concluded that only rain gardens/bioretention systems and porous pavements are suitable when compared to green roofs. An interview session was conducted with practitioners in stormwater management to gain their opinions on the studies and the proposed SSMPs. The interviewees agreed with the issues and that the SSMPs should be implemented in landed residential areas.