A Novel Dual Comprehensive Study of the Economic and Environmental Effectiveness of Urban Stormwater Management Strategies: A Case Study of Xi’an, China

Global warming is modifying precipitation patterns, and hence increasing the hazards of severe and extended rainstorms. Addressing the gap in integrating economic and environmental assessments into urban stormwater management—a key challenge in urban water resource analysis—this study utilizes the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and SUSTAIN model to identify and evaluate low-impact development (LID) stormwater management strategies, assessing their impacts on runoff volume, peak flow reduction, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and suspended solids (SS) across four planning scenarios under five rainfall recurrence intervals, culminating in a cost–benefit analysis to ascertain the optimal scenario. The reduction rates for COD and SS varied from 41.85% to 87.11% across different scenarios, with Scenario Three (RM03) demonstrating the highest efficacy in pollutant management. (The four labels RM01–RM04 are used throughout the text to represent the four scenarios) Implementing the best plan may result in a reduction of yearly carbon emissions of 189.70 metric tons, with emissions from the operational load of the drainage network and COD pollution treatment potentially decreasing by 2.44% and 2.06%, respectively, indicating an overall annual reduction of 85.46%. This approach not only mitigates urban rainwater and flooding issues but also prevents resource wastage, optimizes resource utilization and benefits, offers a scientific foundation for urban construction and planning, and serves as a reference for sponge city development in other regions.