Making the Case for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems as a Nature-Based Solution to Urban Flooding

Bibliographic Data

ID23747276
AuthorsMcKenna Davis (0000-0003-4830-1120, Ecologic Institute, corresponding author), Sandra Naumann (Ecologic Institute)
Year2017
Pages123-137
Publication date2017-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueNature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherSpringer International Publishing (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-56091-5_8
OpenAlexW2750922574
ISBN9783319560915
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited12

European cities continue to experience a steady increase in the intensity and frequency of floods, largely due to high urban densities and resultant soil sealing. In the last decade, flooding as a natural hazard has produced the highest economic losses in Europe and storm water management has become a serious urban challenge. The traditional solution to cope with excess rainwater in western cities has been piped drainage systems. These are mainly single-objective oriented designs that often no longer have the capacity to keep pace with on-going urbanisation and the impacts of climate change, and frequently involve high construction, maintenance, and repair costs. While such approaches have certainly reduced the damages incurred from flooding events during the past two centuries and are arguably still necessary for extreme flood events in the future, alternative approaches that accomplish these aims and offer additional benefits are progressively being pursued. Given these conditions, one increasingly utilised solution for managing flood risk by dealing with water at the source is sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). Other terms which also aim to minimise potential impacts on the neighbouring environment, people and development include inter alia BMP (Best Management Practices); LID (Low Impact Development); WSUD (Water Sensitive Urban Design) (see: Fletcher et al., Urban Water J 12(7):525–542, 2015 for a complete taxonomy). SUDS as a promising nature-based solution are the focus of this chapter, utilizing a range of case studies and evidence from across Europe to underline the arguments presented. Besides reducing the negative effects of urban flooding and interlinked water pollution, the many supplementary benefits and potential cost-effectiveness of SUDS as compared to grey infrastructure solutions are also presented. In addition to highlighting relative advantages, the chapter also outlines current challenges facing a wider uptake of SUDS and presents approaches to help overcome existing social and political barriers. The promise of ongoing research, targeted collaboration and partnerships and an ever-growing evidence base on the effectiveness and associated costs and benefits of SUDS serve as strong tools to improve the confidence and competence associated with their design and implementation. Such data will help to refute existing public and political hesitation as compares to traditional grey infrastructure approaches to water management. However, the significant potential for more widespread uptake remains largely untapped. Further targeted actions are necessary for increasing the acceptance and application of this nature-based solution and realizing its full potential.

Business · Damages · Drainage · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Flood myth · Flooding (psychology) · Geography · Natural hazard · Pace · Political science · Rainwater harvesting · Stormwater · Surface runoff · Urbanization · Water resource management · Environmental Science · Urban Green Space and Health · Urban Heat Island Mitigation · Urban Stormwater Management Solutions

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