Adaptable Urban Drainage: Addressing Change in Intensity, Occurrence and Uncertainty of Stormwater (AUDACIOUS)

Abstract

There is now considerable interest in flooding, climate change and how best to manage these, not only in the UK but worldwide. A number of initiatives are underway in the UK under the general perspective of adapting to future changes and the seemingly increasing occurrences of flooding that prompted and have followed the Foresight Future Flooding project (Evans et al, 2004). This has led to the ‘Making Space for Water’ (Defra, 2006) initiative that is now encouraging the development of a new approach to ‘integrated urban drainage’ (IUD) in England and Wales. Prior to this in 2003, a portfolio of projects was initiated under the Building Knowledge for a Changing Climate (BKCC) programme, funded primarily by EPSRC and UKCIP. There are now 9 BKCC projects (BKCC, 2006) of which there are 3 that are generic and one specifically relevant to flood risk management. The generic projects address: climate change and rainfall prediction (BETWIXT); economic and social information for future scenarios (BESEECH) and new impact and uncertainty methods addressing climate change risk assessment (CRANIUM). AUDACIOUS deals with changing flood risk due to rainfall and accounting for climate change in relation to existing drainage systems in small urban areas. A further project, ASSCUE is also of relevance as it deals with ‘Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in the Urban Environment’, i.e. urban land use, form and layout. Since AUDACIOUS began in 2003, the Flood Risk Management Research Consortium (FRMRC) has also been established with funding from EPSRC, the EA, water industry and others to take a broader perspective on flood risk management encompassing the whole system (FRMRC, 2006). FRMRC is not concerned, however, with buildings and flood resilience.