Abstract
In developing countries, the urbanisation process occurs with empirical urban management, a high increase of impermeable areas, and a lack of connection between water resource management and planning. In Brazil, concentrated rainfall and ineffective urban drainage systems add to this context and may impact the population with flash floods. Although sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are widely used for flood mitigation, it is still not very well known how those strategies behave in semi-arid regions, where most of the time the weather is very dry. In Brazil, flood mitigation still mostly involves structural measures such as larger pipes or channels, with limited guidance for SuDS use due to the great resistance to change by citizens and managers. This study sought to analyse the efficacy of SuDS in Campina Grande, a semi-arid region of Brazil. A land-use and legislation-based methodology was developed with physical, climate, hydrological and governance data for three catchments and 312 sub-catchments in 30 applications and simulations. Simulations suggest that these strategies would be appropriate for semi-arid regions, with reductions in the flooded area, flooding volume, and impacts. This study is of relevance for cities with a similar climate to reach a sustainable level of urban drainage services, supporting the integration of urban planning and water resources management.
Highlights
More than half of the world’s population live in urban areas [1]
The research presented in this paper aims to contribute to addressing those gaps by evaluating the efficiency of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) on mixed land-use catchments in the semi-arid region of Brazil, with the analysis of runoff reduction of severe flood-prone areas and the capacity of restoring the pre-development state, even with the climate constraint
The city of Campina Grande is a sample of middle size Brazilian cities with gaps between urban planning and water drainage planning
Summary
More than half of the world’s population live in urban areas [1]. Fast urban growth creates more impervious surfaces, high densification of neighbourhoods, and an inevitable reduction in the percentage of green areas. Due to rapid changes in urbanisation patterns and major environmental concerns, there is increasing pressure on governments to provide improved and expanded urban water services in both developing and developed countries to face urbanisation challenges in environmental and socio-economic processes in a sustainable way [2]. Nowadays, flood risk management solutions promote the inclusion of sustainable concepts with different objectives, including the reduction of runoff volumes and flow rate [7,8], and the achievement of long-term urban sustainability
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
