Abstract
Sustainable drainage systems or ‘Suds’ are increasingly accepted as an effective means of ‘making space for water’, adapting to possible climate change and helping communities become more flood and drought resilient. This study explores potential shifts in perception and attitude through Suds installation, development and habituation. Attitudes and awareness in communities in the USA and UK, where Suds have been in place for some time, were compared and contrasted, examining any evolution of beliefs and practices and wider community resilience. The principal finding was that there existed a lack of understanding about the existence and function of Suds. The paper concludes that consultation regarding solutions during Suds planning and installation, and ongoing dialogue afterwards, could usefully be explored as a means to improve local awareness of and satisfaction with Suds and promote greater understanding of their function. This may in turn encourage behaviour change to improve longer-term functionality of Suds and increase community resilience to flooding and drought.
Highlights
Policies in the USA and the UK favour more ‘sustainable’ approaches to flood risk management (EPA, 2007, 2013; Defra, 2005; Pitt, 2008; Scottish Government, 2003; Werritty et al, 2007)
The opinions of professional bodies and authorities will be central to whether and how Sustainable drainage systems (Suds) are implemented, but the research in this paper focuses on the much less studied matter of interactions between Suds and local communities
This study focused on one site in the USA and one in the UK where Suds have been part of the landscape for the past 8–10 years
Summary
Policies in the USA and the UK favour more ‘sustainable’ approaches to flood risk management (EPA, 2007, 2013; Defra, 2005; Pitt, 2008; Scottish Government, 2003; Werritty et al, 2007). Sustainable drainage systems (Suds), known as ‘best management practices’ (BMPs) and ‘low-impact development’ (Lid) in the USA, are surface water drainage systems designed to function in a manner akin to natural drainage. Positive impacts include delivering a sequence of sustainable water management practices, such as reducing surface water runoff, improving water quality and enhancing amenity and biodiversity functions. Suds have been described as ‘a catch-all term for a number of different systems’ (Jones and MacDonald, 2007) for slowing, filtering or retaining runoff, and putting excess water to use near where it lands rather than dispersing it quickly. Suds can be anything from water butts (rain barrels) and permeable paving, to green roofs, wetlands, ponds, filter and infiltration trenches, swales and rain gardens. Since over 80% of the populations in the USA and the UK live in already developed urban areas (World Bank, 2014), the focus for this research is upon retrofit Suds in the urban environment
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