The Institutional Challenges and Opportunities for Adopting Landscape-Based Storm Water Management Options in Informal Settlements - Dar Es Salaam City

Tatu Mtwangi-Limbumba,Lisa B Herslund,Wilbard J Kombe

doi:10.5539/jsd.v12n2p46

Abstract

Increased flooding caused by climate change impacts is a challenge for many cities both in developing and developed countries. The existing storm water drainage systems in place have to be physically constructed and expanded to meet the water run-off challenge. This is an expensive run-off management undertaking for resource poor countries such as Tanzania. Landscape based storm water management (LSM) is put forward as a sustainable option to manage storm water run-off and it also addresses water scarcity problems in under-served urban settlement. However its implementation in cities that are faced with informal residential development is challenging because among other things, LSM requires land for implementation as well as the collaboration of different institutions, disciplines and actors. Drawing from data and information obtained from the Water Resilient Green Cities Africa (WGA) Project in two cities of Africa, this paper explores the planning and institutional challenges for LSM in Dar es Salaam, a rapidly urbanising city. The paper also presents opportunities inherent in the process some of which suggest that local institutions offer a critical platform to collaboratively plan and implement LSM in rapidly urbanising cities.

Highlights

The change in rainfall intensity due to climate change impacts has placed pressure on already overburdened storm water management (SWM) systems in many developing countries
Unplanned or informal settlements are often deprived of basic services; among other things, they lack proper drainage systems which impair the ability to cope with heavy rainfall and consequential flash floods (Parkinson, 2003)
New plans and development such as those in Dar es Salaam still subscribe to conventional drainage systems (URT, 2012).But their continued construction and the increasing inability of these structural systems to manage flooding puts into question their long-term sustainability calling for alternative sustainable solutions for the management of storm water

Summary

Introduction

The change in rainfall intensity due to climate change impacts has placed pressure on already overburdened storm water management (SWM) systems in many developing countries. New plans and development such as those in Dar es Salaam still subscribe to conventional drainage systems (URT, 2012).But their continued construction and the increasing inability of these structural systems to manage flooding puts into question their long-term sustainability calling for alternative sustainable solutions for the management of storm water. Such solutions include, Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and Landscape Based Storm Water Management (Hoyer et al, 2011)

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