Sustainable Urban Water Management Research Articles

Sustainable urban water management and integrated development in informal settlements: The contested politics of co-production in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Abstract Given the implications of global climate change, including higher likelihood of extreme weather events, and the increasing urban density coupled with reduction in permeable surfaces in the Global South, Sustainable Urban Water Management (SUWM) has emerged as a preferred paradigm for stormwater management. However, the implementation of SUWM, which is premised on using vegetation or engineered capture technologies to control runoff at its source in an effort to replicate natural hydrology, is limited by a lack of institutional integration, not merely between administrative organs with responsibility for stormwater management but also between infrastructure departments, planning institutions, communities, and civil society organizations. This is particularly true in informal settlements in the humid tropics, where excessive impermeable surfaces and a lack of adequate solid waste collection exacerbate municipal limitations in stormwater management. This article discusses an effort to integrate local communities, civil society organizations, and local and regional authorities to improve drainage services within the framework of integrated development in the informal settlement of Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo Norte, Dominican Republic. In order to address the drainage and flooding issues in Los Platanitos while also fostering economic development, representatives of community groups, NGOs, local government, and state agencies have developed a participatory planning structure known as a mesa de concertacion, or “cooperating table.” The mesa, which was established in 2014, has succeeded in bringing neighborhood, civil society, and government actors to the same “table” as a mechanism for addressing the community’s drainage challenges within the broader context of integrated community development.

Modeling options for rainwater harvesting developments in a public institution as part of sustainable urban water management solutions

The water cycle of cities is very different from that of natural areas, and it is characterized by rtificial energy flow processes and materials. Due to the high concentration of population, weather extremes in urban areas can cause greater personal and economic damage than in rural areas. Besides extreme amounts of precipitation, which is only one type of extreme weather events, it is important to be prepared for drought and dry periods (which are typical in Szeged and the southern region of the Great Hungarian Plain). During these periods, urban vegetation requires additional irrigation due to the urban artificial environment and the special species composition. This irrigation water basically means potable water resources. It is not a sustainable way to protect potable water resources, therefore any solution that can alleviate this situation is a major improvement. In our study, we modeled a rainwater harvesting system which is established in an elementary school in Szeged. We paid special attention to the quantitative and time distribution properties of the potential precipitation available for the rainwater harvesting system.

Exploring the concept of sustainable urban water management: Key influencing factors and principles of SUWM in Bandung metropolitan area

Urban water conditions are under pressure due to rapid urbanization, population growth, climate change and economic development. The current urban water management approach is not enough to cope with these changes and pressures. Many literatures have been mentioned the need to shift from the conventional approach into more sustainable way which integrate environmental, social and economic objectives. This article discusses the current conditions of urban water management in Bandung Metropolitan Area (BMA) emphasizing on key influencing factors at policy, organizational and operational level. It also examines the key principles of Sustainable Urban Water Management (SUWM) based on the literature reviews. Data and information gathered from primary sources through questionnaire and in-depth interviews and secondary sources from literature reviews. The outputs are key influential factors of current urban water management and the key principles of SUWM in BMA that can be adopted as guiding framework for future urban water management.

Should water supply for megacities depend on outside resources? A Monte-Carlo system dynamics simulation for Shiraz, Iran

In recent years, the need for sustainable urban water management is more crucial than before due to rapid urbanization and limited water resources. However, as a main question, should the city look to outside water resources or the resources inside the city? The present study developed a system dynamics model to evaluate different water supply scenarios for the Shiraz City, Iran at the horizon 2025. Based on the results, by construction of Tange-Sorkh dam and transfer line from Droudzan dam (as outside resources), the water shortage will be decreased just by 2%. In the case of inside resources, using treated wastewater for the landscape by rates of 30, 60 and 100%, the water shortage will be reduced by 6, 12 and 20%, respectively. Moreover, the results showed that an increase in the irrigation efficiency by 10 and 20%, the shortage will be decreased by 14 and 25%, respectively. Therefore, to eliminate the water shortage it is necessary to concentrate more on inside the city resources, in the next decade. Furthermore using the Monte Carlo approach in the system dynamics simulation presented that the shortage is more sensitive to the irrigation efficiency than the treated wastewater rate and the dam capacity.

Results and findings from 15 years of sustainable urban storm water management

Results and findings from 15 years of sustainable urban storm water management

Transitioning to Sponge Cities: Challenges and Opportunities to Address Urban Water Problems in China

At present, the Sponge City Concept (SCC) is gaining ground, Sponge Cities technologies are becoming more and more accepted by Chinese city governments, and the first best practices are being shared. However, there are still many challenges ahead which hamper effective implementation and upscaling. This paper presents an overview of some opportunities and constraints for the take up of this approach and has drawn upon international experiences. In China at the national level, the State Council has set a progressive target for the SCC initiative to be achieved in 2030. This target seems to be ambitious as the time needed for integrative planning and design and implementation is much longer than traditional sectoral approaches often omitting to address social well-being, the (local) economy, and ecosystem health. This particularly holds true for the existing building stock. Transforming the existing building stock requires a long-term planning horizon, with urban restoration, regeneration, and modernization being key drivers for adapting the city to become a sponge city. A key challenge will be to align the sponge city initiative (SCI) projects with infrastructure and urban renovation portfolios. Moreover, substantial investment needs and a lack of reliable financing schemes and experience also provide a huge challenge for China. This calls for an integrative opportunistic strategy that creates enabling conditions for linking the SCI investment agenda with those from other sectors. These transformations cannot be made overnight: completing the transformation process will typically take a life time of one generation. The progress in sustainable urban water management is also impacted by innovations in technologies as well as in management strategies. These technological innovations create fertile ground for businesses to adapt state-of-the-art developments from around the world and contextualize them into fit-for-purpose products. China is well-placed to play a leading role in this process in the coming decade.

Conditions Influencing Municipal Strategy-Making for Sustainable Urban Water Management: Assessment of Three Swedish Municipalities

Strategy-making is key for realizing sustainable urban water management. Though general barriers and factors for change have been identified, fewer studies have assessed how different conditions influence municipalities’ strategy-making ability and, thus, how to plan strategically given these conditions. Healey’s strategy-making notion was applied to delimit a study of how size, finances, development path, and water organization influence Swedish municipalities’ strategy-making ability for urban water. Three municipalities, Laxå, Norrköping, and Skellefteå, with different, yet overlapping, institutional and socio-economic conditions were analyzed using semi-structured interviews, a stakeholder workshop, and document analyses. The study finds that even though key events have filtered urban water issues into the political agenda, this has not induced systemic change, except where the role of water management in urban development has been specified, i.e., has aligned dispersed planning processes. Organizational setup influences the strategy-making ability by prescribing not only when water issues are raised, but also what system perspective should be applied and what actors that should be enrolled. Judging from the three cases, size, finances, and development path do matter for strategy-making ability, but they appear to be less important than the organizational setup. Departures for improving strategy-making under different conditions are discussed.

Quantification Assessment of Extraneous Water Infiltration and Inflow by Analysis of the Thermal Behavior of the Sewer Network

Infiltration and inflow (I/I) of unwanted water in separate urban sewer networks are critical issues for sustainable urban water management. Accurate quantification of unwanted water I/I from individual sources into a sewer system is an essential task for assessing the status of the sewer network and conducting rehabilitation measures. The study aim was to quantify extraneous water I/I into a sanitary sewer network by a temperature-based method, i.e., fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS), which was applied for the first time in a separate sewer network of a catchment in Trondheim, Norway. The DTS technology is a relatively new technology for sewer monitoring, developed over the past decade. It is based on continual temperature measurement along a fiber-optic cable installed in the sewer network. The feasibility of this method has been tested in both experimental discharges and for the rainfall-derived I/I. The results achieved from the monitoring campaign established the promising applicability of the DTS technique in the quantification analysis. Furthermore, the application of this method in quantifying real-life, rainfall-derived I/I into the sewer system was demonstrated and verified during wet weather conditions.

Jumping to the top: catalysts for leapfrogging to a water sensitive city

Climate change, population growth and rapid urbanisation have severe implications for cities and the way in which they interact with water. As a response to these challenges the water sensitive cities concept emerged, which supports cities to become more resilient to these challenges while making them more prosperous, sustainable and liveable. A water sensitive city harnesses the whole water cycle through integrated water management solutions, designs beautiful blue and green urban spaces and comprises healthy communities who are strongly connected with each other and with their local environment. Indonesian cities have an opportunity to ‘leapfrog’ towards a water sensitive city and to bypass the negative consequences that have resulted from urbanisation and growth that developed countries have gone through. Contributing to this growing field of research, this paper synthesizes key insights from the transformative change, sustainable urban water management and leapfrogging literature. The paper defines what leapfrogging to a water sensitive city means and describes three catalysts that facilitate this transition: trans-disciplinary science, cross sectoral collaboration and innovation experiments. The paper also introduces a joint Australian-Indonesian research program that develops water sensitive city leapfrogging strategies by translating these catalysts into practice.

Aligning ancient and modern approaches to sustainable urban water management in China: Ningbo as a “Blue‐Green City” in the “Sponge City” campaign

Modern urban flood and water management emphasises holistic strategies that reduce flood risk while providing cobenefits to urban economies, societies, and environments. The “Blue‐Green City” concept provides a viable framework for putting this into practice. Ningbo, is a coastal city with high flood risk, whose history as a Chinese “water town” demonstrates that approaches to water management implicit to the “Blue‐Green” concept were practiced in ancient times, and lessons can be learned from these applications. Furthermore, recent launch of the “Sponge City” campaign by China's National Government demonstrates the political will to implement sustainable flood and water management in ways consistent with the “Blue‐Green” ideals. Selection of Ningbo for a pilot project presents the opportunity to integrate new “Sponge city” approaches with ancient “Blue‐Green” principles, within the contexts of both new urban development and retrofit. Reinventing traditional approaches to urban water management and governance offers the possibility of maintaining flood risk at acceptable levels without constraining urban growth in China and other countries experiencing rapid urban development.

Effects of Land Cover Change on Urban Floods and Rainwater Harvesting: A Case Study in Sharjah, UAE

In this study, multi-temporal satellite images combined with rainfall data and field observations were used to assess the spatial and temporal changes in urban flooding and urban water harvesting potential in the coastal city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the period from 1976 to 2016. During the study period, the population increased by approximately 14-fold with about a 4-fold increase in built areas. Being in a hot, dry region with average rainfall of about 100 mm/year, the city did not invest in a comprehensive drainage infrastructure. As a result, the frequency, extent and risk associated with urban floods increased significantly. The expansion of built areas progressively increased the impervious land cover in the city, decreasing the minimum precipitation required to generate runoff by approximately 32% and significantly increasing the runoff coefficient. In parallel to rapid urbanization, the urban rainwater harvesting potential significantly increased over 1976–2016. Urban flood maps were generated using three thematic factors: excess rain, land elevation and land slope. The flood maps were confirmed by locating urban flood locations in the field using GPS. This study demonstrates the impact of urbanization through assessing the relationship between urbanization, runoff, local floods and rainwater harvesting potential in Sharjah and provides a basis for developing sustainable urban storm water management practices for the city and similar cities.

Sustainable Urban Water Management under a Changing Climate: The Role of Spatial Planning

The provision of a sustainable supply of water is an increasingly difficult task to achieve in many urban environments. This arises because of pressures related to population growth and increased per capita demand for water. Additionally, climate change is impacting the natural cycle of water in many locations, with a significant impact projected for the future. Many scholars advocate ‘sustainable urban water management’ (SUWM) as an approach that can address the root causes of these challenges. Yet the implementation of SUWM and adaptation to climate change in the urban water sector remains limited. This paper argues that spatial planning provides tools and processes that can facilitate the full implementation of SUWM goals, and adaptation to climate change. The potential of spatial planning to achieve SUWM, including sustainable urban water supply management through both supply and demand end initiatives, in light of climate change, is discussed. A framework is developed to consider a broad range of spatial planning interventions that can facilitate adaptation to climate change and SUWM concurrently. The paper provides information and tools to assist water planners achieve SUWM and a well-adapted water sector and urban environment, in an integrated, holistic and comprehensive manner, to meet future water supply needs. Achieving these goals will need collaborative activities across multiple built environment disciplines. Future research activities to advance these goals are outlined.

Communicating about sustainable urban water management: community and professional perspectives on water-related terminology

ABSTRACTAs approaches to water management begin to encompass broader social and environmental goals, new technical terms have entered the field of water management. Effective communication across professional disciplines, and with community stakeholders, is essential for sustainable urban water management. However, use of technical terminology has the potential to undermine effectiveness of communication. We surveyed professionals and community members to examine these issues. Findings indicate that water-related technical terms may not be well understood by the community. Professionals most likely to overestimate community understanding were influenced by their own understanding rather than experience with communities. For communities, individuals with poor topic knowledge or low education were less likely to seek information about terms, highlighting the importance of reducing reliance on technical terms when collaborating with diverse stakeholders.

Images That Engage People With Sustainable Urban Water Management

This study explored responses to categories of images relevant to an environmental management issue—stormwater management—across three dimensions that influence engagement: emotional response, personal relevance, and topic congruence. Although images of oceans elicited positive emotions, most participants did not perceive such images as relevant to the topic. Images of traditional stormwater infrastructure evoked negative emotions and were perceived as topic congruent but not personally relevant. Images of flooding were ranked highly across all three dimensions. These findings have implications for the development of communication materials that appeal to the broader public.

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) in Sustainable Urban Water Management

To meet increasing urban water requirements in a sustainable way, there is a need to diversify future sources of supply and storage. However, to date, there has been a lag in the uptake of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) for diversifying water sources in urban areas. This study draws on examples of the use of MAR as an approach to support sustainable urban water management. Recharged water may be sourced from a variety of sources and in urban centers, MAR provides a means to recycle underutilized urban storm water and treated wastewater to maximize their water resource potential and to minimize any detrimental effects associated with their disposal. The number, diversity and scale of urban MAR projects is growing internationally due to water shortages, fewer available dam sites, high evaporative losses from surface storages, and lower costs compared with alternatives where the conditions are favorable, including water treatment. Water quality improvements during aquifer storage are increasingly being documented at demonstration sites and more recently, full-scale operational urban schemes. This growing body of knowledge allows more confidence in understanding the potential role of aquifers in water treatment for regulators. In urban areas, confined aquifers provide better protection for waters recharged via wells to supplement potable water supplies. However, unconfined aquifers may generally be used for nonpotable purposes to substitute for municipal water supplies and, in some cases, provide adequate protection for recovery as potable water. The barriers to MAR adoption as part of sustainable urban water management include lack of awareness of recent developments and a lack of transparency in costs, but most importantly the often fragmented nature of urban water resources and environmental management.

Comparison of water-use characteristics of landscape tree (Tabebuia argentea) and palm (Ptychosperma macarthurii) species in a tropical roof garden with implications for urban water management

In cities, landscape palms and trees are planted for scenic views and normally maintained with frequent irrigation. With similar water input, their morphological difference may lead to different water-use that varies seasonally. Thus, evaluating their water-use patterns is necessary to achieve proper urban water management. Here, we examined water-use characteristics of Tabebuia argentea and Ptychosperma macarthurii, a tree and a palm species, in a roof garden in Bangkok, Thailand. Self-constructed Granier’s probes were used for sap flux measurement and monitored for five months in 2016. Results showed that palm transpired 3–4 times higher water than tree daily. With frequent watering, tree was more sensitive to increasing vapor pressure deficit (D) than palm on rain-free days. When rainfall occurred, however, both species became less sensitive to D and continued consuming more water at high D. Extending the analysis to include a hypothetical warming climate with +4.8 °C temperature, we found that tree saved more water than palm on rain-free days. However, daily transpiration of both species increased similarly by 14–18% on rainy days. These results imply that Tabebuia argentea may provide ecosystem benefits by conservatively using water under drought and decelerating runoff from the garden when storms come. In contrast, Ptychosperma macarthurii may provide ecosystem disservice with high water-use in dry season but may slow down runoff in wet season and therefore benefiting downstream ecosystems. These findings are useful for selective planting associated with future changes in precipitation patterns, leading to sustainable urban water management.

Green infrastructure for sustainable urban water management: Practices of five forerunner cities

In the search for both immediate solutions and long-term transitions towards sustainability, green infrastructures (GI) are increasingly linked to urban water management. In this study, the GI-based urban water management practices of five cities famous for their progressive approach to water management were investigated. Based on reviews of open-source city plans and strategies, supplemented with information obtained directly from city managers, the purpose was to share best practices for the transition to sustainable urban water management and to gain insight into the role, if any, of GI in urban water management. An analytical frame based on transition theory was adopted. All five cities represented states of transition at the near end of a sustainable urban water management scale. Despite some overlap in challenges concerning water supply, environmental protection, and flood risk management, the development target of each city was unique, as were their solutions. GI has been applied as a way to reduce water footprints in Singapore and Berlin, to protect the environment in Philadelphia, and to help save potable water for consumption in Melbourne and Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city. Despite differences in scale, GI was, in all cases, applied as a supplement to the conventional water infrastructure. All five cities reveal a strong top-down approach towards sustainable urban water management and a strong mindset on GI's role for future development. However, all five cities point to similar challenges for GI implementation, including space and cost constrains as well as barriers for inter-sectorial and stakeholder collaboration, which limit the speed of city-wide upscaling of GI solutions and full realization of GI benefits. The study indicates a need for a simultaneous change in the cognitive, normative, and regulative conditions of the urban water management regime for sustainability transition. Such a change requires a better balance between top-down and bottom-up planning to overcome barriers and foster innovation. The five cities jointly contribute to a noteworthy list of green solutions, city-wide strategies and guidelines, pilot project programs, regulations, and incentive programs, which may serve as inspiration for other cities' transition plans.

Sustainable Urban Water Management: Application for Integrated Assessment in Southeast Asia

The design, development, and operation of current and future urban water infrastructure in many parts of the world increasingly rely on and apply the principles of sustainable development. However, this approach suffers from a lack of the necessary knowledge, skills, and practice of how sustainable development can be attained and promoted in a given city. This paper presents the framework of an integrated systems approach analysis that deals with the abovementioned issues. The “Water and Urban Initiative” project, which was implemented by the United Nations University’s Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, focused on urban water and wastewater systems, floods, and their related health risk assessment, and the economics of water quality improvements. A team of researchers has investigated issues confronting cities in the developing countries of Southeast Asia, in relation to sustainable urban water management in the face of such ongoing changes as rapid population growth, economic development, and climate change; they have also run future scenarios and proposed policy recommendations for decision-makers in selected countries in Southeast Asia. The results, lessons, and practical recommendations of this project could contribute to the ongoing policy debates and decision-making processes in these countries.

Current water uses, related risks, and management options for Seoul megacity, Korea

Megacities worldwide face various challenging tasks associated with expanding populations and land exploitations; these include securing water supplies, appropriate operating of wastewater treatment/disposal, and the mitigation of natural hazards triggered by anthropogenic activities. Seoul megacity, Korea, where over ten million people populate, is not an exception to the issues. In this study, we examine water resources, their uses, and issues associated with them, specifically climate change, urban flooding, underground water seepage, and land subsidence in Seoul. The changing climate of this city manifests itself in a sharp escalation in air temperature. Increased torrential rainfall causes repeated human casualties from urban floodings, which are exacerbated by expanding impervious surface. The increasingly large interannual variability in precipitation makes it more difficult to take proper actions to secure water supplies. Despite a large annual budget being devoted to producing tap water from the Han River, only about 5% of the population drinks the tap water. Underground transport routes (subway lines) and high storied buildings with deep foundations produce high volumes of underground water seepage, and most of the valuable water resources are dumped without being reused. Underground water seepage also triggers a decline in groundwater levels and elevates the possibility of land subsidence. Recent increases in land subsidence and road sinks in the city are mostly related to old sewer lines and heavy underground work. In this study, we discuss options toward supporting sustainable urban water management in Seoul.

Rethinking urban water management in Addis Ababa in the face of climate change: An urgent need to transform from traditional to sustainable system

AbstractUrban water management in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is of significant concern to the city government owing to the growing demand for water, poor urban water management practices, insufficient and ineffective infrastructures, and climate change. The objective of this study is to review current water resources and management practices, consider the sustainability of the urban water cycle in relation to climate change, and devise a feasible strategy for a sustainable urban water management system. The results of this study show that the situation as it is now is not sustainable at current levels of demand and supply, either in terms of the systems’ management practices, or in terms of the challenges posed by climate change. An Integrated Urban Water Management strategy that covers the entire urban water cycle, including diversification of water sources, protection and conservation of water, sustainable exploitation, distribution, and consumption and wastewater management, water recycling, nutrient reuse, and safe wastewater disposal, should be implemented as soon as practicable.