Synthesis analyses on urban stormwater runoff

The overall objective of this project is to identify solutions to enable a transition toward a more sustainable stormwater management system that can handle stormwater pollution and make urban areas more resilient to floods, droughts and heatwaves. The project will identify new governance structures and policy instruments that can lead to both incremental and radical changes to the existing stormwater management system, by exploring possible solutions (legal, institutional, financial, etc.) that have been suggested, tested, or implemented internationally in geopolitical contexts similar to Sweden’s. We will focus on solutions that can help to solve economic, environmental, and social challenges related to urban stormwater management. The results are targeted toward the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA) and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM), as well as the National board of Housing, Planning and Building (Boverket) and municipal actors working with stormwater management within urban planning. The study aims to support them in their work with Sweden’s national environmental objectives and their related targets. The project builds on a team of researchers from Lund University with documented experience in interdisciplinary research related to stormwater management, ecology, and urban planning, as well as in synthesising knowledge using literature reviews. The competence of the group will be used as a basis to identify central challenges for sustainable stormwater management and their potential solutions. The research will be done in close collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure its relevance to society. The innovative results will be important for planning, designing, implementing, and maintaining sustainable stormwater management systems in our growing cities.

Project Manager: Johanna Sörensen, Lund University

Funding: 1 500 000 SEK.

Best practice for the management of urban stormwater has radically changed over the last 30 years. The traditional approach of rapidly draining runoff to the closest water body is no longer fit for purpose as a component of either current or future city living. The use of pipes moves - rather the manages – stormwater quantity and results in the direct discharge of a cocktail of pollutants to receiving waters from sources including traffic, industry and building materials. The use of blue-green infrastructure (BGI; e.g. ponds, wetlands and swales) can detain and infiltrate stormwater at source and offer a range of benefits including water quality enhancement and greater biodiversity. However, transitioning to a more sustainable approach to managing stormwater is not easy. Whilst a considerable body of research has been undertaken, without a standard method for stormwater sampling and analysis, results of studies on the impact of stormwater runoff on receiving waters and the design and treatment provided by BGI under differing climates and contexts are hard to compare. Further, the use of decentralised BGI often involves the installation of management approaches in public spaces, often bringing communities into contact with water management systems for the first time and little is understood about the public perception of BGI. It is within this context, that this project will synthesize pertinent research findings relevant to a Nordic climate to provide an evidence base of the impact of urban stormwater runoff on receiving waters, the use of design and implementation tools, and approaches to raising societal awareness of the benefits of installing multifunctional BGI. This integrated knowledge base will be interrogated to identify opportunities for sustainable stormwater management to contribute to the delivery of national and international policy objectives, with findings presented in a concise accessible format to facilitate their use by stormwater practitioners.

Project Manager: Maria Viklander, Luleå University of Technology

Funding: 1 500 000 SEK.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental research grant supports efforts to achieve Sweden’s environmental objectives.

Senior Research Officer: Neda Farahbakhshazad
+46-10-698 12 50
neda.farahba@naturvardsverket.se

Senior Research Officer: Karin Hansen
+46-10-698 13 28
karin.hansen@naturvardsverket.se