Author(s): Jose Anta; Joaquín Suárez; Ignacio Andrés-Doménech; Jorge Rodríguez-Hernández

Linked Author(s): Jose Anta Álvarez, Ignacio Andrés Doménech

Keywords: Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, Green-Blue Infrastructures, Permeable pavements, Green roofs, runoff pollution monitoring

Abstract: Cities are facing major threats related to a changing climate. Issues related to urban stormwater management are rising importance. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) have shown a high potential to manage urban stormwater from a holistic perspective: managing water quantity and quality in decentralised schemes as well as delivering multiple benefits for citizens and urban biodiversity. During the last three years, the coordinated project HOFIDRAIN funded by the Spanish Research Council, analysed different filtering SUDS techniques (porous and permeable pavements and green roofs) at laboratory scale from different points of view, developing new GIS methodologies for diagnosis of urban risks and location of sustainable solutions. The project has been conducted by research teams from Universitat Politécnica de Valencia (UPV), Universidad de Cantabria (UC) and Universidade da Coruña (UDC). In this work a summary of the main findings related with the hydrological, environmental and mechanical characterization of porous and permeable pavements, as well as green roofs substrate-filter membranes, at laboratory scale will presented. This research also investigates the challenges for the near future of SUDS at Spanish level. Long-term monitoring strategies are being implemented nowadays at living-lab scale in the facilities managed by the research groups of UPV, UC and UDC. The developing of tools, procedures, and a regulatory framework to assess SUDS benefits that can be transferred easily by public administrations and practitioners at city scale will be discussed. This framework will ensure that all the necessary processes of urban regeneration for adaptation to climate change threats related to stormwater management will be conducted incorporating sustainability and smart governance criteria. The collaboration proposed between UDC, UPV and UC aims at generating and consolidating the synergies established among these research groups in the framework of redSUDS network (https://redsuds.es) will allow increasing the impact of the work developed at the national level, for instance, by comparing the performance of SUDS under different climates of our country and so, by projecting a united leading research group at European and international levels. The synergy between the different groups aims to consolidate Spain as a reference country in Europe regarding the scientific production on sustainable drainage.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC252171192022SS181

Year: 2022