Urban Flood Resilience in an Uncertain Future
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Exeter
Department Name: Engineering
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| David Butler (Principal Investigator) | |
| Zoran Kapelan (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Ahilan S
(2019)
Modelling the long-term suspended sedimentological effects on stormwater pond performance in an urban catchment
in Journal of Hydrology
Ahilan S
(2016)
The influence of floodplain restoration on flow and sediment dynamics in an urban river
in Journal of Flood Risk Management
Ahilan S
(2019)
Building urban flood resilience with rainwater management
Butler D
(2018)
From Rainwater Harvesting to Rainwater Management Systems
Campisano A
(2017)
Urban rainwater harvesting systems: Research, implementation and future perspectives.
in Water research
Fenner R
(2019)
Achieving Urban Flood Resilience in an Uncertain Future
in Water
Guan M
(2018)
Numerical modelling of hydro-morphological processes dominated by fine suspended sediment in a stormwater pond
in Journal of Hydrology
Guan M
(2016)
Physical complexity to model morphological changes at a natural channel bend
in Water Resources Research
| Description | The overarching aim of the parent project (EP/P004180/1) is to enable the coordinated planning, design and operation of closely coupled urban water systems necessary to achieve transformative change in urban flood risk and water management in UK cities. This sub-project (EP/P004318/1) particularly specifically focuses on two research themes such as: resilience under change and managing stormwater as a resource. In the first part, a baseline urban metabolism model to represent the urban water system in the Ebbsfleet Garden City is developed. The metabolism-based modelling approach overcomes issues commonly encountered by independent modelling of the components of the urban water system (water supply, wastewater and surface water collection) by providing an integrated approach that considers the interconnection and inter-dependencies between water flows and other fluxes in urban systems including wastewater, energy and material resources. This integrated modelling approach enables the urban water system to be modelled over long-term planning horizons for both businesses as usual and future intervention strategies. The potential impact of several sustainable water management strategies such as rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, adaptation of water-efficient appliances, reuse of pumped water from the quarry side, stormwater harvesting, backwater recycling etc. on Ebbsfleet water management is explored in detail. In this study, we closely work with Ebbsfleet Development Co-Operation to develop a sustainable integrated urban water management framework. The outcome of the study also feeds into formulating a 'water resources management plan' for Thames and Southern Water. Ebbsfleet Garden City is the first of its kind in the 21st century. The UK government pledged (25th March 2019) £3.7 million to fund five new Garden Towns to deliver 64,000 homes.as part of a housing revolution. The lessons and recommendations from this evaluation may be transferable to other garden towns and cities across the UK, to encourage their own sustainable integrated urban water management strategies. The second theme of the project focuses on the emerging transition from single-function rainwater harvesting systems to multi-functional rainwater management systems. We have shown the potential for re-designing standard rainwater harvesting systems to become rainwater management systems. In particular, this then extends the benefit of such systems beyond saving water to also managing to flood. We have applied this to the Pandon Dene Catchment in Newcastle upon Tyne study to demonstrate the enhanced benefits of catchment scale rainwater management systems. We have also demonstrated the enhanced benefit-cost potential of dual-purpose rainwater management systems over single-purpose rainwater harvesting systems. |
| Exploitation Route | On the first objectives, we have worked closely with Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, Thames Water and Southern Water to formulate the sustainable integrated urban water management framework in Ebbsfleet Garden City. We have shared our findings with the stakeholders through the 'Learning and Action Alliance' forum. The key actors are taking this forward through the delivery plan. On the second objectives, we have worked with city councils, SMEs, local authorities and water companies to support trials, give advice and generally promote the many multiple benefits of rainwater management systems. |
| Sectors | Construction,Environment |
| URL | http://www.urbanfloodresilience.ac.uk/index.aspx |
| Description | We have contributed to the application of rainwater management systems in the Pandon Dene Catchment in our Newcastle Case Study and are engaging with Ebbsfleet Development Co-Operation, Thames Water and Southern Water in to formulate the sustainable integrated water management delivery plan in our Ebbsfleet Case Study. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Construction,Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | EPSRC IAA: Sustainable integrated urban water management in practice: Ebbsfleet Garden City |
| Amount | £40,189 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 114342R |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2021 |
| End | 12/2021 |
| Title | Rainwater Harvesting System Simulator |
| Description | This tool enables to assess the impact of rainwater harvesting on urban water supply and flood resilience. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This tool incorporates finer resolution rainfall data sets (15 min). |
| Title | Urban Metabolism Model |
| Description | The metabolism model enables to intergrate urban water supply, wastewater and sewer network. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The metabolism model is applied to the Ebbsfleet Garden City, UK. |
| Description | Collaboration with Newcastle University |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Development of flood model to assess impact of rainwater harvesting on urban flood resilience. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provides data sets. |
| Impact | Flood Model - CADDIES 2D |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Collaboration with University of West London |
| Organisation | University of West London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Urban metabolism modelling work |
| Collaborator Contribution | Guidance on model development |
| Impact | Urban Metabolism Model using WaterMet2 software tool |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Rainwater Harvesting - Northwest Cambridge Development |
| Organisation | Artesia Consulting Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Theoretical framework development on the rainwater harvesting system design |
| Collaborator Contribution | Field measurements - Microcomponents of household water usage |
| Impact | Interim report, present at the steering committee meeting |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Rainwater Harvesting - Northwest Cambridge Development |
| Organisation | South Staffs Water |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Theoretical framework development on the rainwater harvesting system design |
| Collaborator Contribution | Field measurements - Microcomponents of household water usage |
| Impact | Interim report, present at the steering committee meeting |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Sustainable integrated urban water management in practice: Ebbsfleet Garden City |
| Organisation | Ebbsfleet Development Corporation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of the collaboration, we have developed a baseline urban water metabolism model which quantifies the metabolism-related performance of an integrated urban water system in Ebbsfleet. The model systematically captures the interdependency and interaction between three of the urban water sub-systems; water supply, wastewater and stormwater. The model is capable of investigating the impact of site-specific sustainable urban water management strategies on water, energy and other environmental impact categories and calculates key performance indicators for the urban water system. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ebbsfleet Development Corporation assists to obtain the relevant datasets for our study. |
| Impact | We have developed a baseline urban metabolism model for Ebbsfleet Garden City. We have prepared three conference papers based on this work. The key journal paper is under preparation. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Urban metabolisam modelling |
| Organisation | University of West London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data collection and conceptual model development |
| Collaborator Contribution | Guidance on the model development |
| Impact | Interim report, Project presentation |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Ebbsfleet Water Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Finalising System Dynamics Modelling which explores sustainable urban water management in Ebbsfleet Garden City. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Engagement with Thames and Southern water on Ebbsfleet water supply and waste water disposal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | We have had series of meeting with Thames Water and Southern Water on Ebbsfleet urban metabolism modeling. This allows a detailed understanding of the urban water supply and stormwater management system in the Ebbsfleet Garden city. The Thames and Southern Water are interested to support this work, as we can explore a number of plausible strategies and inform more appropriate one. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Learning and Action Alliance - Ebbsfleet |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 15 professionals including academics, designers, water professional, council directors attended this workshop. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Newcastle Learning and Action Alliance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Updates on Blue-Green infrastructure progress in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Developing new Blue-Green futures: multifunctional infrastructure to address water challenges in Newcastle Assessing the implementation of SuDS through the planning system in England From rainwater management to urban flood resilience - a paradigm shift Developing metrics, measures and/or quality standards to monitor progress with Blue-Green Infrastructure |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Seventh International Conference on Flood Management (ICFM7) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Ahilan delivers the talk on long-term performance of the Green infrastructure in the urban catchment. The talk is attended by around 100 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.icfm7.org.uk/ |
| Description | Sponge City Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In the blog, Sangaralingam Ahilan reports on the UK-China joint workshop on 'Urban Flooding and Sponge Cities' at the 2017 annual conference of the International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (IIIRR) held on 3-5th July 2017 at Shenzhen, China. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/blue-greencities/2017/07/26/sponge-cities-conference/ |
| Description | System dynamics to investigate sustainable urban water managment in the Ebbsfleet Garden City |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Irene Pluchinotta & Dr Sangaralingam Ahilan virtually delivered the talk on 'system dynamics to investigate urban water management in the Ebbsfleet Garden City' at the UK System Dynamics Conference on 2-3 April 2020 at the University of Strathclyde. Over 50 system dynamics modelling experts attended this event. In this talk, Dr Pluchinotta and Dr Ahilan presented the system dynamics model to explore sustainable urban water management in the Ebbsfleet Garden City in a structured way and to understand where crucial future policy interventions might be best focused. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | The Blue-Green Path to Urban Flood Resilience |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The event showcases the outputs of the Urban Flood Resilience in an Uncertain Future research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Toward Resilient Water-Energy-Food Systems in India |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Ahilan participates a workshop in Exeter on the 28th March, as part of the GCRF funded network on "Water-energy-food nexus resilience in India". As the title implies, the workshop explores how best to assess and manage resilience of the water-energy-food nexus in India (and generally). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Urban Flooding and Sponge Cities Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Ahilan presented on the UK-China joint workshop on 'Urban Flooding and Sponge Cities' at the 2017 annual conference of the International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (IIIRR) held on 3-5th July 2017 at Shenzhen, China. The workshop was coordinated by University of Exeter, UK and Tsinghua University, China and funded by the British Council, Newton Researcher Links programme and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The workshop had contributions from leading UK and Chinese academics, water professionals, and early career researchers. This blog post mainly focuses on the opening day of the conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/brim/brim-workshops/urban-flooding-and-sponge-cities/ |
| Description | Water and Environment Seminars - Centre for Water Systems, University of Exeter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Centre for Water Systems, University of Exeter organises the weekly seminar on water and environmental aspects every Friday. The key individuals from water industries and academics present on various topics including sustainable water to wastewater treatment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/engineering/research/cws/news-events/events/ |
| Description | Watering the Garden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This half-day online conference, hosted by the Urban Flood Resilience Research Consortium, looked at the latest landscape-led approaches to managing water in large scale developments and new communities. Over 100 people including landscape architects, engineers, consultants, academics, etc. attended this event. The conference includes six talks from leading practitioners and academics. The talks were centred around five themes including integrating water management in new communities, master planning with water, integrating water into the street design, water in parks and open spaces and managing water at the building level. The talks were followed by an active group discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Westcountry Rivers Trust and Centre for Water Systems show and tell: future collaborations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Westcountry Rivers Trust & Centre for Water Systems showcase their case studies to explore potential collaborations. The Centre for Water Systems presents Blue-green-grey infrastructure, Twenty 65& Rainwater Harvesting, RESCCUE & SIM4NEXUS and Safe & SuRe & Flood Mangement. The West Country Rivers Trust presents on Monitoring: Upstream Thinking, Westcountry CSI, RiskAquaSoil; Local Action: LAP, CaBA, WaterLIFE; Sponge 2020 and GIS, Mapping & Modelling at WRT. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |