In deep water - urban flooding in the 21st century

There have been a spate of high profile flooding incidents in recent years, both in the UK and further afield (e.g. UK wide 2007/08, Carlisle 2005, Central Europe 2002). In addition to the direct devastation caused by flooding, recent events have also highlighted the threat that large scale inundation poses to essential utilities and transport infrastructure. Thankfully major problems are relatively rare within the UK, and our infrastructure can cope with the majority of scenarios. However, this situation is changing, partly due to urban creep (increased urbanisation of our societies) but primarily due to the impact of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts a global temperature rise of between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees centigrade by the end of the century; although the effect of such rises are uncertain and complex, it is generally accepted that they will have wide ranging effects on both precipitation and the equilibrium of major ice sheets (e.g. increased frequency of intense precipitation events and increased sea levels).In response to general climate change predictions, significant research effort is being devoted to the assessment of its impact and the development of suitable mitigating strategies. Within the UK, a number of high profile EPSRC led research programmes continue to investigate how climate change and urbanisation impacts flooding at local, regional and national levels. Chief among these are the major FRMRC/FRMRC2 consortium projects and the interlinked BKCC/SKCC/ARCC initiatives. A significant proportion of such research is concentrated on the effect that the increased frequency and severity of extreme rainfall events will have on our urban environments; this is unsurprising, given that by 2008 the number of people at a high risk from flooding could rise from 1.5 million to 3.5 million, and annual damage from flooding could rise from the present level of 1 billion to about 25 billion. Whilst it is clear that climate change and urban creep are having an ever increasing impact, it is also clear that the public can often be left feeling overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the associated issues; this project hopes to go some way to demystifying these complex issues. The main aim of the proposed project is to develop an interactive exhibition to help explain to the general public how stormwater is managed within urban environments, with particular reference to the adaptations that are necessary to mitigate against the effects of climate change and urban creep. In addition to publicising current EPSRC funded research themes, it is anticipated that this will increase awareness of the built environment professions amongst the young. It is also envisaged that the project will stimulate greater public dialogue around the relevant issues, and an increased appreciation of the role of individuals and local communities. This will be achieved primarily through the use of interactive physical models which will illustrate some aspects of the urban water cycle, and also allow the audience to interact with the urban fabric (i.e. modify and/or replace certain elements in an attempt to reduce the frequency, severity and type of flooding). By associating a realistic cost to each type of system modification, and setting a reasonable budget, the audience will also gain an insight into the resources associated with both traditional, hard engineering , approaches and more innovative, sustainable, techniques. Although the project is aimed primarily at school children, it will be sufficiently flexible to be of interest to older children, adults and those professional bodies with a vested interest in urban flooding.