Coping with drought: the experience of water sensitive urban design (WSUD) in the George Municipality

Abstract

This study investigated the extent of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) activities in the George Municipality in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, and its impact on water consumption. The WSUD approach aims to influence design and planning from the moment rainwater is captured in dams, to when it is treated, and reticulated to consumers, and extending to the point of wastewater re-use, as well as stormwater use. The study identified 8 WSUD sub-activities stemming from 4 main WSUD activities, implemented by the George Local Municipality. Water debtors' data were sourced in order to measure the effect of 3 of the 8 WSUD sub-activities on water consumption in selected areas. The analysis confirmed that the three WSUD sub-activities had a short-term impact on reducing water consumption in the suburbs where they were implemented. It is recommended that the municipality focus on improved planning and implementation of a diverse range of WSUD activities and implementing information and monitoring systems to evaluate the impact of these measures.

Nature-Based Solutions for hydro-meteorological risk reduction: A state-of-the-art review of the research area

“…The review found just one article that discusses the use of NBS for reduction of drought risk. Lottering et al, (2015) discussed the effectiveness of NBS on reduction of water consumption in suburb areas.…”

“…-Australia (Lottering et al, 2015;Mouritz, 1996;Whelans consultants et al, 1994) Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS)…”

“…wetlands, green roofs) and nonstructural measures (e.g. improving the local knowledge of NBS) (Lottering et al, 2015;Raymond et al, 2017). They are associated with multiple benefits such as improving water quality, increasing the opportunities for recreation, improving human well-being and health, enhancing vegetation growth and connecting habitat and biodiversity (Donnell et al, 2018;Raymond et al, 2017;Song et al, 2018;Thorslund et al, 2017b).…”

A Systematic Literature Mining of Sponge City: Trends, Foci and Challenges Standing Ahead

“…This offers a unique opportunity to implement innovative solutions based on integrated urban water management [98]. There are some initial attempts of Sponge City in South Africa [115][116][117]. However, the successful experience in some places cannot be applied to other places.…”

Flood risk management in sponge cities: The role of integrated simulation and 3D visualization

“…The sponge city initiative was inspired by low impact developments (LID) elsewhere in the world that would be scaled and transferred into the Chinese urban context. These existing developments include LID in the US [2], water sensitive urban design (WSUD) in Australia [3], sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in the UK [4], and integrated urban water management systems in Denmark and Sweden [5] [6]. For example, in Malmö, different storm-water collection networks as well as large-scale open storm-water handling implementations are already present in forms such as ponds, wetlands, swales, canals, detention lakes, and green roofs [5].…”