1. General information
2. Objectives of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
In Montevideo every three to four years, major storms cause significant flooding in certain areas of the city, with water reaching up to 4 feet above street level and entering households. Most of these events are intense and happen without warning. The municipality decided to invest in resilience to floods only in recent years and one of the ways of doing it was by introducing rain gardens. The objectives of this ongoing intervention are:
1. To protect water quality and reduce rainwater runoff -they allow cushioning part of the low-intensity rain flow, preventing their direct entry into the city's main drainage system, and as a result, overflow into the inland watercourses and the bay
2. To fulfil a function comparable to that of storm hydrants
3. To generate new green spaces
4. To favour the urban hydrological cycle by decreasing the amount of water poured into the city's rainwater drainage system, because frequent rains are retained and gradually permeate.
5. To improve the quality of the water that enters watercourses, because contaminants dragged by rainwater runoff enter the stonemason and are filtered and retained in the ground.
6. To give environmental value to rainwater.
7. To incorporate low impact development strategies (DBI or Low Impact Development) and green infrastructures. (1,2,3)
1. To protect water quality and reduce rainwater runoff -they allow cushioning part of the low-intensity rain flow, preventing their direct entry into the city's main drainage system, and as a result, overflow into the inland watercourses and the bay
2. To fulfil a function comparable to that of storm hydrants
3. To generate new green spaces
4. To favour the urban hydrological cycle by decreasing the amount of water poured into the city's rainwater drainage system, because frequent rains are retained and gradually permeate.
5. To improve the quality of the water that enters watercourses, because contaminants dragged by rainwater runoff enter the stonemason and are filtered and retained in the ground.
6. To give environmental value to rainwater.
7. To incorporate low impact development strategies (DBI or Low Impact Development) and green infrastructures. (1,2,3)
Quantitative targets
Implementing 3 pilot rain gardens in 2018 and assessing results for future expansion; Surface area: 7.84 sqm
Targeting 3 areas in Montevideo comprising several neighbourhoods
Targeting 1.3 mil inhabitants indirectly and approx. 148,000 inhabitants directly (the populations of the areas targeted)
Implementing 2 types of rain gardens: lined and unlined
Introducing different species of vegetation (1,2,3,4)
Targeting 3 areas in Montevideo comprising several neighbourhoods
Targeting 1.3 mil inhabitants indirectly and approx. 148,000 inhabitants directly (the populations of the areas targeted)
Implementing 2 types of rain gardens: lined and unlined
Introducing different species of vegetation (1,2,3,4)
Monitoring indicators defined
Number of gardens to be implemented, size area of each garden
Number of neighbourhoods
Number of people benefiting from the intervention
Types of gardens
Type of vegetation included (1,2,3,4)
Number of neighbourhoods
Number of people benefiting from the intervention
Types of gardens
Type of vegetation included (1,2,3,4)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Implementation activities
In 2018 work began in the second week of December and was completed during the first half of February. The plan also included the construction of a ditch cordon, a parking sector and the innovative implementation of two Rain Gardens. The structures, similar to a stonemason with vegetation, receive rainwater that infiltrates the ground and enters a storage area below. Once it fills up, it leaves the system by entering the sanitation network. The structures were installed both in public spaces but also any citizen can do it on their sidewalk or patio. Work continued through 2019 and in 2020 other 6 rain gardens were inaugurated (3) The rain gardens are divided into 3 layers. From the bottom to the top there is a drainage layer of 40 cm height to support the plants and a ponding area of 15 cm height. (4)
Type of NBS project
3. NBS domains, ES and scale
4. Governance and financing
5. Innovation
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
I'd argue that the intervention itself has been a novelty for Montevideo whose municipality was able to find solutions to a problem that affected the city for a very long time. In 2020 the Municipality decided to move from the traditional drainage that developed in the city and that allowed to capture and conduct rainwater to something more advanced: a sustainable drainage system that, in addition to meeting this objective, improves the water quality of rivers and streams and increases the green fabric of the city. (3)
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
To design these measures, the Studies and Projects Service of the Sanitation Division investigated examples from cities such as New York and Philadelphia, and from countries such as the Netherlands. Beyond the example of other places, these measures also respond to common-sense practices that have always been used in homes, such as using rainwater to irrigate plants, and that can be replicated at the city level. (3)
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The sources mention that the intervention is replicable throughout the entire city of Montevideo. Just to name a few locations: Monte Caseros and Joanicó streets and between Mazzini and Ramón Anador. (3)
