Water management (SDG 6)

In the new district ‘Kop Zuidas’, water green strip is created along the sidewalk in which stormwater is temporarily stored by means of high-grade vegetation and a drainage system. The stormwater slowly infiltrates into the soil and only reaches the sewage system in case of extremely heavy rainfall. It is a pilot project for stormwater retention and will be upscaled throughout Amsterdam when successful. (1,2)

Belfast is located within the River Lagan Catchment and is at risk from flash floods caused by storm water unable to drain away into the combined storm and sewerage network. The Local Development Plan will facilitate the development of green infrastructure resource or ecosystem services such as the green wedges in Lagan Valley Regional Park (ref 2). Lagan Canal is one of the emerging partnership projects to produce plans to restore and revitalise the Lagan Canal corridor. The river Lagan and the canal is an asset for the city, and for the wider region (Ref 1).

The Hetton Lyons Primary School's green roof is designed to evolve and flourish over the coming years, helping to combat a number of climate change issues facing the next generation. Aims were ecological benefits, providing a natural habitat for plants and wildlife while helping to reduce air and noise pollution, cutting carbon emissions and assisting with rainwater retention and attenuation (Ref 1).

The project aimed to improve the Owler Beck riverbody catchment in Wakefield. Data collected by the Environment Agency revealed that the Owler Beck catchment is struggling to achieve the 'good ecological status' needed in order to meet the European Water Framework Directive. This is likely due to years of alterations that have removed the diversity of the environments and left the watercourse silty. The project aimed to address these issues by working on the priority sites along the river. A multi-phased scheme had been designed to relieve these pressures and deliver benefits for both people and wildlife across the catchment. (Ref. 1) The project is completed as of 2019 with 200m of river reach length covered in the catchment area. (Ref 7)

The renaturalization of streams is a common strategy for improving the ecological quality of water bodies as mandated by the European Water Directive. For that reason, parts of the Aa stream in Münster upstream until its flow into the Aa lake covering 2.6 km were renaturalized from 2012 to 2013. Renaturalization is a means to restore the natural river banks, local ecosystems of the Aa rive and improve the water quality of the Aa lake (Ref. 1 and 3).

'Blok 54' is a new building on the city island IJburg in Amsterdam, on which a green roof and rain garden were be created in which stormwater can flow from the green roof through a groove with diverse vegetation, reflecting a natural creek. The vegetation with fruit bushes serves as a sensory garden for poly handicapped children and the creek flows into bioswales through which can slowly infiltrate. Blok 54 can thereby be considered an ECOcity-garden. (1,3)

Grangetown is the site for a flagship environmental programme to tackle flood risk and water waste (ref 5). This scheme catches, cleans and diverts rainwater directly into the River Taff instead of pumping it over 8 kilometres to the sea. It will make Grangetown a greener, cleaner place and enhance local biodiversity (ref 2). Every year more than 40,000m³ of rainwater is diverted from entering the combined sewer network (ref 1). Interventions include planters, swales, bio-retention ponds, permeable paving and curb drainage, making use of the existing streetscape. 108 rain gardens have been created, and 130 trees have been planted; the area has been deemed the 1st "bicycle street" in Wales (ref 8). Wider benefits include education, health, well-being (ref 1).

As a consequence of the rehabilitation of a highway that connects Craiova to Bucuresti, the municipality of Craiova implemented ecological parking spaces in the areas that went alongside this road. It was a much-needed solution in a city that lacks in green spaces. The first experimental parking space was implemented in 2008. Most of the parking spaces are located near building blocks (1).

Forests fulfil several important climate functions, they are carbon sinks, regulate the local climate or buffer heatwaves and cloudbursts. Based on climate projections, longer dry periods are to be expected during summer months which have major implications for local humid forests. The “fit for climate change” project was initiated to develop and implement climate adaptation measures for the latter, for instance via hydrological regulation, the use and reinstatement of resilient, adapted tree species or revitalizing moors and swamps. It was administered by the regional forestry authority and the nature conservation station Münster (Ref. 1 and 2).

The Restoration of degraded wetlands in Wolfschlugen (in the administrative district of Stuttgart) was conducted within the wider regional level of sustainable urban development to enhance resilience, protect the city from flooding, support sustainable development, and safeguard biodiversity. Ditches and craters line the 700 metres long and 50 - 70 metres wide strip of landscape northeast of the development boundary behind the Wolfschlugen forest cemetery. This is formed by the Riederwiesen, which absorb water to protect the place from flooding. The wetland should protect people at least during a so-called hundred-year flood and at the same time offer animals and plants a habitat. (ref 3, 11)