A new participatory rainwater management framework for urban areas using non-structural measures.

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Climate change has significantly altered the historical characteristics of precipitation. Changes in precipitationcharacteristics coupled with trends of rapid urbanization can put pressure on existing urban infrastructure.Untreated sewage often overflows and mixes with runoff when an extreme event occurs. A large amount ofuntreated sewage from cities is thus dumped directly into the river system. This causes adverse socio-economicand environmental impacts in many cities in Canada. The hydrological strategies to alleviate the overall impactshould include both municipal and participatory management in order to make them successful. This projectaims to provide natural and plant-based hydrological participatory management solutions which are inherentlysustainable and low-cost alternatives to current rainwater management practices. To accomplish this, firstrainfall data will be analyzed to understand the characteristics of precipitation such as seasonality, magnitude,frequency, and duration of extreme rainfall. Second, potential stakeholders will be identified and their views onthe management options for mitigation measures will be collected. Third, surplus volume will be estimatedfrom stormwater municipality codes. Finally, different low cost and sustainable rainwater managementalternatives will be selected by using hydrological models in conjunction with stakeholder input. Alternativemanagement selection will be based on socio-economic and environmental considerations. This project willbenefit, to a significant degree, Orbit Engineering in designing economic and sustainable participatoryrainwater management projects for urban areas. This will result in a reduction of construction material andenergy use, and sustainable land use. Moreover, the proposed project will provide a significant contribution tothe science of participatory rainwater management since it focuses directly on the efficiency and sustainabilityof on-site rainwater management through participatory modeling that has not been explored at all to date. Theproject will provide an alternative to costly upgrades of drainage infrastructure and help reduce excessiveuntreated drainage volume from urban areas in Canada.