Assessment of long-term performance of blue-green infrastructures in the urban catchment

Abstract

The blue-green infrastructure (B-GI) and sustainable draiange systems (SuDS), such as floodplain restoration, stormwater ponds, wetlands and bio-swales are increasingly regarded as an emerging concept for sustainable urban water management in the UK and many other countries. Nonetheless, the adaptation of the B-GI infrastructures has been slow, predominately due to lack of empirical data, evidence and dominant technical uncertainties in its long-term hydrological performance. Thus it is essential to evaluate the long-term performance of the B-GI so as to bridge the gap between hard engineering approaches and natural systems. This study assesses the long-term performance of a floodplain and stormwater pond on flow and suspended sediment dynamics in two urban catchments through detailed hydrological and two-dimensional hydro-morphodynamic modelling.