Challenges in urban stormwater management in Chinese cities: A hydrologic perspective

JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY

卷:591

Article

Yang, Moyuan¹  Sang, Yan-Fang²  Sivakumar, Bellie³  Chan, Faith Ka Shun^4,5  Pan, Xingyao¹ 

[1] Beijing Water Sci & Technol Inst, Beijing 100048, Peoples R China

[2] Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geog Sci & Nat Resources Res, Key Lab Water Cycle & Related Land Surface Proc, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China

[3] Indian Inst Technol, Dept Civil Engn, Mumbai 400076, Maharashtra, India

[4] Univ Nottingham Ningbo China, Fac Sci & Engn, Sch Geog Sci, Ningbo 315100, Peoples R China

[5] Univ Leeds, Water Leeds Res Inst, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England

关键词: Urban stormwater management;    Sponge city;    Low impact development;    Nonstationary rainfall;    Volume capture ratio of annual rainfall;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125314

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

For managing the worsening urban water disasters in China, the Government of China proposed the concept of Sponge City in 2013 and initiated the strategy in 30 pilot cities from 2015. Despite the promise of the concept, there have been many challenges in implementing the Sponge City program (SCP). In this manuscript, we discuss the hydrology-related challenges in implementing the SCP. In particular, we consider two key challenges: (1) Determination of the Volume Capture Ratio of Annual Rainfall (VCRAR), as controlling urban stormwater runoff is one of the core targets of the SCP; and (2) Estimation of a proper rainfall threshold, which influences the layout of green-infrastructures in the SCP to achieve the core VCRAR target. To discuss these challenges, we consider the city of Beijing, the capital of China, as a case study. Our analysis shows that the trade-offs between the investment for the SCP and its potential economic benefits should be considered by undertaking a proper determination of VCRAR. The VCRAR estimated for Beijing from the present analysis is 0.73. This value is more reasonable than the empirical value of 0.80 that is presently used, as it can guarantee the positive rate of return on the investment. We also find that the nonstationary characteristics of rainfall data and their spatiotemporal differences are important for the estimation of the rainfall threshold in SCP. For instance, even using the daily rainfall data over a period of 30 years (1983-2012) in Beijing, as required by the National Assessment Standard, the estimated rainfall threshold of 27.3 mm underestimates the reasonable rainfall threshold that should at least be larger than 30.0 mm. Thus, the former cannot ensure the VCRAR target of 0.80. Based on these results, we offer proper approaches and key suggestions towards useful guidelines for delivering better SCP in the Chinese cities.

【 授权许可】

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