Project content

Background and demand for the overall project

Studies in Germany showed that more pollutants are emitted by stormwater (SW) runoff than with the effluents from waste treatment plants. Also the increase of flooding by extensive surface sealing has been proved. Although alternatives for simply draining the runoff from paved areas are already available, integration into daily practise is still rare. Guidelines for stormwater management (SWM) do not yet exist in the CADSES region.

The area of SWM is not lacking in technical solutions, but rather in integration of SWM practices into the planning process. Based on the experience of the partners and their external experts, guidelines and good examples for planning processes and implementation will be produces and disseminated by guidelines, web-sites and workshops to target group.

All five partner cities already have problems with SW runoff. In Karviná, Trenčín and Vsetín, storm sewers are overloaded. In Aharnai and Kupferzell, small rivers regularly cause flooding. Kupferzell also wants to develop a new settlement area which is only possible if the runoff is not increased. The variety of SW related problems and also climate conditions is typical for the CADSES region.

Objectives, results, general effects

Overall, long-term objectives

Stormwater management (SWM) in the CADSES region is becoming more and more complex affair. This is a result of extensive development in national water management (WM) regulations, combined with the growing presence and importance of European legislation (e.g. Water Framework Directive, WFD). Therefore the main objective of this project is to develop SWM guidelines, to be used not only locally or nationally, but in the whole CADSES region. The interaction with and feedback from the other project partners is essential in order to enhance the applicability of the results. All project partners will provide their project results on an equal basis, which will then be merged to a more general SWM concept, applicable throughout the CADSES region. The guidelines will provide information not only on what kind of different SWM practises are available and how they should be designed and operated, but also on how the planning of SWM practises has to be integrated into the master planning process (urban planning).

Concrete results

The concrete results of the rainDROP project will primarily be the provision of guidelines for Stormwater management (SWM) practise usable in the whole CADSES region. The guidelines will be disseminated by brochures, a web-site and workshops. The subprojects will contribute to finding balanced and effective guidelines, including generally applicable master plan framework and a list of state-of-the-art measures applied in SWM. Concrete results are of course also the implementations within the pilot projects and the stormwater (SW) master plans for the five cities.

Expected impacts

The expected impact of the rainDROP project on the target region (= the entire CADSES region) will be long-term coherent stormwater management (SWM) planning through:

• broadening the local/national perspective of BMPs (best management practices) in SWM
• the use of approved and comprehensive guidelines
• an extra impulse to the exchange of experience and achieving consensus
• integration of SWM practises into the master planning process

Moreover, rainDROP will help to reduce surface water pollution and flooding and will improve water balance and water quality in the CADSES region.

Target Group, Beneficiaries

Target Group(s)

The target group of rainDROP can be defined as decision makers and stakeholders in stormwater management (SWM). Decision makers usually are:

• technical and urban planning departments in cities and municipalities
• water works and water boards
• water authorities
• investors, developers
• engineers, consultants, (landscape) architects

Stakeholders can include: inhabitants, entrepreneur, other local and regional authorities, land owners, environmental groups etc.

Direct Beneficiaries

• the projects´cities and municipalities (through the development and improvement of stormwater related issues)
• the catchment area in which these municipalities lie (through retention of storm water upstream, peak discharges in the rivers will be reduced, retention measures will avoid overflowing of the sewer systems, which will reduce pollution)
• their respective provinces
• their respective regions

Overview on project activities

• construction of stormwater management (SWM) measures (both source control and flood protection related) and acquired knowledge of applicability, pros and cons
• monitoring the measures, creating insight about applicability and maintenance of the measures
• issuing an operation manual for decision makers and a brochure for homeowners
• defining design objectives and scenarios for Overall SWM
• modelling of impact for different scenarios including floodplain determination
• creation of SWM master plans, which can function as a framework guideline for future master plans
• dissemination of results

Outputs and Deliverables

Outputs and deliverables can be mentioned first and foremost as the actual product of the rainDROP project: a framework for stormwater management (SWM) master plans in the CADSES region, as part of a SWM guideline for decision makers throughout the region. The general output and deliverables of the rainDROP project will be: reports on the four different Work packages and a general form of the SWM guideline.