Sustainable stormwater management in Sogndal

Abstract

Stormwater management is a strategy of handling excess runoff water, which accumulate from precipitation and flow over the surface. There is a need for stormwater management in the northern side of the city of Sogndal, from the lower area of Foss up to the upper areas of Bergi and Tona. The management of stormwater using pipe systems is challenging many cities nowadays because changes in climate conditions and the modifications in land use elements, increase runoff in volume and speed. In addition, those changes affect the ecosystem elements in the sites. The purpose of this project is to analyse the changes made in the land use elements, catchments areas, the volume of runoff discharge from them and finding potential of the site, where it is possible to open the natural streams. For that purpose, a conceptual plan design is developed, which helps minimizing the runoff and increase landscape quality in the same time. Some of the findings of this study indicate that stormwater will be challenging in the future with increasing precipitation levels, due to the modifications that were made in land use elements and capacity of the existing pipes. However, blue- green solution is an alternative treatment for stormwater challenges. It fit to work in cooperation with the other stormwater management solutions and it can give benefits in minimizing runoff challenges, ecosystem improvements and aesthetics.