Sustainable Urban Water Management Plans, promoting SUDS and considering Climate Change, in the Province of Valencia (AQUAVAL)

The principal aim of the project is to provide innovative solutions to problems related to runoff quantity and quality in the urban environment, through the integration of part of the hydraulic infrastructure into the municipality landscape using Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), thereby decreasing the impacts of urban development and adding social an environmental values to the programmed actions.

The main objectives are as follows: to avoid combined sewer overflows in order to improve water quality of the receiving water courses (rives Albaida and Turia); to avoid flooding within the urban area during frequent rainfall events; to increase resilience of the drainage infrastructure to the effects of Climate Change; to reduce energy consumption (and therefore, CO2 emissions) both in the water management cycle (pumping, sewer treatment plants) and in buildings (with the use of green roofs); to reduce the urban heat island effect; to save drinking water by using Natural Water Resources (rain water) for irrigation or street cleaning; to promote the use of SUDS in the South of Europe, following the indications of the European Project DAYWATER, as a complement to the traditional approach; to develop community environmental policy through the integration of environmental concerns into planning and urban water policies, thereby contributing to sustainable development.