Building Resilience and Planning for Extreme Water-Related Events

ISBN-13: 9783319997438 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 183 str.

Teresa Sprague; Kathrin Prenger-Berninghoff

Opis

This book discusses what it means for cities to work toward and achieve resilience in the face of climate change. The chapters for each case delve into the current status of the cities and issues resilience must overcome, and then explore solutions and key takeaways learned from the implementation of various resilience approaches.

Spis treści

Introduction (5 pages max)

State of science in climate resiliency and current efforts

This chapter introduces the state of science for this within cities and urban development, addressing: 

• What do we mean by resilience? (how we apply this in a practical sense – so implementation within an urban setting – what does it mean within this setting) 

• What is meant by being climate resilient? 

• Also briefly address what is meant by social readiness (awareness and willingness to engage), and who plays the main roles

The global dialogue and examples in practice

• Should present the state of global dialogue and connect to other major global policy including SDGs and post Sendai Framework  Examples of current efforts (global scale with brief mention of some specific examples) 

• Provide examples from e.g. the 100 Resilient cities campaign and the work of the Rockefeller Foundation and UNISDR (also current developments within the water sector side of this)

Chapter setup

• The chapters presented in this eBook provide a series of practical cases from Germany and the US 

• The structure of these chapters is as follows: 

o Brief introduction to case

o Current issues faced by planning and current natural and human environmental issues 

o Solutions pursued (practical solutions focus)

o Learning points box (basic take home points for educational focus)

Our key terms 

[currently will use from combination of UNISDR terminology and stakeholder analysis research, to be updated later]

• Resilience: (to be added shortly)

• Climate resilient: (to be added shortly)

• Public actors: (to be added shortly)

• Private actors: (to be added shortly)

• Stakeholders: (to be added shortly)

 

Sample Case Chapter Structure (12 pages max)

[this section to be removed in final version and for now serves as a chapter guidance]

Brief introduction to case 

• This brief section provides an idea for the reader of location, demographics, land use distribution, natural and human-based resources

• It should also be stated whether the case is connected to global efforts including e.g. funding from the EU, from the Rockefeller Foundation or falls within the 100 Resilient Cities and UNISDR efforts, etc. 

Current issues faced by planning and current natural and human environmental issues 

• It would be great to have this include an extreme events focus: what kind of events does the case face? What have been its historic events? (e.g. what kind of damage, how long did it take for recovery and who were the major actors in rebuilding)

• The content of this section should address what are the desired outcomes for the future development of the city? Who is interested in achieving these outcomes? (the population, the government, private sector as well?)   This should help transition to the next section on what solutions were pursued

Solutions pursued (practical solutions focus)

• This should include a description of the kind of solutions that have been pursued in the case to make the city more (or at least work toward) resilient 

• What kind of “best practices” were employed? (and how they directly addressed the city’s challenges in trying to enhance resilience) 

• Consider also the main components of the call as follows:

o How solutions address what is desirable and undesirable in building climate resilient societies?

o In the solution: What does a resilient society look like? 

o Where slow transitions needed or rather rapid transformations?

o Were there any implications within the case solution of how governments can create coherent, forward-looking and flexible policy? 

o Particularly, how and does the solution help the society:

 Support ecosystem conservation 

 Promote sustainable use of natural resources 

 Encourage sustainable practices and management systems 

 Develop resilient and inclusive communities 

 While still ensuring economic growth 

 And protecting livelihoods from climatic extremes? 

Learning points box (basic take home points for educational focus)

• Major challenge(s) presented in the case

• Tools or policy used to address challenge 

• Why this was helpful in reaching desired outcome

Introduction to California Cases

This brief introduction chapter provides a quick background into the planning and water management system in California. The purpose of this section is primarily educational and helps the readers who are not familiar with the system to establish a basic understanding of how water resources and supply conveyance typically work within California and what planning mechanisms and in place at the state level, as well as what authorities and responsibilities are given at the “regional” (or county) and municipal levels. 

Case: San Diego, California, USA (Tess)

Brief introduction to case 

• Explain in brief where water comes from (critical in relation to water security – focus on Sacramento/San Jaoquin Delta and the California Aquaduct/State Water Project) 

[Image: Delta water and start of California Aquaduct – insert from tour taken in February]

• Current water resources supply, and current water distribution system 

• How resilience is used in water resources and system planning 

• Who are the key players 

• What is meant with “climate resilience” – what factors does this appear to entail (see also Climate Action Plan text) – what is desirable / not desirable 

Current issues faced by planning and current natural and human environmental issues 

• Need for diversification of urban water portfolio 

• Potential future cut-off from Metropolitan Water District (MWD) imported water source 

• Compounding factors: population increase and urban expansion (only 4% undeveloped land)  

• Sea level rise and saline intrusion 

• Include past studies (Equinox Report)

[Image: coastal protection measures in La Jolla community]

Solutions pursued (practical solutions focus)

• Pure Water San Diego (brief explanation of role in diversification process) 

[Image: Pure Water facilities in San Diego, CA – insert from tour taken last year]

• Stormwater capture projects 

• Conservation strategies (past success in this and future pursuits) 

Learning points box (basic take home points for educational focus)

• To be completed with table including major challenges, brief detail of measures, and how this has been helpful to the City of San Diego (current status) 

Case: San Francisco, California, USA (Tess)

Brief introduction to case 

• Explain in brief where water comes from (critical in relation to water security – focus on Hetch Hetchy source) 

• Brief explanation of groundwater situation and planning environment  

• How resilience is used in water resources and system planning 

• Who are the key players 

• What is meant with “climate resilience” – what factors does this appear to entail (see also Climate Action Plan text) – what is desirable / not desirable 

Current issues faced by planning and current natural and human environmental issues 

• Need for diversification of urban water portfolio 

• Challenges of a combined system 

Solutions pursued (practical solutions focus)

• Living Machine and PureWaterSF at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

[Image: pictures of Living Machine wetland cells and PureWaterSF system from visit to SFPUC]

Learning points box (basic take home points for educational focus)

• To be completed with table including major challenges, brief detail of measures, and how this has been helpful to the City of San Francisco (current status) 

Introduction to German Cases

Similar to the previous case introduction chapter, this educational introductory chapter provides a brief overview of the water planning and management system in Germany. The contents of this introduction target how this is structured from the national to regional and then to local system and who the (general) responsible actors are. This includes a short descriptions of the distribution of powers between the different levels for planning in an urban setting and particularly for the management of water resources and extreme events. 

Case: Solingen, Germany (Kathrin)

Brief introduction to case 

• Solingen is a city dealing with flash flooding and heavy rainfall events. 

• The city itself has been quite active in regard to flash flood protection 

• City drainage services take the lead in implementation of flood protection measures 

• Brief explanation of planning process in Solingen (reference also that in Germany this process will be the same for the City of Remscheid)

• How resilience is used in water resources and system planning 

• Who are the key players 

• What is meant with “climate resilience” – what factors does this appear to entail (see also Climate Action Plan text) – what is desirable / not desirable 

[Image: pictures from past Solingen flash flood]

Current issues faced by planning and current natural and human environmental issues 

• Flash flooding and heavy precipitation make for a need to divert water quickly and minimize potential damage within short temporal scale

• Insert examples from city drainage service (include image where possible of flood mitigation measure)

Solutions pursued (practical solutions focus)

• Need to insert mitigation measure examples along with Solingen’s overall flood management and planning strategy 

Learning points box (basic take home points for educational focus)

• To be completed with table including major challenges, brief detail of tool, and how this has been helpful to the City of Solingen (current status) 

Case: Remscheid, Germany (Kathrin)

Brief introduction to case 

• The City of Remscheid deals with extreme weather, especially flooding that severely affects urban areas. 

• How resilience is used in water resources and system planning 

• Who are the key players 

• What is meant with “climate resilience” – what factors does this appear to entail (see also Climate Action Plan text) – what is desirable / not desirable 

• The project “BESTKLIMA” was selected to address these issues 

[Image: flooding in Remscheid urban center]

Current issues faced by planning and current natural and human environmental issues 

• The city needed a tool or system to enable them to map flooding issues in a transparent manner, while taking into account environmental as well as human factors 

[Insert table: list of current issues, both human and natural, taken into account]

Solutions pursued (practical solutions focus)

• Water flow paths were created and mapped for flow direction model for the City of Remscheid. 

• The city decided to put these maps online, so that inhabitants or interested locals can check online, whether their house is in a "critical" zone: http://geoportal.remscheid.de/mapbender3/application/vorsorgekarte_starkregen 

• Only very few cities put these maps online (if they are available at all), because usually house or plot owners fear that their property might lose its value once everyone can find out that it lies in a critical zone (and that they will blame the city for this loss of value). But Remscheid decided that it's the city's duty to inform citizens about the dangers they might face and that they have to pass the information they have onwards to the public.

[Image: view of map example showing flow paths from model]

Learning points box (basic take home points for educational focus)

• To be completed with table including major challenges, brief detail of tool, and how this has been helpful to the City of Remscheid (current status) 

Conclusion & Cross-Cutting Themes

Summary of key points and cross-cutting themes 

• Focus on practical implications for moving forward and what these points mean for on the ground building of resilience, particularly addressing the calls main foci:

o Desirable/Undesirable: What is desirable and undesirable in building climate resilient societies (commonalities and differences within above in-practice examples) 

o Resilience visual: What does a resilient society look like (insert diagram schematic with key desirable and undesirable components)

o Catalysts/Inhibitors to resilient transition: Reflection on the “speed” of resilient transitions in these cases – what sparks a jump forward, what factors have created a lag in progress (e.g. revamping public transparency approach in Germany case, reduction in conservation efforts in a short “post-drought” period in the CA cases) 

o Policy: Progress in policy (brief summary from cases), focusing on how recent policy in these cases works toward coherent, forward-looking and flexible policy (and where this is still lacking). Addresses also which of the follow boxes are being addressed by these policies: 

 Support ecosystem conservation 

 Promote sustainable use of natural resources 

 Encourage sustainable practices and management systems 

 Develop resilient and inclusive communities 

 While still ensuring economic growth 

 And protecting livelihoods from climatic extremes 

Summary of key points and cross-cutting themes 

• Revisit of key points for more “global” summary, addressing components of good practice (e.g. transparent planning practices, and good data management for all four, diversification of supply resources unique to CA cases, mapping technology and methods unique to German cases)  

• [insert bullet point text box of both “lessons learned” and “BKM” type practices, identifying unique and cross-cutting factors]

• Connect to greater dialogue of current global efforts including Resilient Cities, Sendai, and SDGs. Not a deep dive, but a reflection on how these in-practice, local societies demonstrate patters of what are common issues within the global dialogue. 

O autorze

Teresa Sprague is a water resources planner at Woodard & Curran Inc. in San Francisco, California. After her M.Sc. at the University of Oxford, UK she was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research Fellowship from the European Union and completed her PhD in water risk governance at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany. 

Kathrin Prenger-Berninghoff is a lecturer and scientific staff of Urban and Regional Planning at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. She is a recipient of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research Fellowship from the European Union and completed her PhD in spatial planning at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany.