NBS for water and Resilience: An overview for cities and urban planners
Suzanne Ozment
Urban centers are faced with a series of chronic and con-current challenges, hovering as a result of poor water management techniques. Among several of these challenges are not limited to urban storm water flooding, coastal flooding and erosion in cases of coastal cities, river flooding, water insecurity, landslides among many others.
Floods among the various water challenges have been identified as the most common form of disaster arising from improper water management techniques. Eminently, the adverse impacts cascaded by climate change have not left back intact adjacent areas within which these floods occur. Cases of water related disasters have seemingly sprung up in the recent times with flooding as the most eminent. Suzanne Ozment, Natural Infrastructure Associate at the World Resources Institute pins out that, watershed degradation over the recent decades has resulted into a fall in water quality for domestic use and impacting over 700 million people globally, and worth over $5.4 billion waivered on treatment of these watersheds. These have been noted in areas of Eastern Africa, Parts of North and South America, Asia and Southern parts of Europe.
Changes in land use patterns and practices have also notably interrupted the integrity of these natural water catchment areas, noticeably for agriculture, furthermore exposing the vulnerability of these ecosystems.
Nature based solutions have the unique capability of curbing and tackling challenges arising from water management in naturally thriving ecosystems. Urban management techniques have evolved to include supportive facilities so as to enhance the functionality of the watersheds. Among the structural strategies are not limited to built or grey infrastructure, natural and hybrid which are structural components of nature based solutions. These structures may include; open spaces, bio-retention areas, green roofs, permeable pavements among others.
Built systems have proved critical and highly vital in supporting the natural and hybrid structural components. An integration of both built and natural systems will efficiently and more effectively build resilience and aid address the challenges associated with water crisis.
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