Protecting and Managing Stream Morphology in Urban Catchments Using WSUD

Abstract

Streams in the urban landscape provide significant social, economic, and ecological benefits, yet, they are often physically degraded. The main culprit has been identified as excess stormwater runoff from conventional drainage systems, in addition to alterations to the sediment regime to streams. This commonly leads to the necessity for direct intervention to protect societal infrastructure. Water sensitive urban design (WSUD) provides an alternative by addressing the causes of urban-induced physical degradation of streams rather than patching the symptoms. In this chapter, we discuss the issues associated with conventional urban stormwater drainage, the changes to stream channel form and fu..