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RESCCUE Urban Water Resilience Methodology

Solution Overview

Barcelona performed a comprehensive resilience diagnosis using the RESCCUE methodology and tools to assess climate change impacts on the city's water services.[1] The RESCCUE project (RESilience to cope with Climate Change in Urban arEas) was born in May 2016 as Europe's first large-scale innovation and urban resilience project, aimed at improving the capability of cities to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from significant multihazard threats.[10] This initiative goes beyond conventional analysis of impacts on single critical infrastructures, instead considering cities as networks of interdependent systems with a holistic perspective that focuses on interconnections rather than separate city units.[10]

Technical Components

The diagnostic approach deployed a detailed urban drainage model using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to simulate flow in the sewerage network during rainfall events and assess pluvial flooding and combined sewer overflows.[1] The model was calibrated with data from real events, such as the heavy rainfall event of October 2018, which caused widespread flooding in the city.[2] A Hazard Assessment Tool was developed to generate high-resolution climate projections for the city, which was used in Barcelona to assess the future evolution of heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall.[2] One of the main results was the development of a multisectoral model of the city's critical services using the WEST software, which allows simulation of the behaviour of the water, energy and transport systems under different conditions.[2] The resilience assessment tool HAZUR was used to analyse the relations and cascading effects among different urban services in the holistic approach.[10] The RESCCUE Platform is a web-based decision support system that integrates different models and allows users to carry out a comprehensive resilience assessment in a user-friendly environment.[1] A Resilience Assessment Framework web tool (RAF APP) was developed to support the application of RAF, including a users' manual, delivered at month 42.[9]

Implementation Details

The Barcelona case study was led by Cetaqua, the Water Technology Centre, in close collaboration with the Barcelona City Council and public operators including Barcelona Cicle de l'Aigua (BCASA) and Aigües de Barcelona.[1] The project was developed in close collaboration with the Barcelona City Council and other key stakeholders, such as the water utility (BCASA), the metropolitan transport authority (AMB) and the public health agency (ASPB).[2] The RESCCUE project was led by Aquatec (SUEZ Advanced Solutions) and its consortium was formed by UN-Habitat, Cetaqua, Endesa, Gas Natural Fenosa, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, Bristol City Council, University of Exeter, Universidade de Lisboa and Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil.[3] The project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 700174 with a total budget of €8,023,342.50 and EU contribution of €6,896,991.76.[5] The project ran from May 2016 to October 2020, lasting 48 months.[1] The diagnosis involved the collection and analysis of a large amount of data, as well as a series of workshops and interviews with more than 200 stakeholders.[3] The methodology and tools were validated in three different cities: Barcelona, Lisbon and Bristol, selected for their representativeness of European diversity in terms of climate type and city characteristics.[5] These research sites were selected due to their strong involvement with urban resilience as demonstrated by their selection and participation in the 100 Resilient Cities program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.[6]

Benefits and Impacts

The RESCCUE project developed climate change projections for Barcelona showing a mean temperature increase of +3.5°C, an increase of +40 heatwave days per year, +20% increase in extreme precipitation (1-hour), and +0.8m sea level rise by 2071-2100 under RCP 8.5 scenario compared to 1971-2000 baseline.[1] The assessment showed that by the end of the century, the flooded area for a 10-year return period event could increase by up to 15%, and economic damages could increase by more than 20%.[1] RESCCUE simulations demonstrated that implementation of a combination of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) and new retention tanks could reduce the flooded area by up to 30% and the volume of combined sewer overflows by up to 40%.[1] The project carried out a detailed evaluation of a selection of resilience measures using a combination of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and multi-criteria analysis (MCA), considering economic, social and environmental aspects.[2] A comprehensive catalogue of more than 170 resilience measures was developed, which were classified according to their type, cost and potential benefits.[2] The project contributed to the work of the Urban Resilience Board, a multi-stakeholder platform that was created to coordinate the city's resilience efforts.[2]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

Barcelona was selected as a RESCCUE research site to address urban flooding, Combined Sewer Overflow during heavy storm events, drought, heat waves and sea level rise.[5] The main critical hazards due to climate change scenarios for Barcelona are urban flooding, combined sewer overflows (CSO) during heavy storm events, drought, heat waves and sea level rise.[4] The three RESCCUE cities identified water-related risks as crucial in their hazard analysis, which became a common feature that allowed the RESCCUE methodology to be built.[6]

Business Analysis

The RESCCUE project provides a set of models and tools to analyse urban resilience that help cities build their resilience strategies and decide on the best investments to cope with future climate-related challenges.[2] A database and methodology for the selection and prioritisation of adaptation strategies was developed in RESCCUE and is ready to use for the preparation of local adaptation strategies.[10] The possible approaches are ranked by their cost-efficiency in terms of CAPEX and OPEX to evaluate their benefits potential.[8] A multisectorial resilience strategies framework and database was developed and upgraded to a web-platform to assist in the prioritization of adaptation measures.[9] The Barcelona Resilience Action Plan was developed within the framework of the RESCCUE project, helping the Barcelona City Council develop its Resilience Action Plan, which was integrated into the city's overall Climate Plan.[3][2] An adaptation strategies portfolio, including climate services, ecosystem-based approaches and resource efficiency measures was incorporated as key components of the deployment strategy.[8] The urban resilience management tool HAZUR Manager was improved and tested in RESCCUE so it can be easily deployed in any other city around the world.[10]

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