The urban environment is where most people live, yet the quality of the water environment there has often been overlooked and urban watercourses hidden from view behind walls, or buried in culverts. Some urban streams have even been classified as sewers presenting challenges for the water utilities. The Water Framework Directive, WFD, has arguably set-back progress on urban watercourses since they are typically too small to feature in the post-WFD prioritised catchments work of the UK environment agencies. River monitoring stations have been moved down-river, and urban stream networks have a diminished priority for investigations and action. With political uncertainty in Europe, 2017 is a good opportunity to reconsider the priority given to improving the urban water environment.
Is a fresh approach needed to resolve chronic problems? Prioritisation for action requires fresh considerations: population of catchment as important as size of waterbody; contribution of diffuse pollution load carried by an urban stream to a bathing beach or a town lake or canal; making problems evident at source, not when far downstream at an open section of the watercourse; effective integration with flood risk management and urban watercourses (e.g. public expectations of green space, SUDS as raingardens, river restoration and natural flood risk management in catchments).
The aim of this conference is to set out the policy drivers, emerging trends and understanding on the scale of the problem and whether we are making progress. It will focus on delivering cost effective practice using examples from the UK and abroad and how lessons can be translated into policy and investment setting the agenda for affective action and collaboration.