Closing the water cycle to increase Urban Resilience to Extreme Events (CUREE)

Temperatures in Sweden are predicted to increase by 3-5oC by 2080, with increases in the frequency of both summer droughts and winter rainfall events predicted.

This is a particular challenge for urban areas, where their largely impermeable surfaces reduce recharge of water bodies (contributing to water scarcity) and enhances surface runoff volumes (exacerbating flood risks and degrading water quality).

Hence urban areas are increasingly a hot spot for both floods and droughts, raising the key question: can – and if so how – stormwater be leveraged to meet urban water demands?

Within this context, the multi-disciplinary CUREE is working collaboratively with core partners and established stakeholder networks to generate new data on urban water balances and the impacts of stormwater flows on chemical and biological quality of urban receiving waters.

This evidence base will inform evaluations of two novel approaches to enhancing urban water resilience: the use of nature-based solutions (NBS) networks as deliverers of multiple ecosystem services and the use of stormwater as an alternative water resource.

Using semi-structured interviews, findings will be discussed with stakeholders to understand their perceptions, concerns and opportunities associated with implementing both approaches.

Outputs of CUREE will increase knowledge on the sustainable use of stormwater to increase the resilience of current and future urban water security.