SUDS- Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems

During todays lecture we were introduced to hydrology, ecology and microclimate. This was done with first a short lecture on the various topics we would be covering and then a walk to varying parks around Cheltenham to see how they had been developed and designed in order to cope with potential flooding. We discussed how during the Victorian era river courses were altered to be as straight as possible, as it was thought this would reduce flooding. This seemed to be a fit solution at the time, but in modern day this has lead to a 'Bottle neck' affect leading to mass flooding further downstream as infiltration cannot happen at the speed required in order to control the act amount of water. 

Therefore a solution has had to be considered. Many places are now adding curves back into rivers, this is done by building mount of natural materials in a river and allowing sediment to build up over time, making this a much more permanent feature of the river. In the future this would be covered in grass and act as another part of the river bank. 

Another really interesting part of this walk was looking at what Cox's Meadow has done in order to attempt to control the frequency and likelihood of flooding. 

When flooding occurs the basin- like deign of this reworded meadow allows for the water to sit in the bowl like structure, instead of spilling out over a flat plane and flooding local areas. There are also water resistant plants located throughout the meadow that mean that infiltration into the water table can occur at a faster rate as the rooting systems allow for water to pass through quickly.                                                                    

I would really like to look at this in further detail as an example of rewilding and SUDS in a community space.