Projects
Modeling and Planning Blue-Green Infrastructure under Climate Change
This project seeks to safeguard one of Switzerland's most-valuable natural resources: clean, fresh water. As a safety mechanism to prevent flooding, urban sewer systems were designed to occasionally release polluted wastewater to rivers, lakes, and streams during infrequent, heavy rainstorms. However, both urban expansion and climate change increase how much water enter the sewers. Therefore, these spills will occur more frequently than intended. A solution to this could be blue-green infrastructure, which acts like a sponge for the city by absorbing rainwater before it gets to the sewer. We will investigate how implementing blue-green infrastructure can limit these spills and protect freshwater in the Limmattal and cities throughout Switzerland.