Juliette Chauveau: The use of alternative stormwater management techniques. What organisational challenges do these pose for urban development projects?

With increasing urbanisation and a sharp rise in soil sealing, flooding has become more frequent in recent years, causing significant material damage and, in some cases, loss of life. In light of this, in the late 1980s, an environmentalist approach, according to the Technical Service for Urban Planning (STU, Reconciling Water and the City through Stormwater Management), involved ‘the search for systems to manage and control the water cycle in urban environments, and for appropriate urban forms’. This concept no longer presents stormwater management techniques as technical sanitation tools, but as fully-fledged, multifunctional urban infrastructure integrated into the city.
In this context, the implementation of these alternative stormwater management techniques no longer concerns solely network operators and the sanitation department, but also the departments responsible for green spaces, roads, sports facilities, and so on. However, whilst these departments incorporate stormwater retention, storage and infiltration structures into their infrastructure, they do not necessarily possess the expertise required for the upkeep and maintenance of such structures.
The aim of this thesis is therefore to understand the organisational challenges involved in the implementation of alternative stormwater management techniques within urban development projects.