Green stormwater infrastructure: A critical review of the barriers and solutions to widespread implementation

Abstract

Rapid urbanization, aging infrastructure, and climate change impacts have put a strain on existing stormwater drainage systems. One commonly acknowledged solution to relieve such stress is Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). Interest in GSI technology has been growing. However, the level of implementation in many areas around the world lags behind the interest level. This study aims to critically review the body of literature from the last decade to determine the main barriers to wide adoption and the offered solutions to overcome them. Based on a review of 92 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2012 and 2022, we classify barriers and solutions into six categories: socio-cultural, financial, institutional and governance, legislative and regulatory, technical, and biophysical. Based on observations and conclusions from the reviewed articles, we recommend the following pillars and considerations for more GSI adoption: increasing awareness and outreach programs; enhancing knowledge and data co-production and dissemination; acknowledging interdependency and context-specificity of many of the challenges and solutions; prioritizing integrated and participatory watershed planning; overcoming institutional path-dependencies; prioritizing innovative solutions; giving specific consideration to maintenance protocols; considering the role of public entities; and actively engaging with communities.

A Complete Water Balance of a Rain Garden

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To combat the hydrological consequences of more-widespread urbanization, resulting from rising populations globally and within cities, many urban centers have adopted green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) systems as a sustainable, nature-based approach to stormwater management (Ebrahimian & Wadzuk, 2022;Heidari et al, 2022). This is a departure from the traditional approach to stormwater management, referred to as "gray" stormwater infrastructure, which relied on engineered infrastructure to move and store stormwater (Johns, 2019), such as sewer pipes and large-scale, centralized detention systems.

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