Sustainable Stormwater Management in Existing Settlements—Municipal Strategies and Current Governance Trends in Germany

Abstract

While a policy of more decentralized stormwater management is increasingly being pursued in areas containing new housing developments, the question arises as to how stormwater management is handled in existing settlements, where restructuring the drainage system is a much more complex affair and often requires the active involvement of property owners. Recognizing that the multidimensional objectives of stormwater management in settlements call for a range of local strategies, this article examines the interaction and strategic contribution of two key municipal institutions for regulating stormwater management, namely, compulsory connection and usage and stormwater charges, in order to examine how they meet these objectives when property owners are involved. The following questions are addressed: How do these two key institutions link the varied objectives of stormwater management with practical options for decentralization? Which institutional designs are capable of integrating property owners into a municipal stormwater strategy in a coherent manner? What is current local government practice? This article begins by analyzing the interactions between different objectives of stormwater management, the interplay of the two key institutions, and options for stormwater management on private properties. On this basis, we then present an empirical study of current practice in 44 medium to large cities in Germany. This shows that while local governments devise very different—and often inconsistent—institutional designs, decentralization is quite commonly pursued in existing settlements.

Assessment of the Impact of Loss-of-Retention Fees on Green Infrastructure Investments

“…The study of stormwater policy/management clearly stresses the lack of incentive instruments-both in terms of fees [99] and tap water prices-because the aspect of water bill savings may also be a stimulus behind undertaking rainwater harvesting [99]. This is why the study emphasizes the role of creating incentive instruments [120], with many cities creating such schemes including fees (stormwater fee and development/impact fee), together with a discount system for onsite stormwater management and/or surface unsealing, thus achieving both an incentive for residents and a funding source for stormwater management [68,69,[121][122][123][124]. The changes proposed in terms of the fee for reduced retention will, in fact, be an introduction of "impact fees."…”

Attracting the Private Sector to Urban Stormwater: A Feasible Task or Just a Pipe Dream?

“…Research conducted in Germany in 44 municipalities addressed the incentives for owners to adhere to decentralized management and, from the point of view of the New Institutional Economics theory, two institutional aspects of the municipal management of urban drainage present in all municipalities were analyzed: the first was the compulsory connection and use of existing networks, and the second was the taxes (from EUR 0.29/m 2 to EUR 1.93/m 2 with the unweighted average of the sample equal to EUR 0.85/m 2 ) and discounts applied. The analysis took into account the interaction between institutions (interplay) and contradictions with the refinancing of the existing infrastructure, as well as the risk of the loss of controllability due to the large number of people involved in management [29].…”

“…From an economic point of view, there are arguments against decentralization, such as the devaluation of investments already made and the risk of growth in costs and charges, combined with the loss of economies of scale and high transaction costs [29].…”

Management of Urban Stormwater at Block-Level (MUST-B): A New Approach for Potential Analysis of Decentralized Stormwater Management Systems

“…Though some strategies do exist for the transformation of the already existing urban area towards dezentralized management approach of stormwater runoff, these are country and sometimes even city specific [21,22]. Therefore, a systematic strategy for the transformation of current urban areas towards dezentralized management approaches is needed.…”