Integrated approaches in urban storm drainage: where do we stand?

Integrated approaches to urban storm-water drainage management are being increasingly advocated as necessary for advancing more sustainable and holistic management of urban water environments. In this paper, the status of integrated approaches in the management of urban storm-water discharges to receiving waterways is summarized. The starting point of the paper is with the recent scientific contributions, revealing that integration is being pursued and implemented predominantly at two conceptual levels. These include 1) integrating the technical system with the receiving waterway environment, and 2) considering the interaction and influence of the human system with the technical system through processes such as stakeholder and public participation. Additionally, it is argued that the evolving shift towards the implementation of water-quality-based strategies advances the need for further development and application of integrated models and approaches. The cases of online physically based models for predictive control and integrated source control and public participation are presented as examples of such ongoing developments in pursuit of integrated urban storm-water management.