Climate change adaptation using low impact development for stormwater management in a Nordic catchment

Climate change is raising a need to adapt stormwater management systems to altered conditions. Low Impact Development (LID) controls are regarded as a promising solution for adaptation in urban areas. The main objective was to demonstrate how LID controls function in climate change adaptation. The analysis used air temperature and precipitation from regional climate model with RCP8.5 emission scenario as input to the Storm Water Management Model. Urban runoff and snow dynamics were simulated in historical, mid and far-future periods. With the increase in mean air temperature, snow water equivalent reduces, which alters the seasonal runoff behavior in the future. To alleviate the climate change impacts, subcatchments generating high total runoff volumes were determined for LID implementation. Bioretention cells, permeable pavements and green roofs achieved runoff volume reduction in summer, while also having some impact on other seasons. Permeable pavements and bioretention cells behaved similarly throughout the year, but green roofs had a negligible runoff volume reduction in winter. This study highlights that LID adaptation design for summer flow events does not behave similarly in other seasons.