SCCWRP hosts transcontinental stormwater management workshop in India

Leading stormwater scientists from across three continents came together at a SCCWRP-facilitated forum in India in March to discuss more effective ways to capture and use rainfall runoff in drought-prone areas.

The two-day workshop, which was funded through a grant from the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum, brought together 16 scientists from the United States, India and Australia for an in-depth discussion on large-scale best practices for urban stormwater management. Five participants came from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), two from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), four from the University of California, Irvine, one from UCLA, and one from the University of Melbourne. All but five were able to attend in person.

The workshop, titled “Transforming Stormwater into a Resource: Design, Risks, & Benefits,” took place March 16-17 at the Metropolitan Hotel in downtown New Dehli. It was organized by SCCWRP hydrogeologist Dr. Ashmita Sengupta and a counterpart at the Indian Institute of Technology, Dr. M.L. Kansal. Dr. Eric Stein, head of SCCWRP’s Biology Department, also attended.

Four review papers that follow from that workshop will explore various facets of using low-impact development (LID) strategies to reclaim stormwater in the U.S. and India.

The first paper will focus on the hydrological and ecological impacts of climate change on India and the U.S. The second will examine how different nations define and monitor environmental flows. The third will delve into governance issues associated with water management offsets. And the fourth will look at future demand for recycled stormwater and obstacles to implementation.

The review papers are expected to be published by the end of 2015.

The India stormwater workshop was one of seven proposals selected by the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum to be funded for 2014-15. Grant winners were announced in July 2014.

The annual IUSSTF workshops take place in either India or the United States, and span a wide variety of science and technology disciplines. IUSSTF’s goal is to promote interaction and collaboration between U.S. and Indian researchers in academia, R&D laboratories, industry and government.

For more information about the workshop, contact Dr. Ashmita Sengupta.