CLIMATE ADAPTATION
The Capital Region
becomes climate-ready
People all over the world will have to do something about
the challenges arising from climate change. Its effects
are many and varied, but the common denominator is
that effective preventive efforts are required based on
new knowledge, technological insight and good planning.
THE CHALLENGES
In Denmark, climate change means rising sea levels, more
extreme rainfall and winds, and drier summers. Nature
and the sewage system cannot cope with the torrential
downpours expected in the future.
In Denmark, we regard climate change as both a
challenge and an opportunity. It is a challenge to put in
place effective solutions to protect against increased
rainfall and higher water levels, for example. It is an
opportunity because climate change gives us the chance
to come up with smarter ways of organising society and
to reap the beneficial effects of adapting to the climate,
e.g. by exporting green technology and know-how.
The Capital Region of Denmark and its municipalities
are in the process of both planning and implementing
new solutions. The solutions cut across geographical and
administrative boundaries, and involve relevant players,
strategies, members of the public and businesses.
For example, car parks, playing fields and other green
areas are arranged to allow the water to drain away
locally or be held back temporarily. The water can often
be re-used, or it can be incorporated as a recreational
element in the cityscape or add to the diversity of green
areas. In the same way, new dykes by the sea coax more
people to venture into the great outdoors.
THE SOLUTIONS
The Region and municipalities have devised a joint
regional climate strategy and will counter these
challenges by:
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CLIMATE ADAPTATION
mapping risks to shed light on the sort of changes
that can be expected as a result of climate change in
the wake of rising sea levels and increasingly torrential
rain. The resultant maps will also identify the most
vulnerable areas, where the risk is greatest.
•
establishing a joint municipal and regional partnership
with the utilities to create innovative solutions to
future climate challenges. This way, information is
being exchanged to create a knowledge bank across
regulatory and municipal boundaries.
•
creating urban development in the Capital Region,
by jointly conceptualising climate adaptation and
recreational areas.
Kirsten and Tommy
Mortensen live in Grønnemosen, where homes have
been built on piling because
they are on a filled-in bog.
With the extensive project
involving local drainage
of water in Gladsaxe Municipality, Kirsten and her
neighbours hope they
have seen the last of being
flooded with sewage water
when there is a downpour.
By MARIANNE BOM
Photo CLAUS BJØRN LARSEN
Høje Gladsaxe
retains its water
Høje Gladsaxe is on a hilltop high above Copenhagen, and from it, floods of rainwater flow down,
overloading the sewers during torrential downpours. Thus, cellars, roads and the countryside at
the bottom of the hill frequently become flooded with waste water. But now, an extensive project
involving local drainage of rainwater is putting a stop to that. The residents will also benefit from
new green spaces.
•
With the sun shining in clear blue
skies above the villas of Grønnemosen, and the apple trees in blossom,
it is difficult to imagine how the place
looks during a really heavy downpour.
On one of those days, the sky
is grey; the rain pelts down and,
worst of all, the drains overflow and
transform the gardens into the most
unsavoury lakes you could possibly
imagine.
The villa district is at the bottom
of the hill on which the Høje Gladsaxe
housing complex is built, and down
below, the town’s waste water often
ends up in gardens and homes after
a downpour. There was nowhere for
the water to go in the overloaded
sewers.
Kirsten Mortensen lives in Grønne­
mosen, and she recalls with horror
how things looked here the last time
the horizon was completely blotted
out in July 2011.
“Our neighbour in there had water
in the basement. So did the neighbours up there,” she says, pointing
right and left. “There was a lake of
sewage across the gardens, and
when the water receded, there were
sanitary towels and condoms left
behind. We couldn’t eat the vege­
tables from our garden that year.”
The water did not come into
Kirsten Mortensen’s own house. The
water stopped a few metres from
the front door.
This day in May, like many of her
neighbours, she is about to have
a chat with a landscape gardener
who will be replanting their gardens,
as the Nordvand utility has finished
excavating a new rainwater channel.
The excavation work has been
difficult for the villa owners, but on
the other hand, the rainwater will
now be separated from the foul
water in two separate pipes, and
accordingly – because Nordvand is
implementing a far-reaching initiative
with local drainage of rainwater on
the hill – this should spell the end of
the unsavoury flooding.
Kirsten is grateful for Nordvand’s
efforts, “but we’ll believe it’s working
when we see it,” she says with a
healthy scepticism that comes from
having been troubled by downpours
for many years.
DIALOGUE PAVES THE WAY
FOR GOOD SOLUTIONS
Bo Brøndum Pedersen, an engineer
and project manager with the Nordvand utility, is in Grønnemosen too.
He is showing us around by bicycle,
and in many places, people shout
“Hello” to him.
He is a familiar face, because
Nordvand has been in close dialogue
with all the stakeholders: villa owners,
residents in a housing association
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CLIMATE ADAPTATION
WHAT?
In an area equivalent to 200
football pitches in Gladsaxe
Municipality, a cohesive
system has been put together
to drain rainwater locally so
that the water does not run
into the sewer but emerges
as a little stream.
WHO?
The Nordvand utility, Gladsaxe
Municipality, Gladsaxe Almene
Andelsboligforening (cooperative housing association)
(Marielyst division), the Danish
Nature Agency, Realdania,
The Danish Foundation for
Culture and Sports Facilities.
HOW?
• By coordinating several
sub-projects – in a villa area,
a housing association and a
sports centre.
• Through in-depth dialogue
with users.
• By entering into good
contracts that take account
of future issues, e.g.
maintenance and allocation
of responsibility when the
water runs over property
demarcations.
HOW MUCH?
DKK 130 million
THE RESULT?
• No more foul water outside
the sewer.
• Less strain on the
purification plant.
• Less pressure on sewers in
neighbouring municipalities
and thus less risk of flooding
there.
• New recreational areas.
and the management of a sports
centre. Dialogue has helped to put
all the pieces of the puzzle together;
consequently, within four years,
Gladsaxe has got the run-off water
under control from an area equivalent
to 200 football pitches. Now the
water no longer runs into the sewer,
but emerges as a little stream.
“Whenever we have come across
an obstacle, we have involved the
stakeholders instead of squelching
them. This has added to the complexity. But dialogue is what has paved
the way for such a cohesive solution
to be put in place so quickly,” according to Bo, who has now cycled up
to the top of the hill where Gladsaxe
sports centre has 11 pitches, six
halls and a stadium.
Here, Bo greets Holger Kortbek,
the municipal director of sports, who
is just about to start changing the
face of the green areas. There are
going to be hills, lakes, ditches and
pools to enable the centre to retain
3,000 m3 of water and cope with
the heaviest downpours that can be
expected within a ten-year horizon.
Thanks to foundation grants, the
sports centre is now able to make
the new rainwater solutions serve
a dual purpose so that there will
be new provision for spontaneous
visitors such as joggers, skateboarders and children and young
people who do not take part in
organised sports. For example, they
will have a paddle-tennis court, a
climbing area, a water playground
and a bouncy cushion.
“We used to have a fence all the
way around. That has been torn
down because we wanted to invite
the locals in – including people who
are not actively involved in organised
sports,” Holger Kortbek explains.
FREE GREEN AREAS
Johnny Ryttersson lives slightly
further down the hill. He is the
chairman of the Marielyst housing
association, which has 560 rental
properties including yellow terraced
houses and apartment blocks. Here,
excavators are starting to dig out the
last of the ditches, lakes and depressions so that Marielyst will soon be
able to cope with all the rainwater
without any of it entering the sewers.
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CLIMATE ADAPTATION
This has resulted in days of noise,
mud and workmen, but the good
news is that the housing scheme
will no longer get water in the basements, and the residents will be able
to enjoy more interesting green areas
of vegetation that they themselves
have chosen.
All without costing the residents
a single penny. Nordvand is paying
because this will save the utility
from having to deal with Marielyst’s
floodwaters.
“It’s going to be really beautiful,”
Johnny Ryttersson exclaims. Initially,
he could not understand how they
would be getting new green areas
free of charge. He was certain a
bill would arrive at some point. But
now he can rest assured, because a
contract has been entered into that
gives Marielyst the right to use an
overflow pipe for Nordvand’s system
during peak loads.
COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF
From Marielyst, a path leads down
the hill. This is Vandledningsstien
(the water conduit path), which lives
up to its name with large grassy
areas and pools designed to retain
3,500 m3 of water. The path leads
through a new tunnel to another part
of Høje Gladsaxe. The water project
made it possible to construct that
particular tunnel, so now children and
everyone else can get around safely
on bicycles or on foot.
Now there is only one last item to
be seen on the tour. It is an ingenious
system of pools and lakes near the
bottom of the hill. Here, rainwater
is pumped up into a lake at the top
of a hill, where it seeps down and is
filtered before emerging as a pure
little stream that flows into the
ecosystem.
Bo B. Pedersen, the project
manager, is happy to show any other
visitors around too:
“From where we are, you can
pretty much see the whole gambit
of local water drainage solutions
operating in a continuous area. We
can put forward reasons why one
solution should be used in preference
to another, and we can explain how
we get people to go along with the
changes, even though change is
always difficult while it is happening.”
Bo Brøndum Pedersen managed the project of draining
rainwater from an entire hillside, an area equivalent to 200
football pitches, to prevent the water from entering the sewers.
This has made him a familiar face, because the Nordvand
utility wanted positive dialogue with everyone involved.
THE REGION AND MUNICIPALITIES SHOW THE WAY AHEAD
COPENHAGEN IS GREEN AT THE TOP
Copenhagen is renowned for its “skyline” of towers and spires,
but the green roofs of the city are also noteworthy. Since
2009, the City of Copenhagen has been focusing its efforts on
establishing more green roofs in order to save energy, reduce
carbon emissions and deal efficiently with rainwater. The City
is leading developments by creating its own roof plantings, and
all local area plans for new construction include provisions on
establishing vegetation on roofs wherever feasible.
ALBERTSLUND BRACED FOR MORE WATER
ISHØJ SOLVES VILLAGE WATER PROBLEM
Tranegilde is a quaint little village of approximately 40 houses
south of Copenhagen, surrounded by pastures for horses and
cows. For many years, however, the village has been troubled by
excess water whenever there is a downpour. The conventional
approach would be to excavate to put in bigger sewers, but
instead Tranegilde has solved its water problem through a
combination of sewers, watercourses, new lakes and wetland
areas on the outskirts of the village. Ishøj’s utility and the
Municipality were behind the project.
The construction of large housing schemes in the Albertslund
suburb of Copenhagen in the 1960s and ’70s involved a new
way of thinking. The area was constructed with two separate
systems, one for rainwater and one for foul water. Even back
then, they thought in terms of constructing rainwater pools for
use as green areas and to prevent the rainwater from running
into the rivers and harming flora and fauna. These ideas have
been continued in recent years as the need for expansion grew.
Anyone wishing to do so can take a cycle trip around and look at
all the contemporary solutions, channels and wetlands.
LARGER, EVEN MORE FUN LAKE IN TAASTRUP
FREDENSBORG TAMES THE RIVER USSERØD Å
WORKING TOGETHER TO ADAPT TO THE CLIMATE
On a rainy day in August 2010, the otherwise peaceful River
Usserød Å was transformed into an angry torrent that flooded
approximately 50 homes in Kokkedal, north of Copenhagen. The
Municipality, Fredensborg Forsyningsselskab utility company and
two housing associations currently have an extensive climate
project under way. 95% of the rainwater collects on the surface
instead of running directly into the river or the sewer. The town
will also benefit from new green spaces. Three municipalities
along the river are also working together to avoid future flooding.
Selsmose is a lake in the centre of the town of Taastrup, west of
Copenhagen. When it rains, the lake and a pool act as a buffer to
prevent the town from flooding, but with the heavy rainfall resulting
from climate change, Høje-Taastrup Municipality and HTK Kloak
A/S decided to enlarge the lake from 17,000 m2 to 29,500 m2
and to establish a new rainwater pool. With assistance from
foundations, the town was able to select a solution that opened
up new recreational opportunities for the town: beach volleyball,
climbing, a jogging path, sailing and scope for playing with water.
Water takes no notice of municipal boundaries. That is why 22
municipalities and 12 utility companies in the Capital Region are
working together to prevent damage after torrential downpours.
The KLIKOVAND partnership has helped many municipalities
achieve their aims with regard to a plan for adapting to the
climate. The partnership is based on a shared desire to ensure
proper coordination and use of the billions of kroner to be invested
in climate adaptation in the years ahead. The partnership is
financed by the Capital Region and the other participants.
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CLIMATE ADAPTATION