Yuming （Jim）Su, Golder Associates, Inc. Ph.D, P.E., D.WRE

Shengyi Qi, Meijun Chen, Rechsand Science and Technology

China “Sponge City” Initiative and International Collaboration

Opportunities

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Presentation Structure 1: Background / History2: Introduction to China’s Sponge City Initiative3: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly4: Collaboration Opportunities5: Summary

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1 Stormwater History in China / Background

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Water/Stormwater was an essential part of the Chinese culture

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3000 yrs ago Beijing – Stormwater Pipes

2200 yrs ago Catch Basins 南越国

5000 yrs ago, Liangzhu, China – reinforced earth dam structure for ricefarm and city diversion

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liangzhu_culture

Ref: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/南越国

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Xi an city – 2000 years ago Philadelphia – 200 years ago

Ref: http://www.phillyh2o.orgRef; http://gb.cri.cn/18824/2008/10/24/1062s2294992.htm

We tend to forget things when in rush

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http://www.linban.com/440000/431220.shtml

600 yr old – Nanjing City Wall, pore water release system

Road with poor drainage design

30 yrs of rapid urbanization • China

– … 234 cities flooded in 2013– … Economic loss from floods between 2011-2013 was RMB712.2 bn

• Example:• On July 21, 2012, a flash flood hit the city of Beijing

– floodwaters killed 79 people– loss US $1.6 billion

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Ref: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/17/asia/china-sponge-cities/index.html

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2012_Beijing_flood

2 Introduction to China’s Sponge City Initiative

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2013 Raise of Sponge City – By definition• In December 2013 President Xi Jipingannounced a national plan to combat flooding in China’s cities. “He said that during the upgrade of urban drainage infrastructure they should make it a priority to retain valuable water resources and to utilize the natural system to achieve drainage, to establish natural retention, natural infiltration and natural purification – like a sponge city,”

https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/oct/03/china-government-solve-urban-planning-flooding-sponge-cities

2014 – 2015 Guidance Document• In October 2014 the China Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a draft technical manual on Sponge City construction.– “based on LID system” – 88 pages

• Expanded and Reinforced in October 2015 by the State Council of China (Doc #75)

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http://www.cuwa.org.cn/waterknow/5187/7976/download/1435824129718.pdf

Ref: Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 2017, 11(4): 18 China’s Sponge City construction: A discussion on technical Approaches Haifeng Jia (✉)1, Zheng Wang1, Xiaoyue Zhen2, Mike Clar3, Shaw L. Yu4

2015 - 2016 Sponge City Pilot Cities

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• During 2015 and 2016, the China Ministry of Finance (MOF), with support from MHURC and the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), selected 30 cities, among more than five hundred applicants, as pilot sites.

• Each city is to receive 400 to 600 million Yuan (RMB) (60 to 90 million US$) annually from the central government for three years, with the total investment estimated to be about 42.3 billion Yuan (RMB) or 6.35 billion US$.

• Local matching is required and public-private partnerships (PPP) are encouraged.

• Cities will receive a 10% bonus from the central government if the PPP contribution exceeds a certain percentage of the overall budget.

Ref: Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 2017, 11(4): 18 China’s Sponge City construction: A discussion on technicalApproaches Haifeng Jia (✉)1, Zheng Wang1, Xiaoyue Zhen2, Mike Clar3, Shaw L. Yu4

2020- 2030: Aggressive Goals

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China State Council sets a sponge city control goal for 20% of the built-up areas by 2020；and 80% by 2030.

Figure - % of urban land area or impervious area to be managed vs. schedule

Note : definition of controlled / managed area varies. Not apple-to-apple in term of SWM

• Red： China –“Sponge City” since 2014

• Blue：Philadelphia – “Greened Acres” rules in “Green City, Clean Waters” since 2011

• Orange： New York - “Impervious AreasManagement”, NY GI Plan since 2011

Market Size• Per area– 15-23 million us$ / sq km

• 657 Cities nationwide

• Estimated market size– Varies by different source – Mostly in 0.2-1.6 trillion US$ range

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3 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly(incomplete list)

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The Good-1: All in or nothing• China is a “all in or nothing” country

• Intensive Efforts to Tackle Worst Issues

• Enormous Investments to Correct Huge Problems

• “High-Speed Train” Business Model– may not be good for environmental

related issues

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Est. Sponge city investment = $1000000000000 US$

The Good-2: Inline with International Trends• Green. Eco, Integrated, Resilience, and ….. Sustainable…• Low Impact Development and more

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The Good 3 – Some Positive Results Already

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The Bad 1: Lack of coordination among agencies, lack of education• MOHURD

– China Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

• MWR – China Ministry of Water Resources

• China EPA

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* MOFChina Ministry of Financing

Landscaping“

General Public

The Bad 2: Shortage on Technical Support / Experience / Readiness• Lack of technical back-up ,especially at local level• Lack of experience in management and implementation…• Local guidance and studies – far from sufficient (88 page of national Sponge City Construction Guidance document is not enough)

• …

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The Ugly -1: Some People

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• LID “Experts” overnight

• Misleading an undefined definition (Sponge City)– Limit knowledge– Profit driven

• Improving but still long way to go

The Ugly- 2: Sustainable?

• Finically? – SWM Fees– Spending and Cash-flow

• Management ? Experience?

• Longevity? Maintenance?

• Continuous Support? – Technical / non-technical

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The Ugly -3: Some Part of Market• ….

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Ref: Contech Engineering Solutions project - City Center Regional Stormwater Facility，Mountlake Terrace, Washington

Well…… Turning Ugly to Bad to Good• More and more

– Regulations– Guidance– Standards– Protocols– Case Studies

• More and more discussions on scientific – NPDES, TMDL, Integrated Watershed

Management, LCA, Cost Benefit, CSO experience

• Public Education / Involvement

• Stormwater Fees is being discussed– Long way to go but it is unavoidable

• Branding Guidance to be published

• Stormwater Organizations

• License / Training

• National -> State-level –> regional

• Expert –> user -> public

• Micro- and macro sponge city

• International Collaboration

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5 Collaboration Opportunities

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Boring to say “market is huge”, but I want to emphasis-• There is flow if any only if– Open

– Chinese are willing to try new things

– Capacity/Area– 600+ Cities– Trillion $ Business

– Difference– The Good– The Bad– The Ugly

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Collaboration - ResearchStormwater is NOT rocket science, but it is not easy. Big market and investments can not buy:

– Precision– Experience– Procedure

• Research to Research– Almost all areas are needed– Plus China-specific researches

• Research to Business– Researches to products– i.e. raingarden media, software, manufactured treatment devices, monitoring devises, smart technologies…

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Collaboration in Consulting • Technical support at various levels

– National level– Local level– Project level

• Examples:

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principal consultant for China’s Sponge City program in Wuhan City

Collaboration in Industry– Manufactured Treatment Devices

– PaveDrain– HydroInternational– Confidential– Confidential

– CSO– Design software – HydroCAD; PondPack; Models– Testing Protocol - TAPE TARP ETV– Certification process

– And more

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Collaboration - Government• Why USA? Why LID?

– US territory is large – similar to China– LID is the most well-known, so far

• Government level – Sponge City needs a lot of things, but most importantly is “the whole package” – How to plan and implement a successful system i.ePhiladelphia “Green City Clean Waters”.

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http://www.phillywatersheds.org/

https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2017/07/sponge-city-solutions-chinas-thirsty-flooded-cities/

x 600 =

5 Summary

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Summary• Enormous efforts in China to offset the stormwater issues due to rapid urbanization 600+ cities– One Trillion US$ market– Aggressive Schedule

• The Good, The Bad, The Ugly= the Difference = Opportunities

• This opportunity is a “Once-in-your-lifetime stormwater” event

• Need a lot of international Collaboration

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Thank You! – Yuming (Jim) Su, Ph.D. P.E. D.WRE• yumingsu@yahoo.com• (484) 535 0664

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