Stormwater Management

The 2010 stormwater management team is focusing on a road in C-Section of Monwabisi Park to develop methods of how to effectively and efficiently redirect the water to limit the amount of flooding experienced by the residents living alongside the road.  The team is working closely with Dr. Kevin Winter, a Professor at the University of Cape Town, and it is also sponsored by the VPUU, an upgrading program founded by the City of Cape Town.

Mission:

Stormwater Team (left to right; Edwin Muniz, Rodrigo Ma, Co-Researcher Thabo, Elisabeth Jeyaraj, Kaylyn Button)

By working with the University of Cape Town, the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading Programme and the local residents, the WPI Stormwater Management Team has created a guidebook to address stormwater issues in Monwabisi Park, Khayelitsha. The team has been focusing on the main road in C-Section to help the residents in and around this site to understand and prevent underlying causes of stormwater issues, which result in flooding damages.

Objectives:

The team has developed five main objectives for implementing a successful project:

1. Identify flooding hot spots along the selected C-section road

2. Determine interview methods to obtain accurate resident feedback regarding existing preventative techniques to identify what works and what does not work

3. Measure and model the spatial conditions of the hot spots

4. Generate alternative design ideas to be implemented in specific, appropriate sections of the C-section road

5. Produce a guide book outlining existing conditions and possible solutions and possible solutions to be implemented for use by the VPUU as well as a similar brochure to be used by the local residents

To view the Team’s Methods click here (Mission and Methods)

Stormwater Philosophy:

The Stormwater Management team has arrived at Monwabisi Park, Khayelitsha with a vision to review stormwater management issues in a socially responsible way, to develop sustainable solutions to such issues, and to effectively propose said interventions to a greater authority such as the VPUU. Its hopes have been to leave Monwabisi Park, its residents, and the City of Cape Town with ample guidance and options in sufficiently addressing the stormwater management shortcomings so pronounced within the informal settlement of Monwabisi Park, Khayelitsha.

Results:

After the team had gathered all of the information needed from Monwabisi Park – interviews, measurements and photos – it analyzed the data and produced three items for two different audiences: a guidebook and poster for the VPUU, and a brochure for the residents of Monwabisi Park. Through the interviews, the team was also able to get a scope of the social dimension of flooding and how residents would behave if some of the proposed solutions were implemented.

Deliverables:

Stormwater Guidebook [4,871 KB]

Stormwater Poster [396 KB]

Stormwater Brochure [709 KB]

The Stormwater Management team has produced two other reports:, an executive summary and a draft working paper for submission to Dr. Winter and possible eventual publication. These reports outline the major aspects of the team’s work, it’s findings, and recommendations for future work in the area of stormwater management.

CTPC10 Stormwater Executive Summary for WPI [1,757 KB]