The aim of the AISUWRS project was to develop assessment tools that would improve the sustainability of urban water resources and systems and to illustrate the practicability of their application through the medium of case studies. These tools comprise a chain of interconnected models that link urban water supply, urban drainage and urban groundwater resources in terms of quality and quantity. Parallel with the model development, AISUWRS teams undertook detailed field investigations on the impact of wastewater management on groundwater (a poorly quantified area of urban hydrogeology), which combined the quantification of the source (e.g. the leaky sewer network) with the monitoring and modelling of the groundwater as the receiving water body.
The socio-economic analysis in the case study cities sometimes uncovered distinctively different problem perceptions and priorities, both in the groups of experts responsible for the water management and with the remaining stakeholders. The AISUWRS project has developed tools to foster these urgently required deliberation processes. Methodologies for formal sustainability assessment with a triple bottom line background were also elaborated and tested during the case studies.
This book provides a concise documentation on each of the models developed within the project. The application and use of the models and methodologies is demonstrated by the set of four case study cities, which have diverse conditions in terms of hydrogeologic setup, climate and data availability. These have shown that the approach is valid and constitutes an important step towards integrated water management for those cities fortunate enough to be located upon a productive aquifer.