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Urban Drainage Systems and Stormwater Management, 2nd Edition
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Urban Drainage Systems and Stormwater Management, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1925

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yongwei Gong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Urban Stormwater System and Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China
Interests: urban rainfall runoff; low impact development (LID); urban flooding forecasting; urban flooding control; urban non-point source pollution; combined sewer overflow pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For this Special Issue, we are seeking the submission of papers on the topic of “Urban Drainage Systems and Stormwater Management, 2nd Edition”.

Extreme rainfall has occurred frequently in recent years, posing unprecedented challenges to urban drainage systems and stormwater management. Urban drainage systems not only need to meet daily demands for rainwater discharge, they also have to deal with the large amount of stormwater and surface runoff caused by extreme weather events. Stormwater management in cities is not only related to flood control and drainage safety but also involves the protection of the urban ecological environment and the sustainable utilization of water resources. Effective urban drainage systems and stormwater management can reduce urban flooding, improve urban environmental quality, and promote sustainable urban development. There are many factors that affect urban drainage and stormwater management, including, but not limited to, drainage system layout, drainage facility design, rainwater collection and utilization technology, urban greening, soil infiltration, intelligent monitoring, and real-time control technology. Traditional drainage system designs often struggle to adapt to rapidly changing urban environments and climate conditions, making the advancement of urban drainage systems and stormwater management technology particularly important. The above research content is closely related to the topic of urban drainage systems and stormwater management.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: urban drainage systems; urban flooding; low-impact development (LID); sponge city; urban rainwater collection; and urban resilience. We also welcome contributions related to the application of intelligent technology to control urban flooding.

Prof. Dr. Yongwei Gong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urban drainage systems
  • urban flooding
  • low-impact development (LID)
  • sponge city
  • urban rainwater collection
  • urban resilience

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 12766 KB  
Article
Evaluating the Resilience Gap: What Can Modern Beijing Learn from the Historical Water System of Yuan Dadu (1267–1368 CE)?
by Zi Hui and Jiaping Liu
Water 2026, 18(6), 735; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060735 - 20 Mar 2026
Viewed by 453
Abstract
Urban flood resilience is an important indicator for measuring a city’s capacity to respond to and recover from flood disasters. However, existing assessments often lack a long-term hydrological baseline. This study establishes the historical water system of Yuan Dadu (1267–1368 CE) as a [...] Read more.
Urban flood resilience is an important indicator for measuring a city’s capacity to respond to and recover from flood disasters. However, existing assessments often lack a long-term hydrological baseline. This study establishes the historical water system of Yuan Dadu (1267–1368 CE) as a control scenario to benchmark the flood resilience of modern Beijing. By integrating a historical geographic reconstruction with a hydrological–hydrodynamic simulation and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), the research quantifies structural differences in resilience profiles between the nature-adapted historical system and the modern engineering-dominated system. The results indicate that Yuan Dadu’s urban flood resilience index (UFRI) is 3.44 and modern Beijing’s is 3.28. Despite modern Beijing’s significant advantage in drainage facility density (0.61 km/km2) and emergency management, the system exhibits a functional substitution failure, where gray infrastructure has failed to fully compensate for a 26% reduction in the unit area storage capacity (from 6.4 to 4.7 × 104 m3/km2) and a 48.4% decline in the water system structural complexity. The findings indicate that, in rapidly urbanized cities on alluvial plains with high impervious coverage, expanding drainage networks alone may be insufficient to offset losses in a natural hydraulic buffering capacity. Accordingly, planning strategies are proposed that integrate distributed micro-storage and restore topological connectivity to recreate system-level hydraulic buffering functions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Drainage Systems and Stormwater Management, 2nd Edition)
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23 pages, 8944 KB  
Article
Impact of Clogging on the Infiltration Performance of Porous Asphalt Mixtures Under a GIS–USLE-Based Multiscale Assessment of Peri-Urban Sediment Loads: A Case Study in Boyacá, Colombia
by Andres Silva-Balaguera, Julian Villate-Corredor, Jessica Betancourt-Gonzalez, Karen Fuquene-Saenz and Luis Ángel Sañudo-Fontaneda
Water 2026, 18(6), 669; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060669 - 13 Mar 2026
Viewed by 548
Abstract
Clogging is the main mechanism that deteriorates the hydraulic functionality of permeable pavements, particularly in porous asphalt mixtures (PAM). This study evaluated the hydraulic impact of sediments from three peri-urban micro-watersheds in the Boyacá region of Colombia on the infiltration capacity of PAM. [...] Read more.
Clogging is the main mechanism that deteriorates the hydraulic functionality of permeable pavements, particularly in porous asphalt mixtures (PAM). This study evaluated the hydraulic impact of sediments from three peri-urban micro-watersheds in the Boyacá region of Colombia on the infiltration capacity of PAM. Road infrastructure and drainage conditions were analysed using orthophotos and field inspections to identify geomorphological factors that favour sediment transport toward the roadway. Annual erosion rates were estimated using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), and sediments were characterized both within the watersheds and at their outlet onto the road. Hydraulic performance was assessed through laboratory tests using a Falling Head Permeameter, complemented by field infiltration measurements with a Modified Cantabrian Infiltrometer (0.25 m2). Results showed erosion rates of up to 7.9 t/ha·year and infiltration losses above 90% under clogged conditions. A partial hydraulic recovery of around 40% was observed after maintenance, particularly when sediments exhibited a higher sand fraction. These findings demonstrate that combining USLE-based erosion modelling with controlled hydraulic testing provides a robust framework for evaluating clogging risks in peri-urban roads and offers new evidence on the hydraulic behaviour of PAM exposed to non-urban sediments in the design and maintenance of sustainable pavements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Drainage Systems and Stormwater Management, 2nd Edition)
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Graphical abstract

20 pages, 4585 KB  
Article
Metal Accumulation and Plant Performance in Controlled Bioretention Mesocosms
by Qianting Chen, Boming Wang, Guohong Zhang, Mengge Wang and Yongwei Gong
Water 2026, 18(5), 642; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18050642 - 8 Mar 2026
Viewed by 506
Abstract
Bioretention systems are increasingly implemented as green infrastructure for urban stormwater management. However, their long-term performance is jeopardized by the continuous accumulation of potentially toxic metals in substrates and vegetation, posing significant risks to ecosystem health and human safety. Despite their growing application, [...] Read more.
Bioretention systems are increasingly implemented as green infrastructure for urban stormwater management. However, their long-term performance is jeopardized by the continuous accumulation of potentially toxic metals in substrates and vegetation, posing significant risks to ecosystem health and human safety. Despite their growing application, the mechanisms driving metal dynamics and plant responses within these systems remain poorly understood. This study conducts a comprehensive multi-factor investigation into the accumulation, mobility, and biological impacts of four representative potentially toxic metals (Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb) in bioretention soils and vegetation. Through controlled mesocosm experiments, we quantified metal concentrations in soils and three plant species, analyzed alterations in the physical and chemical properties of soil, and assessed plant physiological stress responses. Metal concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and statistical analyses were conducted using one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05). Cadmium exhibited the highest enrichment, with plant uptake increasing by 330.0% to 563.2%, especially in Iris tectorum Maxim., which demonstrated superior phytoaccumulation potential. Conversely, Ophiopogon japonicus Ker Gawl. showed remarkable tolerance to metal-induced stress, maintaining stable levels of chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, peroxidase activity, and soluble sugar concentration. Notably, the incorporation of humic substances significantly enhanced metal immobilization in soil, while simultaneously reducing plant uptake and physiological stress, revealing a promising strategy for toxicity mitigation. By integrating the effects of plant species, substrate composition, and influent concentration, this study provides novel insights into the complex interactions governing pollutant fate in bioretention systems. The findings offer critical guidance for optimizing bioretention design and management to ensure sustained pollutant removal efficiency and ecological resilience in urban stormwater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Drainage Systems and Stormwater Management, 2nd Edition)
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