Glasgow’s smart canal transforming the city
The city of Glasgow has begun construction of Europe’s first ‘smart canal’ scheme to transform how the city thinks and manages rainfall to end uncontrollable flooding and improve water quality.
The £17 million North Glasgow Integrated Water Management System project, which uses the 250-year-old Forth & Clyde Canal, will involve sensor and predictive weather technology to provide early warning of wet weather before moving excess rainfall from residential and business areas into stretches of the canal where water levels have been lowered by as much as 10 cm. This will create 55,000 cubic meters of extra capacity for floodwater — equivalent to 22 Olympic swimming pools.
This project will see North Glasgow passively absorb, clean, and use rainfall intelligently with advanced warning of heavy rainfall automatically triggering a lowering of the canal water level to create capacity for surface runoff. Before heavy periods of rain, canal water will be moved through a network of newly created urban spaces, ranging from sustainable urban drainage ponds to granite channels, that absorb and manage water in a controlled way, creating space for surface water run-off. In addition, the project will unlock 110 hectares across the north of the city for investment, regeneration, and development.
The project is being delivered via a partnership of Glasgow City Council, Scottish Canals, and Scottish Water as part of the Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP). The MGSDP objectives are to:
- Reduce flood risks by contributing to and assisting partners and the Scottish Government in the implementation of the Flood Risk Management Act
- Improve river water quality as part of Scotland’s target of achieving a minimum of ‘good’ status for water bodies or to have them remain at their current status (if good or above) via the six-year planning cycles up to 2027
- Enable economic development by investing in an effective drainage system that can cope with a changing climate, improves the environment, and supports modern development requirements
- Improve habitat by taking a holistic approach to managing surface water that will reduce flood risk and enhance development opportunities all the while allowing residential areas to harmonize with the natural landscape and green spaces
- Integrate investment planning with planning authorities asked to consider steps they can take to contribute to the MGSDP, for instance ensuring local, regional, and national surface water management plans are being developed and there is significant land required to accommodate blue-green infrastructure
The take-out
Grey infrastructure can be transformed into 21st century, digitalized grey-green infrastructure solutions that mitigate flooding risks, enhance economic development, and improve the environment.
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