Project implementation: India
Project development: India, Netherlands
City of 1,000 Tanks, Chennai – Holistic urban strategy to combat floods, droughts and pollution through blue-green strategies.
Chennai is at risk of running out of water in the next decade, given its projected population increase and groundwater depletion. The City of 1,000 Tanks project, part of the Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia program, identifies the interrelationships between the underlying causes of flooding, water scarcity, and pollution in Chennai and offers a holistic solution to these three problems. It is developing a citywide Water Balance Model by harvesting rainwater, treating wastewater and runoff pollution with decentralized Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), and recharging both to the groundwater aquifer. This will prevent climate-change-induced droughts by increasing groundwater reserves and prevent saline intrusion from sea-level rise.
It will simultaneously mitigate risks associated with high-frequency flooding and sewage pollution. This project aims to address supply-side challenges by creating water retention and supply capacities of 200-250 MLD (Million Liters per Day) in the first two phases (compared to a current urban demand of 1,580 MLD).
The 1,000-Tank City Water Balance Pilot at Little Flower Convent School for the Blind and Deaf is a transformative demonstration project that envisions a water-abundant Chennai. Using NBS, the project repaired damaged infrastructure, harvested rainwater, and treated wastewater on-site to recharge the aquifer, thus ensuring local water security and climate resilience for Little Flower Convent, a school with 500 students with visual and hearing impairments.
This replicable and scalable demonstration project investigates the processes and steps needed to achieve the required change and aims to engage government departments, resident groups, businesses, and institutions; thus enabling implementation at district, municipal, and urban levels.
The project is funded by the Government of the Netherlands and co-financed by the Goethe Institut and the Wipro Grants Program. City of 1,000 Tanks is Chennai's first collaborative water alliance, led by OOZE architects & urbanists with Madras Terrace, IIT Madras, Care Earth Trust, Eco Village International, Atma Water, IRCDUC, Uravugal Social Welfare Trust, Paperman Foundation, Rain Center, TU-Delft, HKV, and others.
OOZE architects & urbanists was founded in 2003 by Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg in Rotterdam. They are passionate professionals who love working in complex, rapidly evolving environments with public and cultural sector clients, focusing on the benefits to society and the natural environment. OOZE specializes in strategic and holistic systems thinking at the urban and neighborhood scale, as well as in the development of bankable concepts that mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
www.ooze.eu.com
www.cityof1000tanks.org