Partnership Agreement for North Glasgow Integrated Water Management System Formally Approved

On 30th November, Glasgow City Council formally gave approval to entering into a partnership agreement with Scottish Canals and Scottish Water to facilitate the integrated project delivery of the North Glasgow Integrated Water Management System (NGIWMS).

This is an innovative system that will use the Forth and Clyde Canal and new technology to tackle the capacity - and therefore potential flooding - issues that on occasion face the sewer network in the north of the city. In addition, the NGIWMS will allow for land release for the development of over 2,500 homes in the area at sites such as Cowlairs, Hamiltonhill, 100 Acre Hill and Ruchill Hospital.

The £4.7million project - part-funded by the Glasgow City Region City Deal - will use the capacity of a section of the canal to store and transport surface water from North Glasgow to the River Kelvin.

Using the canal to store over 55,000 cubic metres of flood storage during storms will be achieved by automatically reducing water levels - through Glasgow's SMART City platform - in the canal 24 hours ahead of a forecasted storm / flood event. Such action reduces the area required to be set aside on development sites for flood storage and so increases the number of potential new homes on those sites.

In addition to managing flood risk and facilitating regeneration of the north Glasgow area, including Sighthill, the new water management SuDS will safeguard water quality, improve habitat for wildlife and deliver infrastructure to facilitate green infrastructure improvements funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Scottish programme for 2014-2020, which is led by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Funding for the project is also being provided from the Scotland's 8th City - the Smart City initiative - www.scottishcities.org.uk/workstreams/8th-city

This ambitious initiative, also within the ERDF 2014-2020 programme, involves Scottish cities working together to expand their Smart City capabilities and deliver priorities through innovation, integration of service delivery, and improved community engagement.

Pre-construction activities to deliver the NGIWMS commenced late 2017 with the main construction works to start in early 2018.

(Winter 2017-18 Newsletter)