| dc.description.abstract | This master’s thesis intends to investigate the municipal practice for storm water management in Norway. The following main research question is defined, in order to research this phenomenon: “What is the municipal practice in regard to storm water management?” Further, this question is broken down into the follow sub-questions, as to approach the phenomenon through different perspectives: “How does the legal framework give guidance for storm water management?”, “What differences exist in municipal practice for storm water management?”, and “How do local circumstances affect the required storage volume for storm water runoff, in a comparative analysis?”.
Three different municipalities are included in this study, with Kristiansand serving as the comparative baseline. The research approach is done through a mixed methods research, consisting of a literature review, with a purpose to understand, interpret and explain the applications of the legal framework, a small-N-study, produced to investigate the municipal practice qualitatively through interviews, and the respective municipal standard for storm water management, and a comparative case study to highlight eventual differences in a quantitative manner.
This paper concludes that the municipalities included in this research differ in their practice for storm water management. The legal framework applies to all the municipalities, but the practice differs slightly, based on circumstantial local nuances, represented in the respective municipal storm water management standard. Additionally, each municipality offers unique perspectives to the shortcomings of the legal framework. The circumstantial local factors show substantial differences in the quantitative case, where both the local rain characteristics and local municipal standards are contributing factors. | |