Green roads for water refer to roads that have secure transport functions combined with beneficial water management and climate resilience. There is probably no intervention globally with more impact on surface hydrology and landscapes as the construction of roads. Roads obstruct the flow of water, guide run-off, and accelerate it, and in the process trigger erosion and sedimentation.  In watersheds roads may rewrite the entire drainage pattern. In flood plains and coastal low lands they cut areas in two, causing waterlogging in one place and drying up in other places. This is one side of the story. The other part is that for road engineers water is usually highly problematic: water is seen as the prime enemy of roads. Particular in rural roads, water is the main cause of damage.

In MetaMeta we are aiming to change the way roads and roadsides are developed and maintained worldwide by incorporating water management, climate change adaptation and environmental protection into the design and maintenance of roads. There is a wide variety of available techniques to harvest road run-off depending on the geography as wells as on the local needs for water. These techniques can be applied on existing roads but also can be incorporated in the design of new roads. More info