{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T14:48:48Z","timestamp":1775141328847,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,19]],"date-time":"2022-05-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1652918400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["UIDB\/04625\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04625\/2020"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>One of the most complex and difficult questions to answer concerns how to organize and economically support public services of all kinds. In terms of services that involve a multiplicity of actors and objectives, as is the case with urban stormwater management, the difficulty is magnified and resources never seem to be sufficient. This paper reviews the successful approaches to stormwater management in a number of countries and concludes that it is both feasible and possible to successfully structure stormwater management in cities using a variety of models and incentives. With examples from cases practiced in the USA and Canada, based theoretically on the user-pays principle and on the fair distribution of impacts, the text innovates showing not only a technically and legally viable option, but an opportunity for users to become aware of the importance of reducing environmental impacts. By raising the possibility of delivering services out of the general public budget, reducing the taxation of all in exchange for charging only users and improving the performance, the discussion is directed, in an innovative way, to a very rarely questioned aspect and links the change in mentality from and economic way of thinking towards the new stormwater paradigm shift and SDGs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su14106179","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,20]],"date-time":"2022-05-20T00:18:11Z","timestamp":1653005891000},"page":"6179","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Stormwater Utilities: A Sustainable Answer to Many Questions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Carlos","family":"Novaes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CERIS, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico (IST), University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0344-5200","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CERIS, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico (IST), University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"See, L.S., Calo, L., Bannon, B., and Opdyke, A. (2020). An open data approach to mapping urban drainage infrastructure in developing communities. Water, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/w12071880"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Pinheiro, C.B. (2019). Pol\u00edticas P\u00fablicas de Manejo de \u00c1guas Pluviais em Belo Horizonte: Novos Caminhos em Meio a Velhas Pr\u00e1ticas. [Master\u2019s Thesis, Federal University of Minas Gerais]."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Imhoff, K., and Imhoff, K.R. (1985). 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