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Transforming Singapore’s stormwater system into climate-resilient urban waterways

The Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme is turning stormwater channels and reservoirs into vibrant, ecologically resilient environmental assets integrated with the urban landscape
Bukit Timah First Diversion Canal project
Water

Singapore’s early stormwater infrastructure was built out of necessity — concrete drains and canals designed to manage flood risks in a rapidly growing city facing intense rainfall and climate pressures.

Over time, Singapore strengthened its stormwater system through forward planning and major investments. Today, two‑thirds of Singapore is used as water catchment areas, with rainfall collected through an island-wide stormwater network of 8,000 kilometers of drains, canals and rivers and channeled into 17 reservoirs.

With this extensive infrastructure in place, stormwater and flood control systems — traditionally seen as functional backyard drains — evolved into opportunities to be redefined as vibrant environmental assets. In response, PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, launched the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Programme to transform stormwater management, supporting Singapore’s sustainable and climate-resilient future. Since 2006, Jacobs has supported PUB to help reimagine this network, transforming utilitarian waterways that strengthen climate resilience and urban livability.

  • Bukit Timah First Diversion Canal project

Inside Singapore’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme


The ABC Waters Programme reimagines the existing stormwater network into vibrant, aesthetically pleasing, biodiverse waterscapes where nature, infrastructure and community intersect. This transformation is guided by three key principles: 

  • Active: Creating new recreational and community spaces while bringing people closer to water 
  • Beautiful: Transforming concrete waterways into vibrant and picturesque waterscapes, well integrated with the urban environment 
  • Clean: Improving water quality through holistic management of water resources and public education by fostering better people-water relationships

The program plays a defining role in Singapore’s ambition to become a city of gardens and water. Find out more about the program.


Delivering 15 ABC Waters projects over nearly 20 Years collaborating with PUB 


Our work with PUB on the program creates social, cultural and economic value for communities while elevating Singapore’s overall livability. 


As PUB’s prime consultant on several flagship and award-winning projects, we have advanced the ABC Waters Programme through a multidisciplinary, integrated master‑planning approach. 

Across the island, we’ve embedded the program’s three core environmentally sustainable design features and enhancements:

  1. Swales: These slow and convey stormwater through shallow, planted channels — the vegetation traps sediments and pollutants, reducing erosion caused by fast‑moving runoff. 
  2. Bioretention swales: These combine a vegetated swale with a bioretention system — the swale carries flow while the bioretention zone filters runoff.
  3. Bioretention basins / Rain gardens: These operate like bioretention swales but function mainly as detention systems for frequent storms to maximize the volume of stormwater treated. 

 

Building a lasting culture of water stewardship 


By integrating Singapore’s blue spaces — waterways and waterbodies — with green spaces such as parks and green corridors, we’re reshaping how the community interacts with he built and natural environment. 


Bare canals now feature greenery, restored riverbanks and scenic pathways, while dry monsoon drains serve as multifunctional public spaces. Previously inaccessible waterbodies now host family activities, waterfront walks, kayaking and outdoor classrooms that promote water stewardship. 
 
Today, more than 300 groups, including schools, residents, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and businesses, have adopted ABC Waters sites to help keep them clean and vibrant. By bringing people closer to water and embedding sustainability into urban landscapes, the ABC Waters Programme shows how cities can transform essential infrastructure into places of beauty, resilience and community.

  • Bukit Timah First Diversion Canal project

  • Singapore is reshaping stormwater channels into thriving, biodiverse waterways that serve communities and support sustainability. Through the ABC Waters Programme, we’ve been partnering with PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency for more than 20 years, to reimagine these waterways and integrate them into the urban landscape, strengthening resilience and enhancing community and environmental wellbeing.
    Karthikeyan Kandaswamy
    Jacobs Director, Conveyance and Climate Resiliency
15

ABC Waters projects delivered with PUB  

20+

Jacobs team members involved 

12

parks and waterfronts developed (approximately)

Explore how we’re making a meaningful difference for people, nature and neighborhoods with ABC Waters projects: 

 

Boosting flood resilience and clearing the way for future development 

The upgrade of a key tributary of the Alexandra Canal will strengthen flood resilience across a 482-acre (195-hectare) urban catchment, enabling significant new developments to proceed with confidence.

Jacobs is leading the 1,289-foot (393-meter) enhancement, called the Stirling Road Outlet Drain Project, to increase drainage capacity and reduce flood risk, while embedding ABC Waters features that improve stormwater quality and naturalize the channel. By transforming the drain into a greener, more integrated waterway, the project will deliver long-term environmental and community benefits, supporting future growth ahead of its planned completion in 2030.

 

Enhancing flood safety while transforming public space into a greener corridor 

Jacobs is leading the Opera Estate Outlet Drain Project — a 1,296-foot (395‑meter) drainage upgrade designed to increase stormwater capacity and strengthen flood protection for surrounding communities. The improvements will move water more efficiently during heavy rainfall, helping reduce flood risk and improve long-term system reliability.

Because the corridor runs through a highly visited public space and near residential areas, the design integrates nature-based enhancements that create new blue-green spaces while blending seamlessly with existing park amenities and pathways. Construction is expected to be completed in 2027.

 

Strengthening stormwater resilience and elevating community park spaces

Jacobs is serving as prime consultant on Bedok First Subsidiary Drain Project that involves a 5,358-foot (1,633-meter) drainage upgrade designed to manage increased runoff from future developments and create a more resilient, integrated waterway.

The design transforms the surrounding park into an immersive landscape that brings people closer to the water while improving flood capacity and environmental performance. Construction is expected to be completed in 2029.

 

Transforming Singapore’s first fully integrated blue‑green waterway to set a new benchmark for urban resilience   

Kallang River – Bishan Park Project is a flagship ABC Waters project for the Central Catchment Master Plan and for PUB. Working with PUB, we reshaped a concrete canal into a living, meandering river and converted ponds into stormwater‑treating wetlands that support play, ecology and community life. 

This pioneering ABC Waters project became Singapore’s first development to fully embed stormwater infrastructure within land use while preserving hydraulic performance. Its breakthrough design earned major international and national awards, including World Architecture Festival Landscape of the Year and the President’s Design Award.

 

Other ABC Waters enhancement projects we’ve delivered include the Bedok Canal Project, Bukit Timah First Diversion Canal Project, Siglap Canal Project, Sungei Pandan Kechil Canal Project, and Kolam Ayer Project.