Cities as Water Supply Catchments

Specifically, the multi-disciplinary Research Program aims to harness the potential of stormwater to overcome water shortages, reduce urban temperatures, and improve the landscape and liveability of Australian cities by investigating the means to combine existing centralised water infrastructure with new decentralised systems at the household, street and neighourbood levels – facilitating a transition to Water Sensitive Cities.

Click Here to read a document that summarises why and how the Research Program creates a solution in this regard.

• Project 1 Sustainable Technologies

This project will identify and improve stormwater harvesting solutions that can be adopted using proven Water Sensitive Urban Design technologies; such as raingardens, street tree pits, wetlands, porous pavements, etc.  Stormwater would be treated and reused at different scales and levels by individual houses, a whole street and entire neighbourhoods and would also provide a level of flooding protection.

• Project 2 Climate Change

Climate Change is understood to lead to more variable, less predictable weather patterns, which makes it difficult to plan the design, construction and maintenance of stormwater management systems into the future.  This project will develop methods to assess the impact of climate change on variable rainfall patterns that can be integrated into the design and performance of stormwater management systems in the face of Climate Change.

• Project 3 Green Cities & Micro-Climate

The Urban Heat Island Effect identifies urban climates as generally warmer and drier than natural climates before development.  Comparisons will be drawn between different environments (urban, rural and natural) in order to define how stormwater harvesting can be used to assist returning urban climate temperatures to more  natural levels without having to use artificial cooling.

• Project 4 Stream Ecology

Since European settlement, our cities have caused the degradation of our streams, rivers and oceans because of both the quantity of water that erodes our streams and the toxins and impurities carried within stormwater that pollutes our waterways.  The aim of this project is to investigate the role stormwater harvesting can have on reducing the impacts of urbanisation on our waterways and to assess methods for improving them.

• Project 5 Risks and Health

In order to ensure urban stormwater can be used safely and more widely than it is currently used; this project will study the issues and solutions related to harvesting and reusing stormwater for drinking and other uses within our cities.

• Project 6 Society and Institutions

In the last few decades, water management and use in our cities has undergone the greatest change since settlement and particularly in the face of water scarcity, growing populations, climate change and a better understanding of the human impacts on our waterways.  To reflect these changes, the institutions responsible for managing our urban water also need to change.  For example, community education, resourcing, responsibility, knowledge, vision, commitment and coordination.

The aim of this project is to assist institutions in making this change by identifying and demonstrating the advantages to proactively progress the adoption of harvested stormwater at different scales and levels by individual houses, a whole street or entire neighbourhoods.

• Project 7 Economic Valuation

Unlike stormwater harvesting, traditional stormwater management systems do not build resilience in our cities to modern day issues such as water scarcity, population growth, urban sprawl, environmental protection and climate change.  One of the key challenges for widespread application of stormwater harvesting systems is in the economics of these solutions compared with traditional options of capture, remove and discharge to our waterways.

The economics of building resilience in future cities is a fundamental aim of this project.  This project compares technologies and encourages the adoption of systems with the greatest potential for resilience and social gain, rather than continuing to rely solely on traditional solutions.

• Project 8 Integration & Demonstration Through Urban Design

This project provides a practical, whole-system analysis and demonstration of the potential of urban stormwater as a viable water resource by integrating the findings from the 7 other projects.  The findings will be translated into design and via at least one urban development demonstration site established in key Australian urban centres.  The sites would set the benchmark for industry and government partnerships in re-developing existing infrastructure, and for planning new urban designs to realise Cities as Water Supply Catchments.

As a group, the Consortium have committed a total of  $90,000 per year for the length of the Research Program.  Individually, commitments include $10,000 plus $2,500 administration fees (paid to the SMCMA to facilitate governance, capacity building and communication initiatives) each year for the length of the Program.  Each has also committed a considerable amount of in-kind contributions to investigate opportunities for embedding research outputs within their operations:

• Blacktown City Council;
• Fairfield City Council;
• Hornsby Shire Council;
• Ku Ring Gai Municipal Council;
• NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure;
• Parramatta City Council;
• City of Sydney;
• Warringah Council.

• Local Government Area or other jurisdiction lies within the Sydney Metropolitan region;
• Sign a pre-existing Memorandum of Understanding;
• Provide written commitment by 30 June 2011 of paying $10,000 plus a $2,050 consortium administration fee per year for the life of the Program and until 30 June 2015.  Note, the $2,050 administration fee is reviewed annually. 

Marrickville Council in the inner west of Sydney has long been at the forefront of sustainable urban water management research with Monash University and sees the great beneffits of being involved in this Research Program to become a Water Sensitive City.  Independent of the Sydney Metropolitan Consortium, Marrickville has committed $50,000 funding per year for the life of the research program.

The Salinity & Water Quality Alliance is a group of 13 NSW Councils – Bathurst Regional, Blayney Shire, Bogan Shire, Cabonne Shire, Coonamble Shire, Dubbo City, Gilgandra Shire, Mid-Western Regional, Narromine Shire, Orange City, Warren Shire, Warrumbungle Shire and Wellington Shire Councils  – undertaking water quality projects across the catchment, in collaboration with the Central West Catchment Management Authority.  The Alliance’s goal is to achieve on-ground natural resource management outcomes while developing local level policy frameworks.  The Research Program will assist in laying the foundations for the adoption of water sensitive urban design into everyday practice across regional NSW.  The Central West CMA, on behalf of the Alliance, has committed $50,000 to the life of the Research Program, independent of the Sydney Metropolitan Consortium.