Cities as water supply catchments
| Objective: | To develop more efficient and effective approaches to urban water demand management and supply, and planning - including water sensitive urban design. |
| Funding: | $1.8m (plus applicable GST). Funding and in-kind contributions from research organisations and industry partners will support phase 1 total funding of $13.5m. |
| Jurisdiction: | National |
| Commencing: | 2 February 2010 |
| Completion: | Stage 1 - December 2012 |
About the project
At the ceremony to launch the Cities as water supply catchments project.
The project is an integrated research program comprising eight projects that will deliver practical research products to support further stormwater harvesting in Australia's cities. It will also progress water-sensitive cities objectives.
The objective is to develop integrated stormwater harvesting solutions and provide a pathway to realising water-sensitive cities. The urban water reform agenda of the National Water Initiative (NWI) seeks to encourage further innovation in urban water use by promoting water-sensitive designs for recycled water and stormwater. The project will contribute to delivering urban solutions for healthy, safe and reliable water supplies.
The project will also investigate methods to make urban water resilient to the effects of climate change. This will be achieved through building water-sensitive cities with green infrastructure to improve urban micro-climates, and the overall liveability of Australian cities. Other key deliverables include improving the health of aquatic ecosystems and developing innovative institutional arrangements to deliver more sustainable cities.
Urban stormwater harvesting systems are a relatively recent technology and a number of important knowledge gaps are impeding greater adoption within urban water systems, including the need to:
- develop cost-effective and sustainable stormwater technologies
- develop a robust method to assess the impact of climate change on stormwater systems design/performance
- better examine the appropriate levels of harvesting to maintain stream health
- quantify the benefits of large-scale harvesting
- understand how cities can best put in place institutional arrangements to assist with the widespread adoption of decentralised systems
- better understand perceived public health risks.
The research consortium is led by Monash University and includes Melbourne and Queensland Universities and AECOM Planning + Design. The research program will address the scientific, technological, and governance issues that limit the efficient and effective capture and re-use of stormwater.
Eight integrated research projects will be delivered under the program, with research focusing on:
- developing new, effective and proven stormwater harvesting technologies that meet health regulation requirements
- developing robust decision tools to effectively evaluate the economic costs and benefits of the new technologies
- developing research and decision tools on the benefits of stormwater technologies in dealing with climate change and urban liveability
- research into the governance and institutional issues required to support further reform and the uptake of stormwater harvesting
- demonstration trials in partnership with industry.
The Cities as Water Supply Catchments project will deliver a blueprint to progressing water-sensitive cities. This will be a "how to" guide on managing urban stormwater and integrating the appropriate technologies into urban design when planning developments and re-developments. Other products will include toolkits to support the delivery of the blueprint and demonstration sites.
A broad set of industry partners has signed on to both support the research program and use the results. Industry partners are drawn from the local government sector in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia, the water utility sector, natural resource management bodies in NSW and South Australia, and the urban development sector.
The project will be supported by a knowledge and adoption strategy and website to ensure the results are delivered to industry, communities and local governments and to support the uptake of the research outcomes.
Project benefits
The key benefits of the research program include:
- the development of a body of research and tools to assist jurisdictions to develop approaches to, and objectives for water-sensitive cities
- robust methodologies and tools to support informed decisions on efficient investments in stormwater harvesting approaches
- a coordinated approach that accesses skills nationally, has strong links to industry across a range of sectors, with demonstrated research outcomes.