Creating WaterRight gardens and gardeners across Australia
Project details
| Objective: | To help Australian residents become water smart gardeners (using less water and achieving the same result) through the development of best practice guidelines and tools. |
| Funding: | up to $500,000 plus applicable GST from the Australian Government towards cost associated with supporting the work program. Total value of the project is $687,000 with $200,940 being contributed by URS Australia Pty Ltd, AWA and water utilities in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide. |
| Jurisdiction: | Multi State |
| Commenced: | September 2007 |
| Completion: | December 2010 |
Progress
About the project
This project helps Australian residents in their efforts to become water smart gardeners (using less water and achieving the same result) through the development of best practice guidelines and tools.
The project provides information and tools to the community on how they can use water more efficiently in their outdoor areas without necessarily changing the design of their existing gardens. Guidelines and web tools, tailored to specific locations, are being developed in each of the participating capital cities.
Residents are able to undertake an assessment of their own gardens, review and select plants appropriate to their areas and get information on how often to water, how much water to apply and when not to water because of rain and evaporation. New information on how to design water efficient landscapes is also available. Educational tools and content have been developed as a basis for further dissemination.
The project is being delivered over three years and will be implemented initially across greater Sydney (approximate population 4.25 million people), with the support of Sydney Water Corporation. It will then be rolled out across Canberra and Adelaide in association with relevant water authorities/managers.
Project benefits
The project will increase Australia's capacity to reduce outdoor garden irrigation and contribute to securing urban drinking water supplies by developing and providing access to best practice outdoor watering advice.
The program supports improved stewardship in water use for household gardens by providing information and tools to avoid wasteful and unnecessary watering. The program will build our knowledge on water restrictions and promote collaboration between water management agencies in striving for water savings.
Water savings information will be available to all relevant agencies and stakeholders through an interactive website. The website will be updated with all relevant local information, which will be postcode specific. This information will include guidelines on efficient water usage and plans that have been developed at the national, state or regional level.