New WAter Ways water sensitive demonstration tours - last call for next week's bus trip!
On Tuesday 28 February we are heading to
WGV to see how a precinct has been designed to minimise water and energy use. Participants will be shown how water is captured, stored, recycled and recharged within the development. We would love you to join us to hear all about it!
Then on Wednesday 29 March we're heading in another direction - to the foothills where the
Hartfield Park Managed Aquifer Recharge project has facilitated the creation of a regionally important recreational reserve by providing a sustainable source of water for irrigation. This tour will showcase the lessons learnt during the design, construction, testing and operational phases of Perth's first MAR project.
Don't miss out!
Jump on the bus and see these sites for yourself.
‘Life, death and all the washing up in between.’ (The Guardian)
A vial of tears, melted ice from Antarctica and a plastic bottle of billabong water – every drop tells a story. Choose your water, find something to put it in and tell us why you brought it. PIAF Artist-in-Residence Amy Sharrocks invites you to consider your relationship with the world’s most indispensable liquid as we build the WA edition of the award-winning Museum of Water. Ends 5 March (PIAF)
A multi-faceted project by artists Mike Bianco and Loren Kronemyer which engages with issues of salt, water, desalination, ecology and water sovereignty around Kwinana. Presented as a part of the 2017 Perth International Arts Festival, the project will call attention to the past, present and future of water in Southwest Australia, including the role of the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant, a facility that has provided over 20% of all potable water in the Perth metropolitan area for the past decade. (PIAF & City of Kwinana)
The Government continues to support Western Australian innovators with the Innovation Vouchers Program opening for applications. The $400,000 fund provided essential support for innovators to take their ideas to market as quickly as possible. (DPC Media Statements)
Disaster assistance has been announced by the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) in response to flooding that affected Western Australia in January and February 2017. (DPC Media Statements)
Revitalising Geographe Waterways is a State Government initiative to improve water quality, waterway health and management of Geographe Waterways. The program is delivered through partnerships and is overseen by the Vasse Taskforce. Over the next four years, projects and activities will focus on improving water quality across five key water assets – Geographe Bay catchment, Vasse-Wonnerup wetlands, Lower Vasse River, Toby Inlet and rural drainage networks. (GeoCatch)
The Western Australian government has committed $37 million to help fund an innovative solution to a long standing salinity problem in the 185 GL Wellington Dam, boosting agriculture in the region and providing a new source of potable water. A key part of the project is the diversion of high salinity water from the Collie River which will be desalinated and sold for high value potable use, providing the essential economic viability of the project. (AWA)
A $20 million competitive grants program to drive investment in innovative water use for agriculture has been launched as part of the Water for Food program. The Water Irrigation Innovation Grants program made possible by Royalties for Regions will encourage new investment to support local industry development in regional, remote and rural areas facing water challenges. (Royalties for Regions)
The northern Perth Basin bulletin provides a single, complete source of hydrogeological information about the basin, describing the resources and providing stratigraphic data and hydraulic parameters. It provides the hydrogeological basis for the Department of Water’s management and protection of groundwater resources and environmental values in a climate of increasing demand for water. (DoW)
Big data, smart asset management and customer-centricity are driving the water sector, but the industry is just in the early stages of gearing up to embrace them, a new study has found. Asset Management The Water Services Association Australia’s latest Asset Management Customer Value Project 2016 (delivered by AECOM and CH2M) asked utilities and service providers around the world about what mega-trends were driving them and how well prepared they were to realise associated opportunities. (AWA)
Climate change is now influencing all extreme weather events – with some of the most severe climate impacts occurring in 2016, our
latest report has found.
Cranking Up The Intensity: Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events finds that while the links between climate change and some extreme weather events such as bushfires and heatwaves are well-established, the evidence linking climate change to storms and heavy rainfall is also growing. Read the full report
here. (The Fifth Estate)
With murder rates double, and robbery rates three times, the state average, the Sydney suburb of Blacktown is not an obvious choice as a world leader of sustainable living. But, in 2016, a new master-planned estate in the suburb became the first residential community in New South Wales to be awarded a top, six-star Green Star community rating by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). Not only that, Fairwater, developed by Frasers Property, is the largest geothermal community in the southern hemisphere. Houses are cooled or heated by a refrigerant that pumps air underground then back to the surface, using less power than air-conditioning or heating and saving residents of a three-bedroom house $500 to $600 a year. (The Guardian)
The recent spate of heatwaves through eastern Australia has reminded us we’re in an Australian summer. On top of another record hot year globally, and as heatwaves become more frequent and intense, our cities are making us even hotter. This is the urban heat island, where city temperatures can be significantly warmer than the surrounding rural regions. The question, then, is what we can do to keep our cities cooler. (The Conversation)
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is encouraging innovators in the US and internationally to take on the “Water Abundance Challenge” during a visit to XPRIZE Headquarters in Los Angeles, where she met with Robert Weiss, President and Vice Chair. The Australian Government is partnering with XPRIZE and India’s Tata Group to run the ‘Water Abundance Prize’ - an open challenge to use technology to improve affordable access to clean water in high humidity areas where water is currently unavailable or inaccessible. (Department of Foreign Affairs)
As climate change impacts worsen, how we build homes will need to change to protect against hotter temperatures, higher sea levels, and increased storm severity, fire and flood risk. Here we look at a demonstration house with features to protect against floodwater developed in Britain to inspire builders and developers, as well as home buyers, who still persist in building and occupying new homes on land that is vulnerable to flooding despite
government advice to the contrary. The house, built in Watford north of London, includes flood resistant doors and windows, water resilient walls and insulation, a kitchen with moveable units, and floor and wall membranes to channel water towards floor drains. (Fifth State)
When Stefano Boeri imagines the future of urban China he sees green, and lots of it. Office blocks, homes and hotels decked from top to toe in a verdant blaze of shrubbery and plant life; a breath of fresh air for metropolises that are choking on a toxic diet of fumes and dust. Last week, the Italian architect, famed for his tree-clad Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) skyscraper complex in Milan, unveiled plans for a similar project in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing. (The Guardian)
You’ve probably heard about El Niño, the climate system that brings dry and often hotter weather to Australia over summer. You might also know that climate change is likely to intensify drought conditions, which is one of the reasons climate scientists keep talking about the desperate need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the damaging consequences if we don’t. (The Conversation)
What would it take to bring clean drinking water and improve water security in some of the world’s poorest areas? An Australian-led and internationally recognised project is determined to find the answer. A consortium led by Monash University's Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) will oversee the water-sensitive upgrade of 24 informal settlements – or slums – in Fiji and Indonesia. (AWA)
The Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street is a unique public space that spans three storeys and offers 360 degree views across the City of London. Visitors can wander around the exquisitely landscaped gardens, observation decks and an open air terrace of what is London’s highest public garden. The landscape designer opted for a series of richly planted terraces and the planting is dominated by drought resistant Mediterranean and South African species. Individual plants have been chosen to work with the particular quality of light found under the roof canopy (Twisted Sifter)
CRC for Water Sensitive Cities
The CRC for Water Sensitive Cities is seeking information on life cycle costing of existing biofilter systems in Australia. The
1-page document outlines the information being sought. This project will add valuable information to the costing figures used in the Adoption guidelines for stormwater biofiltration systems (CRCWSC 2015) and fill an industry knowledge gap that is hindering broader uptake of biofilter technologies. If you have any contacts, documents or other information that would be useful, please email
Christelle Schang, ((03 9902 9885) Research Assistant at the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities.
The expansion of cities puts pressure on surrounding ecosystems – and Perth’s diverse but declining wetland environments are a prime example. But how can those involved in water management work jointly to mitigate impacts? Amar Nanda shares the outcomes of a recent CRCWSC stakeholder workshop that brought together researchers, managers, and community to identify – step-by-step – better ways to manage wetlands for resilience to drought.
Picture raingardens sprouting with plant life, constructed wetlands enjoyed by joggers and families, and vegetated swales that add greenery to the sides of roads. All of these elements bring aesthetic beauty to the landscape of a city. But by boosting its ability to absorb and filter stormflows, they are also multifunctional elements of water sensitive urban design (WSUD): the increasingly visible principle that underlies a Water Sensitive City.
