Planning more resilient urban water systems

Tony Overman, Strategy and Sustainability Coordinator

25 October 2011

SEGRA, Geelong, 2011

Key messages

• Drought, growth expose system challenges

• Policy shift to IWCM

• Difficult via conventional planning

• Develop more resilient systems, all scales

• Cohesion, adaptability, diversity, efficiency

• Geelong transitioning to ‘water resilient city’

Geelong water system challenges

Pressures

• Drought

• Rapid growth

Implications

• Water security threat

• Uncertainty

Response

• Restrictions

• Augmentations

• Alternatives

Living Victoria policy

• Landscapes for healthy people

• Safe, fit for purpose water

• Flood protection Liveability

• Resilient urban landscapes

• Smaller environmental footprint

• Healthy waterways and bays Sustainability

• Water security

• Affordable water services

• Contestable investment Productivity

Diversify, Empower, Integrate

Integration across scales

• 3 water sub systems

– City, Precinct, Property

• Traditional water planning

– Tactical level

– Service need (functional) focus

– Competitive, least cost

– Favours city scale solutions

• Step back to strategic level

• Enhance ‘resilience’

– System focused

– Complementary, best ‘suite’

– Encourages fit for purpose ‘steps’

City centralised networks

Precinct developments,

localised schemes

Property residences businesses

Resilient systems

• Resilient systems1 :

– absorb

disturbance

– recover from

shocks

– re-organise

– yet retain function,

structure

Cohesion

‘Existence of unifying forces or linkages’

Adaptability

‘Flexibility to change in response to new

pressures’

Efficiency

‘Performance with modest resource

consumption’

Diversity

‘Existence of multiple forms and behaviors'

Resilient System

1 Fiskel, J (2003) Designing resilient, sustainable systems, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2003, 37

Framework for resilient urban water systems

Desired system characteristics

Urban Water System Vision

Urban community outcomes/aspirations

Liveability, Productivity, Sustainability

Resilient

Urban Water System

Cohesion

Consumer ‘water

sensitivity’

WSUD

Secure Potable Network

Adaptability

Water Sensitive Gardens

Aquifer Storage & Recovery

Barwon Downs Drought Supply

Diversity

Tanks Grey-water

Stormwater Reuse

Sewer Mine

MGP Anglesea BF

Efficiency

Efficient Fixtures

Sport Turf Irrigation Upgrades

Potable Supply

Optimisation

Property

Precinct

City

Efficiency

Diversification – city scale

Geelong Alternative Water Supply Atlas

Integrated water cycle management

• A liveable, sustainable,

productive Geelong

• Water ‘Resilient’

– Cohesive

– Adaptable

– Diverse

– Efficient

• Best fit suites of solutions,

multi scale

• ‘System’ urban planning

• Partnerships