The South East Queensland Drought Experience

Lessons for Canadian Demand Management Practitioners

Kirk StinchcombeManager, Operational Policy and Planning

Water Stewardship Division

Ministry of Environment

Province of British Columbia

My Story

• Joint Canadian/Australian citizen• Positions in Australia since 2003

– Demand Management Coordinator, Gold Coast Water

– Advisor, Gold Coast Waterfuture Project– Project Manager, SEQ Integrated Urban

Water Management Investigation– Project Director, SEQ Home Waterwise

Service– Project Director, SEQ Pressure and Leakage

Management Project– Advisor, SEQ One-to-One Water Saving

Program

Presentation Outline

• The South East Queensland Drought• Four Innovative Drought Response Projects

– The Home Waterwise Service– The SEQ Pressure and Leakage Management

Project– The One-to-One High Water User Program– The Gold Coast Waterfuture Project

• Lessons for Canadian Demand Management Practitioners

4000 km

1000 km1000 km

BrisbaneBrisbane

Brisbane

Noosa

Gold Coast

Toowoomba

Mixed urban & rural landuseLow topographic relief

~ 50% of Queensland popn

Comprising 12 Local Government Authorities

~ 25000 km2 catchment 1600 km2 embayment (Moreton Bay)

2.7 Million people – The fastest population growth in Australia

Average annual rainfall ~1000mm

NRW QLD 2007

Federation drought breaksMillenniumdrought continues

Wivenhoe Dam (circa 2000)

100% capacity

Full Supply = 1,165,000 ML or 1,165,000 million Liters

Capilano + Seymour = 64,000 million Liters

Spillway

SpillwaySpillway

Wivenhoe Dam (April 2007) 18% capacity

3 Advanced Water Treatment Plants

1 Desalination Plant

Several Bulk Pipelines& 2 New Storages

Total asset investment of $9 bill

Groundwater Sources

The “Supply”

Side

The Demand Side

Restrictions: Outdoor Watering Ban

Communications CampaignBusiness Savings Program

Home Rebate SchemeHome Retrofit Program

Pressure and Leakage Management

Heavy Water User Program

The Challenge: Retrofit 200,000 homes with water efficient devices in 2 years

• A comprehensive water audit (with CBSM toolkit)

• 1 new water saving showerhead • Water efficient aerators on

bathroom and kitchen taps • Up to 3 leaking taps fixed• All materials supplied and installed• $150 in value for $20

• 135 plumbers involved at program peak

• 3000 retrofits per week

• Full time call centre with 50 staff

• Comprehensive marketing campaign: print, radio, TV, web…

• 95% customer satisfaction KPI

• CBSM design (including the market research!)

• 228,551 homes by Dec 08

• 4800 ML savings per year (13 ML per day)

• $42.1 million investment

The Outcome

The Challenge: Save 60 million litres of water per day through pressure and leakage management across the SEQ region

Sectoring the network into District Metering Areas

(DMAs)

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LINCOLN STREET

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GEORGE STREET

EA

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TOBRUK STREET

VICTORIA STREET

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TR

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DREYER ROAD

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RIVER ROAD

MARSHALL ROAD

JOHNSTONE ROAD

MARLOWE ROAD

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OFF RAMPON

RAM

P

Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) Installation

PRV

Inlet Pressure Flow Controlled Outlet Pressure

As flow increases and decreases the pressure is adjusted accordingly to

maintain adequate levels of service during the day

At night time when demand is at its minimum pressure can be reduced

considerably

Flow Modulation Control

Active Leak Detection and Repair

• 47.8 ML/day saved at Oct 2008• 64 ML/day savings by 2012• 16,020 ML saved since 2006• 138 DMAs complete; 322

commenced• $70 million expenditure to date• Largest project of its kind ever

The Outcome

The Challenge: Assist 80,000 “high volume” households (15% of single family homes) using more than 800 litres/household/day to significantly curb their water consumption

Program budget: $8 million Primary delivery mechanism: • Mandatory completion of 58

question water use survey• Customized water saving

plan sent back based on response

Radically condensed timeframe (6 months concept to completion)

Ind

oor

Behavioural

Outd

oor

Technological

The Outcome: • 92% compliance with survey

submission requirements• A reduction in water use by this

segment of 30.1ML/day• 70% of households were using less

than 800L/property/day post program• 45% of targeted households were

efficient (ie. at or below 140L/p/d) post program compared to 7% pre program

• On a per person basis the HWU consumption reduced by 40% compared to the general population’s

reduction of 22% for the same period. • Groundbreaking intersection of

mass customisation and CBSM

Pimpama Coomera Waterfuture Project

• Class A+ Recycled Water Treatment Plant (supply by 2009 to toilet & outdoor)

• Mandatory rainwater tanks (laundry cold water & outdoor)

• 3500 dual reticulated homes already built

• Growing by ~120 homes/month.

• Home to 120,000 people by 2056

The Situation Today

• Dam levels currently at 51.14%• Restrictions relaxed slightly• Residential consumption still well below

the new 170 litres/person/day target• Supply-side measures coming on-line;

some deferred at least temporarily• Most demand-side projects scaling

back; others continue unabated• Major crisis averted… for now

Lessons

• Our assumptions about water supply security can change very, very quickly

• When the time comes… be ready (both with data and planning)

• Steal shamelessly• Establish governance systems early • Think bigger