Australia is ahead of the pack when it comes to integrated stormwater designs, and should be sharing its deep pool of knowledge with the world.

That is according to Adam Berry, Floodplain Management Engineer for Ipswich City Council, who has helped his team successfully deliver two projects, largely designed in-house, that have received recognition from industry, the community, media and even internationally. 

The $1.6 million Jim Donald Parklands Integrated Stormwater System took out the Excellence in Integrated Stormwater Design gong at the 2016 Stormwater Queensland Awards, and the $4.6 million Redbank Recreational Reserve Urban Stormwater Project was named as a Highly Commended in the Excellence in Infrastructure category.

Berry says Australia’s infamous ‘droughts and flooding rains’ have forced the country to be particularly resourceful when it comes to designing for stormwater, which means its stormwater practitioners have valuable insights to share with the world.
 
“Water is a critical resource that is very undervalued by the world. Australia can show the rest of the world how to best manage this resource and also how to bring all the concepts of the water cycle together such as harvesting, water quality, aesthetics and flooding,” Berry explains.

“Using water that would otherwise go down the drain gives us an opportunity to save a precious resource and also at the same time reduce operational expenditure and protect the environment.  


“Stormwater harvesting is a great mechanism to reduce frequent flows to downstream creeks and rivers that increase the erosion rates caused by a decrease in infiltration and increased runoff from urban development.

“It is also an opportunity for professionals in Australia to gain experience in overseas environments and open up new markets.”

This was the case when Berry recently hosted Malaysian consultant Dr Valen Tew, who visited Australia to gain insights into stormwater issues, mainly water sensitive urban design (WSUD).

“He is genuinely excited about the prospects,” Berry says. “He was looking to bring those idea back to Malaysia and hopefully begin to influence how they look at their stormwater.”

Berry says the council’s projects have also sparked interest from South Africa and America.

“Again, similar to Malaysia, they want new ideas and expertise, but are unsure how to tie the link between Australia and their country.”

Raising stormwater’s profile

However, that’s not to say that integrated, environmentally sensitive stormwater design is the norm in Australia.
 
Berry says the mentality is still to treat stormwater as a nuisance.

“A lot of the mindsets are around getting the water from one point to the other as quickly as possible,” Berry explains.

“In the general engineering world, these water sensitive urban design projects don't have a lot of exposure, so a lot of the engineers out there are living in the past a little bit on how you manage water. It’s really going back to acting sustainably. That word gets thrown around a lot, but sustainability on these projects is about trying to get everybody to think a little bit differently about how we manage stormwater.

“Stormwater has got a lot of value. It’s about trying to lift the image and the value of these in a micro and macro sense everywhere in the world.”

Why we should rethink how we deal with stormwater

For councils with large areas to irrigate such as playing fields, stormwater harvesting and reuse can reduce or even remove the reliance on potable water.

Berry says the council’s projects are expected to save $70,000-$80,000 a year in water bills; extrapolated out over the long-term, the potential savings are phenomenal.

“We're pretty confident that we won't ever have to turn the tap on again,” Berry says.

Making use of otherwise unloved spaces and transforming them into something both attractive and functional is another plus.

“That's another key component; using spaces, and integrating all the things into one space and making them more usable instead of just one discipline doing their own thing,” Berry says.

“It's important that if there's an open water body, that its well-integrated into the landscape so that it becomes something that's usable for the community as well.

“Gone are the days where you can just dig a hole for a detention basin and then just use it for that. They need to be multifunctional.”

In addition, Berry says local government can measurably improve the impact stormwater runoff has on the environment by implementing water sensitive urban design principles.

Flood mitigation

Located on the banks of the Bremer River, Ipswich is certainly no stranger to flood events.

Berry says the Redbank project performed admirably during the flooding that hit the area as a result of Cycle Debbie earlier this year, with the project’s storage capacity helping protect nearby residential areas.

“There were approximately 50 properties that benefited from flood mitigation storage,” Berry says.

“It’s been tested and we've had good feedback from the community as well about it how it worked. It's good to see the community react to something, like, ‘Oh we didn't actually realise it did that’.”

Barriers to implementation

Berry says the amount of land needed and a lack of long-term funding are two barriers to more projects being rolled out around Australia. There’s also the innate complexity of the projects, he says. 

“The water's got to be of good quality. You've got to be careful of algal blooms, water level control and things like that to mitigate those water qualities issues. It can get really complicated incorporating multiple functions in to one space,” Berry says.

One way Berry’s team at Ipswich City Council ensured their projects’ success was by bringing the bulk of the design and planning work in-house.

“I'm actually really proud of it, because the modelling and design side of these types of projects is really intricate,” he said.

“Redbank in particular the majority of design was done in-house. I guess we're in a state where a lot of councils are deskilling, so to keep these kinds of skills alive is really important. We did use a consultant in the end for peer review, because it was a big project with a lot of risk.”

If you would like more information on Ipswich’s projects, contact Adam Berry at Adam.Berry@ipswich.qld.gov.au.