Greg Bruce

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Evolution of Total Water Cycle Management in
Townsville City an infrastructure based approach
from Creek to Coral Tuesday, 28th February 2006
Greg Bruce Manager Environmental Management
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• Welcome to Townsville

• Townsville is Queenslands largest regional
  City, and together with the neighbouring City of
  Thuringowa is home to over 158,500 people and
  covering a combined area of c. 4000 km2 (TCC
  1800 km2 )

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Image from NASA WorldWind
Wet Tropics WHA
Townsville City
RAMSAR Wetlands
Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
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Townsville
and proximity to Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage Areas
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• A Distinctive Queensland Experience

• Townsville is where the Tropical Savannas meet
  the coast and is the southern gateway to the Wet
  Tropics and at the Citys Strand foreshore abuts
  the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

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Townsville Citiwater Biogas Project Grid-connected
cogeneration, renewable
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• Water Governance Challenges
• Proximity to Great Barrier Reef World Heritage
  Area
• Impost of additional financial and environmental
  regulations
• Lack of knowledge of tropical ecosystems and
  impacts
• Defining management actions and lacking expertise
• Fragmentation of jurisdictions, planning,
  regulation, and failure to understand inherent
  interconnectiveness of water cycle
• Lack of ownership by people of problems and
  solutions belongs to government not us

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As expressed by AWAthe separation of the urban
water supply and wastewater system from the
stormwater system and does not reflect the
theoretical water cycle (2002 Senate Inquiry
into Australias Urban Water Management)
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The major threats to the health, productivity
and biodiversity of coastal and marine
environments result from human activities on
land. In many cases water resources in streams,
rivers and groundwater reservoirs transport
pathogens, nutrients, sediments, heavy metals,
persistent organic pollutants and litter large
distances from the hilltops to the
oceans. Hilltops2Oceans (H2O) Partnership
Initiative, 2004
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There is no solution that can be successful from
the top down. We must build social capital at the
grass roots empowering communities Ismail
Serageldin of the World Bank, (in Hatziolos,
Hooten, Fodor, 1997).
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• Process to Total Water Cycle Management
• Drivers for Change
• Acting Locally Commencing the Journey
• From Stormwater to Total Water Citiworks and
  Citiwater
• Integrating with and acknowledge community
• Evolving to Creek to Coral (connecting land,
  water and marine environment)
• Integrating total water with Sustainability and
  urban development

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• Our Councils total water mgt approach shows
• Changes in culture and management in TCC
• Evolving an approach linking water utility
  management with Wetlands, Waterways, Ecosystems,
  Community overall Sustainability
• Community acknowledgement and involvement
• Consideration of the marine environment
• Partnership with the City of Thuringowa (COT)
  EPA
• Removing fragmentation, Jurisdiction, planning
  and regulation, environment and industry
• on the infrastructure-based and community
  involvement project Creek to Coral.

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More specifically Involving Key Aspects

• Commitment to Fostering Partnerships
• Adaptability (adaptive management)
• Ownership of the Water Cycle
• Within a framework of co-learning and community
  development
• In model of scarce resources and requiring
  innovation
• Involving Engineers, Environment Officers, NGO
  (CVA), Volunteers, Students (School / University)
  and Community Groups
• Framework of 4CsCatchment Tours, Curriculum,
  Creekwatch, Coast-Marine
• Knowledge Communication Networks Sustainable
  Education Network Centre for Excellence in
  Tropical Design (CETD Sustainability
  Innovation)

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Councils approach in integrated water management
evolved from conflict into partnership

• Commencing with our drainage engineers and
  conflict with mangrove and drains and flood
  management
• Water management initially focused on stormwater
  and water quality
• The Urban Stormwater Quality Management Plan
  (1998) allowed TCC to acquire funding to
  implement integrated stormwater improvement
• www.soe-townsville.org/stormwater/
• This led to partnership between TCC Environmental
  Management Services and Citiworks, creating
  sustainable engineering solutions to stormwater
  management issues

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• Key outcomes of the NHT Clean Seasand USI
  projects are
• Infrastructure to capture pollutants
• Opportunity to monitor urban water quality
• Results indicating high nutrient levels (Sadler,
  2003)
• Councils capacity to provide integrated
  solutions to water (eg. stormwater and
  fish habitat)
• And
• The newly-forged EngineeringEnvironmental
  partnership became,the catalyst for managing the
  Total Water Cycle Rainfall to Outfall

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A National Report on Urban Water stated
that One clear lesson from the project (TCCs
Clean Seas Urban Stormwater Initiative) is the
benefit of protection of the whole system
including land and water use policies for
contiguous and surround sites rather than
simply addressing components of it, such as the
construction of end of pipe wetlands prior to
discharge. The Value of Water - Urban Water
Management Inquiry (2002) and yet This
National Water report still did not address the
roles of natural ecological systems in water
management, and Made no attempt to link urban
water with the impacts of land-based activities
on the marine environment,
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FROM STORMWATER TO TOTAL WATER ENTER CITIWATER

• Commence holy grail triple bottom line
  concepts of sustainability, including
• Rainfall to Outfall
• Traditional Waterwise
• Methane capture.
• Since then
• A movement towards managing water resources as a
  whole
• An adaptive learning journey.
• remembering that Value of Water maintains the
  compartmentalised approach is the norm

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• Integrating Total Water Cycle Management with
  Sustainability and Urban Development
• Councils Sustainable Townsville programme
• World Class Water Recycling Commitment90 Dry
  Weather reuse by 2008
• Increased energy requirements CO2e emissions up
• Linking energy and water (carbon neutral)
• (see www.soe-townsville.org/sustainable/water)

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• Accelerated Sustainability intensive
  planning(AtKisson Accelerator) May 2004,
• Water - a key natural system
• A locally global or city-wide
• Energy-water
• (see www.soe-townsville.org/atkisson/)

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Nature Systems Water Cycle Management
Nature Systems Maps Catchment Management
Waterway stormwater Homes / water
conservation Industry / Parks water
conservation Wastewater efficiency TBL Regulatory
effectiveness / appropriate Energy Management
opportunities
www.SOE-Townsville.org/atkisson/
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Carbon Neutral Water Recycling Project
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• Creek to Coral incorporates four key responses
  and working groups
• Infrastructure (water, wastewater, dams, drains
  waterways)
• Community Involvement and Partnership,
• Integrated Monitoring Research, and
• Environmental Emergency Response
• (Creek to Coral Business Plan, 2004).

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• Creek to Coral is a different approach.
• Demonstrates a change in culture and a
  willingness to partner.
• In sync with three of four International Coral
  Reef Initiatives (ICRI) themes
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM),
• Capacity Building,
• Research and Monitoring
• (ICRI Renewed Call to Action, 1998).

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Natural Resources Management
of Waterways Catchments
BCTB
Natural Heritage Trust
Townsville
(Budekin Dry
City Council
Regional Arrangements
Tropics Board)
in partnership
Creekwatch
with CoT EPA
Landcare
NaREF
Bushcare
(Natural Resources
Sustainable
Sewage
Seagrass Watch
Management
Management
Stormwater quality
Reef Check
Forum)
of Water
Water Supply
Management
Grondwater regulation
Community
Infrastructure,
Ports
Aspirations
waterways,
Involvement
wetlands
Creek to coral
NaREF
Community Based approach
Infrastructure Base
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Sustainable Townsville a cluster networks and
sustainability
Centre of Excellence in Tropical
Design (Sustainability Innovation) Queensland
Water Directorate
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Community-Based Education Involvement (CBEI)

• Community education has been an integral
  component of the shift in transformation of
  cultures and paradigms within TCC concerning
  water management over the last 10 years
• To be effective requires an on-going commitment
  to partnering-networks, and community capacity
  building is crucial to foster and engender
  city-wide ownership of catchment programs water
  quality management

• This commitment provides a basis for a
  co-learning environment guided by the principles
  of Community Development,
• And is reflective of both local, regional,
  national and international policy development
  shifts and needs.www.soe-townsville.org/community
  education/

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• In 2004 over 2000 students were involved in local
  learn-scape tours visiting Townsvilles
  wetlands, waterways, coastal scapes and
  catchments from
• Hilltops and Summits, Lakes Waterways, Water
  Treatment Facilities, Wastewater/Water Recycling
  Treatment Plants, Creeks Pollution Control
  systems, Strand Wind Turbine (renewable energy
  education), and Marine Environment
• Eco-catchment tours are an excellent way to
  celebrate annual environmental events and
  activities such as
• - World Wetlands Day - World Water Day -
  World Ocean Day

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• Eco-catchment tours now underpin the community
  framework for fostering city-wide catchment
  education and involvement by simply showing the
  community the environment that we live in
• The tours have facilitated and are building
  capacity for enhanced community participation in
  environmental activities and on-going, long-term
  ownership of local environments and habitats as
  well as generating interest, awareness and
  appreciation for the local environment

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• Creekwatch
• Creekwatch is setup to empower community
  ownership and participation where it is otherwise
  missing or resources are poor
• Provides an appropriate framework of support,
  flexible, teambuilding diversity of activities
  for participants
• There are three locally active Creekwatch
  community groups within the Townsville region

- Louisa Creekwatch - Sachs Creekwatch - Mundy
Creekwatch
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Coast Marine Community Groupssupported by
Creek to Coral and Townsville City Council
www.reefcheckaustralia.org

• Reef Check - Townsville
• Seagrass Watch

www.soe-townsville.org/seagrass/
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From Victorian Sustainable School Programme, 2002
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• Reporting back and providing information to
  community on environment water mgt -
  Townsvilles NAD SOE

• Has included development of the Councils
  innovative and dynamic web-based
• Townsville Regional Natural Assets Database (NAD)
  and
• www.townsville.qld.gov.au/nad/
• State of Environment Report (SOE) 2003
• www.soe-townsville.org

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www.TropicalDesign.org
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Thank you