Ecosystem health

Water sensitive cities protect and enhance ecosystem health ensuring that urban areas minimise their impact on natural ecosystems and by integrating healthy natural systems into the urban environment. With good design and management, healthy waterways, trees, vegetation and waterbodies can be integrated into the urban environment.

Transformation of 1.6km of existing concrete channel in a heavily urbanised catchment into a natural waterway. The project proactively engaged the local community to create a treasured environment.

In 2010, Melbourne Water and Knox City Council initiated a pilot program to retrofit the 1300 hectare Dobsons Creek catchment with stormwater disconnection measures on public and private land with the aim of improving the health of Dobsons Creek.

A collaborative approach with the local community resulted in a series of works to the urban waterway, including daylighting of a piped section of the creek.

Naturalisation of a local creek produced demonstrated ecological and amenity benefits that led to an increase nearby property prices.

Naturalisation of 1.1km of riverbank along the Cooks River in Sydney involved demolition and replacement of steep, deteriorated concrete panels with more gently sloped river banks, stabilised with sandstone and more than 80,000 local native plants.

Collaborative planning and design delivered habitat-rich 100m wide waterway corridors which included 'eco-sponges' which hold and infiltrate stormwater runoff to minimise impacts on the waterway.

Transformation of a parklands area to a multi-functional landscape in Kunshan, China. The parklands include ecological wetlands that provide water quality treatment for the adjoining canal network, and provides storage of flood water when needed.

Kunshan is a polder city (a piece of land in a low-lying area that has been reclaimed from a body of water by building dikes and drainage canals) with many canals and waterways which can have poor water quality in some areas.

Resource recovery from wastewater project developed a new way of recovering energy, water and valuable nutrients (phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium) from wastewater (treated sewage).

The Glenelg to Adelaide pipeline delivers a reliable climate independent water supply to irrigate open space in western and central Adelaide.

Wanyarram Dhelk—which means Good Waterhole in Djaara language—aims to improve the water health of the Bendigo Creek and its tributaries.

The project aims to create 10 hectares of green infrastructure by 2021, to support a prosperous, healthy, cool and liveable city.

This project involved diverting water from a council drain into the grounds of Marrickville West Primary School, filtering it and then harvesting it to create a green space for the school and the local community.