Water Sensitive Cities Modelling Toolkit (Project D1.5)

Project Leader
Status
Complete - commenced July 2015, completed June 2017
Location

Overview

This project will build on the activities and achievements of the project "Integration and demonstration through urban design" (Project D1.1), that resulted in the development and delivery of the Water Sensitive Cities Modelling Toolkit (Version 2 beta). The purpose of this project is to refine the Water Sensitive Cities Modelling Toolkit (the Toolkit) based on testing by the CRCWSC and industry feedback.

This project will:

  • deliver the Version 3 beta of the Toolkit developed initially as part of "Cities as Water Supply Catchments: Integration and demonstration through urban design" (Project D1.1); and
  • build industry capacity in the application of the Toolkit to real-world case studies (including demonstration projects) across different Australian geo-climatic and urban development contexts.

Key outcomes

This project will continue to apply and refine the Toolkit in line with industry feedback and available research. Specifically this project will:

  • develop a product development plan for the development and application of the Toolkit;
  • better understand the modelling needs of industry participants in relation to water sensitive transitions, and how the Toolkit can support these needs;
  • build industry knowledge and capacity in applying the Toolkit, and in quantifying multiple benefits associated with water sensitive initiatives;
  • test and validate existing Toolkit modules within different geo-climatic and urban development contexts (e.g. practical limits of module assumptions); and
  • refine the modules by working with participants and end-users in a range of demonstration projects, industry nominated case study projects and research synthesis activities.

Project D1.5 will continue working with "Urban rainfall in a changing climate" project (Project B1.1) to implement their database of fine spatial and temporal resolution rainfall data predictions into the Toolkit. An additional Toolkit module linking key biophysical performance indicators to non-market valuation of related will also be developed. Strategic collaboration opportunities with relevant software development organisations to support the ongoing development and dissemination of the Toolkit (beyond the scope of Project D1.5) is also being explored.

Related

Project Team Members

Latest Update

Quarter 4, FY16/17

The project progressed on all fronts of research, development and dissemination with independent adoption of the tool  showing signs of success. A summary of key aspects as follows.

Software

  • We have made several improvements to the overall software architecture, including a save/load functionality  and the ability to better customise projects.
  • Revised software architecture completed with all old modules and scripts transferred across to the new source  code.

Module Development

  • Major improvements to the extreme heat module were made following feedback from industry partners at all  training workshops. These include summary boxes and more flexible selection tools to implement WSUD features.
  • Future climate module is programmed within the Toolkit. Due to limited funds, the module could not be fully  completed. A substantial proportion of the source code and data structure has been implemented.
  • Economic valuation module: user interfaces and overall specification are available; due to limited funds,  module could not be fully programmed. However, many substantial data structures have been implemented  (e.g. the Urban information module).
  • We have revised the look and feel of the ‘Define Climate’ Module.
  • Suggested user interface for the Water Balance Module has been created, which also illustrates the relevant  input data requirements.

Case Studies

  • Three new case studies were created, each of which was used at one of the training workshops: City of Belmont (WA), Greater Parramatta Olympic Park (GPOP, NSW) and Aura Development (QLD).
  • We have also managed to create WSC Toolkit compatible input files for case studies that are not yet built i.e. demonstrating how an AutoCAD file can be converted to the correct input format.

Publications

  • Two publications are in draft format undergoing revisions by the authors, they will be submitted shortly to two  journals. The first paper is about the lessons learnt on the WSC Toolkit development, the second paper is on  the work conducted with the Future Climate Data Sets.
  • Parts of the content of the first paper will be presented at the CRCWSC Conference in July 2017.
  • An abstract on the WSC Toolkit’s Future Climate work has been accepted for oral presentation at the  ICUD 2017 conference in Prague later this year.

Training Workshops

  • We conducted three more training workshops in this quarter in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane  FY1617 Q4 – WSC Modelling Toolkit (Project D1.5 – TAP2).
  • Workshops were primarily about the Extreme Heat Module, attended by ~20 participants.
  • Another workshop is planned for the CRCWSC Conference in July 2017.

Adoption

  • Independent use of the WSC Toolkit has been underway by the NRM Board in South Australia, two case studies in the City of Mitcham and Adelaide City were undertaken by NRM with the advice of the project team. Modelling results from the WSC Toolkit in the City of Mitcham were submitted for a prize and received the Institute of Public Works  Engineering Australasia Award for best stormwater project under $1M, a great outcome.

News

Fact sheets

Last updated: 17th Jun 2016