See flood resilience ideas in action

We know that in future some parts of our cities will become more prone to flooding, and that traditional flood defences will not always be able to protect us from these impacts. In response, cities globally are researching and trialling new ways to live with flooding—and these new techniques could significantly affect the way we live in cities in the future.

Visualisation will be a key part of the transition from ‘old’ to ‘new’ flood management approaches—as a decision making tool for planners to assess risks and benefits, as an engagement tool around which to structure conversations with flood affected community and stakeholders, and as a learning tool for water practitioners more generally.

Using a digital representation, Elwood 2062, Monash Faculties of Engineering, Arts, IT and MADA created a visualisation tool to show how alternative water management can reduce the impacts of future floods while also improving liveability in Elwood, a coastal suburb of Melbourne that is prone to flooding. This visual representation of the ideas for Elwood is currently on display at the Sir Louis Matheson Library at Monash University.

The visualisation is based on an Elwood case study, which was a key research project for the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities in its first phase of research projects. The Elwood area is already prone to flooding and this is expected to worsen in the future with rising sea levels, more intense storms and greater urbanisation of its upstream catchment. The research project used a diverse range of disciplines to construct and test new ideas for flood management in Elwood. This novel, interdisciplinary approach combined social science, urban design and engineering. Working with the City of Port Phillip, we facilitated community visioning workshops which improved community understanding about the causes and consequences of flooding. This process also empowered communities, who identified a vision for the future of the area and developed strategic ideas and aspirations to implement this vision.

We then combined urban design and engineering to bring the community vision to life, and computer modelling of flooding to assess the impacts. Based on the success of this research project we then created Elwood 2062 to further expand the conversation with other stakeholders. It presents two scenarios of a heavy storm over Elwood. The first shows the flooding and inundation that will occur if we continue a ‘business as usual’ approach to water management. The second shows how using the ideas developed by Elwood’s community (for example, green infrastructure) can reduce the impacts of flooding. This infrastructure includes:

• mangrove forests that protect the community from rising sea level and provide a recreational space
• flood barriers that prevent water from entering Elwood during a storm surge event
• bioretention swales and rainwater harvesting tanks that capture rain and stormwater for reuse
• green spaces and trees that provide cooling during heat events.

As well as reducing the risk of flooding, these green technologies improve the ecological health of our waterways.

Catchment stakeholders including Melbourne Water and the four local councils that manage the Elster Creek catchment are now assessing these ideas alongside other new options and approaches to develop a flood resilience strategy for Elwood and Elster Creek. Regardless of what form the final strategy takes, this research project has already shown the potential for influence that new visualisation approaches can have on water management planning.