New South Wales tranche 2 regional implementation projects
The proposed Water Sensitive Cities Transition Strategy and Implementation Plan will develop strategies to guide the transition for selected urban centres of Australia including the Greater Sydney region.
As part of the second tranche of CRCWSC research activities in NSW, the RAP has identified and prioritised a number of projects critical for a successful transition to a water sensitive region. These projects will inform the selection of the CRCWSC tranche 2 research activities from 2016/17.
NSW 1 - Developing a common vision and narrative
This project aims to identify persuasive messaging for the promotion of water sensitive city outcomes based on an analysis of the political, environmental, social, and economic drivers for communities and decision-makers at multiple locations across NSW. Considering a city as a socio-ecological system, this project will focus on the drivers and directives of the human population within such systems and analyse the most effective messaging to engage individuals and organisations to support and foster water sensitive outcomes.
NSW 2 - Capacity building for water sensitive NSW
This project aims to develop:
- a tailored, robust and proactive capacity building program developed and ready for implementation to support practitioners and the community. This will ensure all are equipped with the skills and knowledge to make the water sensitive cities concept a reality;
- collaborative partnership between lead agencies, governments and industry to promote, advocate and deliver water sensitive urban design and integrated water management capacity; and
- an appropriate funding model for water sensitive initiatives in NSW.
The project objectives are to:
- identify capacity building programs across Australia that align with water sensitive cities principles and focus on water sensitive urban design (WSUD) and integrated water management;
- review these capacity building programs and highlight successes and lessons learnt to revamp the WSUD in Sydney Program; and
- build a collaborative and proactive NSW capacity building program.
NSW 3 - Uniting CRCWSC outputs and stakeholders for water sensitive outcomes
The project aims to:
- demonstrate the nature, utility and application of a range of CRCWSC tranche 1 outputs to an urban water catchment to advance a water sensitive transition.
The project objectives are to:
- identify the range of outputs across the three CRCWSC transition pathways that apply to an urban water catchment; and
- consult with water practitioners and other stakeholders to identify the outputs identified above that will assist them in their transition efforts to a water sensitive city.
NSW 4 - The regional context for the adoption and implementation water sensitive towns and cities principles
The project aims to:
- increase the understanding of regional councils of the role of green infrastructure to control stormwater and mitigate flooding; and
- improve on-ground practices, resulting in healthier waterways, increased biodiversity, and increased public amenity including climate amelioration.
The objectives of the project is to:
- demonstrate the values, benefits and incentives of water Sensitive towns and cities to regional councils, through identifying how flood plain and stormwater management can be implemented to provide greater benefits for local communities, as well as economic benefits for the councils;
- review Flood Plain and Stormwater Management Plans (plus any relevant Section 94 Contribution Plans - NSW) to identify green infrastructure, and WSUD opportunities;
- visualise and provide indicative costs for alternative protection, mitigation, and rehabilitation strategies; and
- implement the identified strategies and projects by the participating councils.
NSW 5 - Enabling integrated water cycle management (IWCM) in urban infill and land release’