Local governments in South East Queensland that contain over a certain population are required by the recently revised Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009 to develop and start implementing a Total Water Cycle Management (TWCM) plan before 1 July 2012.
Background
Client: Moreton Bay Regional Council
Total Water Cycle Management (TWCM) planning aims to consider all elements of the water cycle to deliver the community’s needs for water in a way that optimises social and environmental benefits while minimising costs. The TWCMP was initially developed to satisfy legislative requirements of the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009. These requirements are no longer mandatory, however MBRC have adopted the planning process as a valuable tool for managing sustainable development in the region, and have since used the planning process to help investigate a range of future growth scenarios to guide the development of a new Priority Infrastructure Area and inform future growth decision making in the region.
Outcomes and Benefits
The TWCM planning process was predicted to save Council millions of dollars in infrastructure costs and was instrumental in identifying least cost solutions and preferred catchment management scenarios (based on triple bottom line principles) to sustainably manage water resources. The project involved three key phases, including developing a strategy, undertaking detailed planning and developing an implementation plan. During the detailed planning phase, a comprehensive modelling framework was developed and used to quantify water quality management targets for catchments. The project was awarded winner of the AWA National Program Innovation Award in 2013, and winner of Stormwater Industry Association of Australia’s National Award for Excellence in Strategic or Master Planning in 2013.
Services and Expertise Provided:
The Surface Water Management Plans (SWMPs) outline an assessment of surface water flood risk, recognising the flood mechanisms and economic impact to residential and commercial properties across the catchments of Clacton on Sea and Sawbridgeworth.
BMT, in association with Buckley Vann town planners and the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland (UQ), undertook a climate change vulnerability and adaptation planning study for the remote centre of Choiseul Bay, at the northern tip of the Solomon Islands.
The Queensland Government Department of Environment and Natural Resources contracted Buckley Vann Town Planning Consultants and BMT in 2010 to assist the Department with the development of a proposed planning and assessment code and associated guidelines to support the State Planning Policy for Coastal Management currently in development.
BMT was engaged by ERA to develop a water quality management framework for mine closure. The broad aim of the project is to develop a practical and transparent management framework to assess effects of contaminants of potential concern on receiving environments during the closure phase, with an initial focus on magnesium.