Australia: Best Practices

1. Australia: Best Practices

2. Canberra, Goulburn, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth • SE and SW are agricultural areas • Population very urbanized: most in large cities near coast >~1 million or others in towns <~10,000 (Few cities of ~100,000)

3. Australia: water • World’s driest inhabited continent • Droughts common: world’s largest per capita constructed water storage • Droughts (& floods) becoming more severe, esp. in SE & SW corners. Global warming? • Yet use ~280L/c/d, 3rd after US/Canada, almost double Netherlands

4. Australia: gov’t • Federal nation like Canada • Wealthy elderly paternal national gov’t, impoverished child states • Not nerdy somewhat well-off older brother tolerated when his money or brains are useful, not always well loved otherwise • Cities quite weak (Brisbane exception)

5. Goulburn • Inland city of 22,000 • 1 hour NE of Canberra, 2 hrs SW of Sydney • Big Merino: agricultural area • Industries: abbatoir, wool-scouring • Maximum security prison

6. Pejar Dam April 2004Goulburn’s principal water supply

7. Lake Pejar • Worst drought in 100 years • 5 yrs ago, 10m deep, 1000 ML water • May 20 2005: 8% capacity, possibly gone by end of year

8. Pejar May 2005 What to do? • Close or move town? • Move water by truck or rail? • Move 300 max. security prisoners? • Close industries?

9. What they did: emergency • Closed swimming pools: kids shuttled to Canberra by bus • Closed sports grounds: injuries on hard ground • Townfolk: 100 second shower limit • Prison: 70 inmates shower in an hour • May: people asked to use <150L/day (=15 minute shower) • June: 120 L/day (washing machine full) • Per capita use was <1/2 that 3 yrs ago • Biggest businesses reduced water use by 1/3 despite concerns re meeting cleanliness standards for export

10. What they did not do • Close industries - town would die • Use truck/railcar to bring water - has worked in small communities of a few hundred, not at this scale 4 million L/week

11. Effect of drought on farms • Some compensation from Canberra • Some farmers sold livestock • Concerned about paying back money borrowed to continue

12. What they did: response • Bores dug for C$1.5 million, ->5 million L/day, enough for 6 months • Planned a C$3 million pipeline to nearby river • Considering drinking re-treated sewage treatment plant effluent. Mayor: “Someone’s got to do it.” Could be built in 5 yrs for C$30 million

13. Some roots of the problem • High water use/capita in an uncertain climate. Examples: • No requirements for water-efficient appliances (washing machines, dual flush toilets) • No requirement for swimming pool covers to reduce evaporation

14. Sydney • Largest city in Australia • Sydney Harbour: picturesque, also a unit of volume in Australia: • 1 Sydney Harbour =0.5 million ML • 70% use is household, 360L/c/d • Recycles 14 billion L/yr treated wastewater

15. Warragamba Dam • Principal source of Sydney’s water

16. Reservoir at Warragamba June 2005 • June: <40% full (~1 year’s supply) • Goulburn is in same catchment, so Goulburn extracting river water could affect Sydney • Desalination plant?

17. Water Corporation of Western Australia • Provide urban water services for entire state (~40% of area of country) • Statewide pricing • Building 1 desalination plant for C$300 million, considering a 2nd • (Considered a 2500km canal also) • First urban end-use study

18. Checking data • Data not always perfect

19. Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline(Victoria) • Supplies 5500 farms/>40 towns • Constructing about 8,000km to replace open earthen channel system losing 85% of water to evaporation & seepage • 25% paid by users, Canberra, Victoria, Water Authority • Savings est.: 100,000 ML/yr

20. Melbourne • Single water services provider split up into a bulk supplier/wastewater treatment agency, 3 competing? retailers/wastewater collectors late 1990’s • 50 year water supply plan in 2000/01?

21. Planning for the Future of our Water Resources Vision for Melbourne • Predicted to grow significantly – 50 yrs • No new dams in next 50 yrs • Internationally recognised watersmart city • Water demand reduction is most strongly preferred, supported option

22. Needed to assess demand reduction options Need to understand existing water demandsAnalysis of End Uses: a preferred tool

23. End-use Analysis Needs information on • Total water use in different subclasses of customers • Water use associated with various existing technologies used by people • Knowledge of numbers (stock) of each type of each existing technology in each subclass • Projections of changes/phasing in of new technologies • Water use associated with future technologies

24. Purpose: End-use model • Allows modelling changes of stocks of technologies • Facilitates demand management programs

25. Found no major new supplies needed • New subdivisions to be much more water-efficient • Best available technology • Landscape with native species: water-sensitive urban design • Reuse of water within subdivision (cascading quality) • Demand management of existing customers to provide the small amounts of needed water

26. Brisbane • Considering full cost water pricing including externalities • 4X plant

27. National Water Conservation Rating and Labelling Scheme • Started with up to 3 A’s • Standards revised to include more efficient technology • Forced to move to 5 A’s

28. End