Essentially there are three functional problems that are not adequately dealt with by current urban water management practices and regulatory responses:
1. Use of water is used in efficient and multi-functional ways. An example of such multi-functionality would be passive stormwater capture technologies which simultaneously provide drainage, public amenity and environmental benefits. The amenity and environmental benefits include preventing the degradation of urban waterways, from pollution and excess water flows. The amenity and environmental benefits also include the provision of water to irrigate street trees which in turn lowers city temperatures and to increases air quality; (McCallum and Boulot, 2015)
2. The ability to exploit new, alternative sources of water, for example, by using water recycled from sewage; and (McCallum and Boulot, 2015)
3. Measures to ensure healthier waterways and wetlands, for example, by protecting the quality and quantity of water in urban waterways. (McCallum and Boulot, 2015)
There is a need to adjust the regulatory frameworks existing in Bendigo, so that the combined impacts of climate change, urban population growth and increasing urban densification can be catered for. In undertaking this there is a need for Societal Innovation and Behaviour Change
Project such as the Bendigo Airport Whole Water Cycle Management (WWCM) Showcase Project demonstrate how best practice project management, stakeholder engagement and water technical expertise maximise urban water for our environment, our communities and our amenity.
Read the Bendigo Airport Whole Water Cycle Management Report
