The Water Futures Book

WATER FUTURES INTEGRATED WATER AND FLOOD MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING LIVEABILITY IN SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

This publication has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the following organisations:

WRITERS Dr James Davidson, Samuel Bowstead ADDITIONAL WRITING Prof. Paul Memmott, Alex Bond (Early Aboriginal Society and the Brisbane River Catchment) John Mongard (Kurilpa Blue-Green Space Strategy) ADAPTATION SUPPORT TOOLS Alterra Wageningen UR, Deltares and Bosch Slabbers Landscape Architects EDITORS Julie Martyn and Lydia Deutscher BOOK AND INFOGRAPHIC DESIGN Britt Hill, Clive Ba-Pé STUDENT ENGAGEMENT University of Queensland “Future Waterscapes” Design Studio Dr Paola Leardini and Dr Antony Moulis FRONT COVER Michael Petter, Watersheds of Inner Brisbane PRINTING Valley Edge Printing JAMES DAVIDSON ARCHITECT 3846 5621 james@jamesdavidsonarchitect.com.au © July 2017 | www.jamesdavidsonarchitect.com.au The text of this work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (CC BY-NC). This license allows others to remix, tweak and build upon the text of this work for non-commercial purposes; all new works must acknowledge James Davidson Architect.

All images are copyrighted as credited.

All other rights reserved.

WATER FUTURES Dedicated to Alastair Buchan Our friend and salt of the earth, 1962 - 2017

“As we set off to work each day with our environmental practitioner hat on, we carry our tools and materials of trade – physical, financial or more sophisticated ‘slice of brain space’; we access vast amounts of data, information, knowledge and collective wisdom and apply them to environmental resource management decision making and practice.

Hopefully, like me, you find it a great privilege that our ‘tools of trade’ today are sophisticated, easy to access and powerful. The simple pick and shovel designed for repetitive bashing away at the earth are led by our words, spoken and written. Each day we bring this knowledge to our writings, discussions and practice as we learn and negotiate on behalf of human and environmental interests.” - Alastair Buchan

WATER BRINGS LIFE What you are about to read is the culmination of over 6 years of work by many people, all experts in their own right, from many disciplines, professions and walks of life. Hundreds of hours of collaborative effort has gone into the making of this book. Everyone involved worked from the same premise: If South East Queensland (SEQ) is to flourish in the midst of severe weather events and an increasing population, the region as a whole needs an integrated approach to water management. An approach built on principles of adaptability to protect us during periods of drought and flooding rains.

A strategy that combines the best of our extensive local knowledge with experts of international standing to bring communities, Local, State and Federal Governments together to create a vision for our water future.

What we present here is the beginning of this vision.

Through the medium of design, we propose a range of water management and urban design solutions and strategies.

These will not only protect us in times of need and build community resilience, but also enable us to reduce our ecological impact and improve our quality of life in the face of more frequent and extreme weather events. Working with water is the key to this; retaining water during drought and allowing it to either flow or slowing it down during floods.

In building on the individual works and ideas of experts in the field of water management and urban design, the authors of this book were funded to facilitate a five day SEQ Design Charrette (workshop). The charrette saw over 170 professionals from over 20 disciplines come together with Local and State Government experts to work towards a regional water management and flood mitigation plan. This book is the result of that intensive design-focused interaction and collaboration.

Each smaller catchment influences, and is an influencer, of the other. For example, flooding rains in the Lockyer Valley not only result in the inundation of Ipswich and Brisbane, but significant sediment flows into the Brisbane River. This not only affects the quality of our drinking water, but can also cause over-sedimentation of Moreton Bay which affects sea grasses, fish stock and, inevitably, our region’s economy.

We call these connected regions, the Fluvial Transect - a concept that allows us to view water in different geographical areas of South East Queensland. Representing an interconnected series of waterways and catchments and building on the physical qualities and ambitions of communities across the Brisbane River Catchment, the Fluvial Transect sees water as a liveability asset, increasing resilience and decreasing risk.

The principles and strategies presented herewith are a blueprint for the region, designed to promote flood resilience and smart water catchment management.

Our aim in this work is to develop innovative and practical solutions for flood and drought adaptation (and mitigation) that can be implemented across the Brisbane River Catchment basin and beyond, so the next time an extreme weather event occurs its effects on our regional community are diminished or negated. With the measures we are recommending, the damage incurred from a significant rain event like the 2011 floods would be considerably reduced and help to secure our region’s water future.

The first of its kind, this work is also relevant for floodaffected communities in other parts of Queensland and Australia more broadly.

So what did we learn?

First, that the communities in the Brisbane, Bremer and Lockyer Creek Catchments are all interconnected and need to work together to protect themselves against the impacts of drought and flood. From the hills of the Scenic Rim in the west to the barrier islands of Moreton Bay in the east, South East Queensland is an ecological system where the actions in one area affect another and therefore the whole catchment.

1

Fluvial adjective 1. of or found in a river Transect verb 1. (transitive) to cut or divide cross-ways

WATER FUTURES

We can’t control severe weather events, however, through lived experience, we can learn, design and adapt.

We need an integrated approach to water management that considers the complexities involved in adapting the built and natural environments to such extremes.

We need a clear, shared vision.

GYMPIE REGIONAL COUNCIL SOUTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL

SUNSHINE COAST COUNCIL

SOMERSET REGIONAL COUNCIL

WATER QUALITY & SECURITY MORETON BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

SPONGE URBANISM

BAYCULTURE TOOWOOMBA REGIONAL COUNCIL

BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL

ECOAGRICULTURE LOCKYER VALLEY REGIONAL COUNCIL

IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL GOLD COAST CITY COUNCIL

SPONGE SUBURBIA

SOUTHERN DOWNS REGIONAL COUNCIL

SCENIC RIM REGIONAL COUNCIL

The Brisbane River Catchment region of South East Queensland is comprised of a series of smaller catchments and watersheds.

The region’s Fluvial Transect is itself defined by five interconnected zones.

2

WATER BLUEPRINT CONSERVE

TRANSITION

WIVENHOE DAM

LOCKYER VALLEY

Maintain Quality > Store

Store > Delay > Recharge

THE FLUVIAL TRANSECT Everyone living in the greater Brisbane River Catchment is linked via a series of watersheds in one way or another. By taking an integrated water management approach, we are able to better address the issues and opportunities within local communities, with each actor in the Fluvial Transect being considerate of the other. With this in mind, we present the following principles:

WATER QUALITY • Improve water quality naturally through conservation and land stewardship • Make use of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme to improve flood storage capacity and protect drinking water supplies • Investigate a potential bypass pipe between Wivenhoe Dam and Mt Crosby • Activating additional watersensitive design strategies to help increase the dam’s flood storage capacity

3

ECO-AGRICULTURE • Encourage water-sensitive farm types and land management in the upper catchments • Control sediment, replenish ground water and nutrients • Use water delay techniques leading to a reduction in downstream flood risk • Consider the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme as a potential nutrient supplier • Revegetate riparian zones to assist in sediment control, water detention and discharge

WATER FUTURES

LINEAR TRANSITION

CONSTRICTED

COASTAL

BREMER & IPSWICH

BRISBANE

MORETON BAY

Store > Delay

Store > Reuse

Adapt > Embrace

SPONGE SUBURBIA

SPONGE URBANISM

BAY CULTURE

• Support water-sensitive suburban development • Reduce sedimentation in local creeks and rivers • Delay water and reduce fluvial and flash flooding risk downstream • Improve public flood awareness • Adapt public space amenity and recreational facilities • Implement water-sensitive urban design principles and flood-aware architectural design solutions

• Integrate water-sensitive urban design principles and flood-aware architectural design solutions • Build retention parks, sponge streets and gullies, levee parks and flood plazas • Use permeable surfaces to encourage ground water recharge and storage • Revegetate local creeks to improve water quality and assist with delaying floodwaters • Employ urban agriculture

• Adapt to sea level rise and protect future communities through natural buffers and coastal ecologies • Capitalise on managed sediment control and water quality improvements • Embrace the bay and coast to encourage aquacultural production and create tourism opportunities • Better utilise the opportunities presented by the Port of Brisbane and Brisbane Airport

4

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

CONTEMPLATING OUR WATER FUTURE The Brisbane River Catchment is one of Australia’s fastest growing regions. As the nation’s most flood-prone capital city, Brisbane’s relationship with water plays a vital role in the community’s future. Our intention is to therefore propose ideas and inspire leadership towards the safe, secure and productive planning and management of water resources in South East Queensland and, more broadly Australia. We consider the need for this planning work and the triggers for action to be the adaptation to varying extreme weather events across the region.

After a decade of drought followed by the devastating floods of 2011, the time has come to change the way we think about water management in SEQ. These and many other questions were addressed in the SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette in August 2016. The five-day event brought professionals, academics, government stakeholders and students together to examine spatial design strategies through innovative, integrated approaches to climate change adaptation in the region.

Using an integrated, activity based charrette (workshop) method, the group was encouraged to hand draw diagrams and explanatory images so as to communicate their ideas.

Participants were charged with creating a new vision, building towards an integrated water management and flood / drought mitigation system. The process was led by experts who had successfully used the technique for cities like New Orleans and St. Louis in the USA.

5

Design strategies from the charrette were reworked and applied by the participating experts and Masters students from the University of Queensland’s School of Architecture to produce a broad range of imagery illustrating water management ideas at the catchment, landscape, suburban and urban scales. In presenting this work, this book has three main drivers: 1. To consolidate and summarise the findings from the 2016 SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette.

2. To educate the public about our changing climate and the value of water as a resource in the Brisbane River Catchment region.

3. To act as a resource and translation guide, to be used by the larger flood affected community both in Australia and overseas.

The group was exposed to a variety of issues in SEQ with field trips to key sites in the Brisbane River Catchment, including Lockyer Valley and Wivenhoe Dam. A high-level stakeholder meeting was held with representatives from the Queensland Council of Mayors, Queensland Reconstruction Authority and Local Government representatives from Ipswich City Council and the Lockyer Valley Regional Council to scope the charrette’s main activities.

WATER FUTURES

Through good design we can make our communities more resilient to climate variations and the predicted increases in event frequencies and intensities. There is more than enough depth of knowledge and experience in our region to do this successfully.

What we need is a region-specific integrated water blueprint that considers the ambitions and needs of all communities acting on and influencing water management in the greater Brisbane River Catchment.

In this book, we present a vision for a total catchment based approach to flood, drought and water management grounded in the concept of shared responsibility by all who live in our floodplain.

2016 SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette, Photographer: Clive Ba-PĂŠ (JDA)

6

MARGARET STREET, BRISBANE CBD - 1974 FLOODS

7

01 02 03 04

CONTEXT DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

OUTCOMES AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

PROCESS SEQ WATER FUTURES DESIGN CHARRETTE

FUTURE OUR ONGOING IMPACT

8

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

FAIRFIELD FLOOD HOUSE - JAMES DAVIDSON ARCHITECT

9

WATER FUTURES

FOREWORD “Every time I go to the grocery store, to the fruit and vegetable shop, to buy some pears, I never get the pears the way I wish them to be. They are not ripe, or they are far too ripe. It is the same with water, there is either far too much or far too little. It never comes in the amount you wish.

The high level of flood acceptance in Brisbane surprises me.

Such flood acceptance exists in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, but those are less developed regions. I cannot imagine Brisbanites will accept floods much longer. If they have a choice, they will definitely choose dry feet. However, keeping one’s feet dry is only one of two main issues. In the near future, water supply might be an even bigger challenge.

We need a mind shift. We need to focus not only on water protection but also on water supply.

I don’t believe in cost benefit analyses. The debate should not be about costs and benefits. Society is much more interested in cost / quality. We need to search for solutions that both work and add value, that turn Brisbane into an even more interesting place to live, to stay, to earn money and that is, in an ecological way, much more resilient.

Design Charrettes are the best way to shake loose the fontanels, to force a break through conventional thoughts and to create shared discoveries. It is the best way to discover a conjoined point at the horizon as well as to discuss short-term measures, because we need both. The challenge is to link the long-term perspective to short-term measures, drawing as esperanto, between languages, but even more importantly

between disciplines and different backgrounds. The Charrette process proves that drawing speeds up the process and focuses the discussion.

Our discovery is that there is no silver bullet. There is not a megalomaniacal solution. We have to search for a combination of measures that work together, strengthen each other and add value. We have to work with the system, not against the system. There is much more that we don’t know than what we do know. Drawing is a good way to discover where information is missing and what information is needed.

What do we want in this area? How do we want it to be developed? First we have to determine what the possibilities are. It all starts with inspiration. But on the other hand, you cannot do much when you don’t have the money to realise projects. So, again there is the classic ‘chicken or the egg’ question. Believe me, funding follows inspiration.

Design Charrettes are a great instrument to achieve a mind shift, from damage control to adding quality. When people recognise that development will improve the city, making new conditions much better than before, they will be much more prepared to pay for it.

We have to work together, in collaboration we can achieve so much more. We have to start now. It is just as Ban Ki Moon stated: ‘we have to start today, there is no Plan B, because there is no Planet B.”

Steven Slabbers (Bosch Slabbers Landscape Architects, The Netherlands - Rotterdam, 2014)

10

01 11

CONTEXT DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

12

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

BRISBANE RIVER CATCHMENT The Brisbane River Catchment is 13,750 km2 in area. It features the roughly 300 km long Brisbane River, made up of 6 major tributaries that converge towards a reverse delta, with tidal urban rivers and creeks entering a large shallow bay.

The Brisbane River Catchment (or Basin) has a total area of 13,750km2 to the Port Office Gauge which is in the heart of Brisbane City. The catchment is bounded by the Great Dividing Range to the west and several smaller coastal ranges including the Brisbane, Jimna, D’Aguilar and Conondale Ranges to the north and east. Most of the Brisbane River Catchment lies to the west of the coastal mountain ranges.

The catchment is complex, combining urban and rural land, one major and several smaller flood mitigation dams, tidal influences and many tributaries with the potential for individual or joint flooding.

The Brisbane River itself has a total length of 309km. The river system consists of the Brisbane River and six major tributaries. Cooyar Creek, Emu Creek and Cressbrook Creek are all major tributaries of the Upper Brisbane River above Wivenhoe Dam. The Stanley River is the only major tributary that flows from the Conondale and D’Aguilar Ranges.

Lockyer Creek flows east from the cliffs of the Great Dividing Range and joins the Brisbane River just downstream of Wivenhoe Dam. The remaining tributary is the Bremer River which rises in the Little Liverpool Range and joins the Brisbane River at Ipswich just below Wivenhoe Dam. The Brisbane River is tidal to just below Mt Crosby Weir, which is around 90km from its mouth and is also where the region’s major drinking water treatment plant is located.

The Bremer River is tidal in its lower reaches and is affected by backwater when the Brisbane River is flooded. It passes through rural and agricultural land, numerous towns and the Ipswich CBD. The Brisbane River itself has two major dams located in its upper reaches, both of which were built to supplement Brisbane’s water supply and to help mitigate against the impact of flood. Wivenhoe Dam was built in 1984 and has a catchment area of around 7,020km2. Somerset Dam on Lake Somerset is located upstream of Lake Wivenhoe on the Stanley River near Kilcoy, and has a catchment area of 1,340km2.

Therefore, around half of the overall catchment is regulated and able to assist with flood-related mitigation. There are a number of smaller dams located within the catchment on the tributaries of the Brisbane River, although their influence on flood mitigation is not as significant as that of Wivenhoe Dam.

13

WATER FUTURES

UPPER BRISBANE RIVER SOMERSET DAM

WIVENHOE DAM

LAKE SAMSONVALE

LAKE KURWONGBAH

BRISBANE RIVER

LOCKYER CREEK

BREMER RIVER

OXLEY CREEK LOGAN RIVER

COOMERA RIVER

The extent of the Brisbane River Catchment

14

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

The people of the catchment were part of a wider Goori society that extended throughout SEQ, to the north, south along the coastal plain and inland to the top of the Great Dividing Range.

Social organisation was driven by the calendar of seasonal feasts that came from resource abundances at different places in the region.

EARLY ABORIGINAL SOCIETY When a penal colony was formed in Moreton Bay in 1824, Aboriginal people had a detailed geography and cultural landscape with many hundreds of place names to distinguish between the reaches of the main lower river and the rivers of the upper tributary basin, as well as the small tributary creeks. The catchment was broken up into clan estates which were most likely in the order of four or five kilometres square due to the rich concentration of food and water.

Each estate had a range of seasonal, and some perennial, campsites as well sacred sites, resources and water sources.

The estates in turn amalgamated into language group areas, but as people from different clans travelled outside of their estates for socio-ceremonial interaction, many intermarried and most became multilingual. In most cases this meant political boundaries were weakened or dissolved altogether.

The people of the catchment were part of a wider Goori society that extended throughout all SEQ, to the north, south along the coastal plain and inland to the top of the Great Dividing Range.

Social organisation was driven by the calendar of seasonal feasts that came from resource abundances at different places in the region. For example the bunya pine nut harvests (triennial) in the now-named Blackall Range (near Maleny) or the mullet runs at Amity, or the dugong fattening time at a range of coastal places.

People travelled along pathways throughout the region to be hosted by local clans for trade, wife promising, visiting in-laws, mourning observances, public feasting, religious festivals, ceremonies (including bora), dispute resolution and economic inter-dependence (Gaiarbau in Winterbotham 1983).

There were also significant harvests of fish, both freshwater and saltwater species at the lower reaches of the larger creeks flowing into the Brisbane River. Aboriginal people converted this riverine harvest into a trade economy upon the formation of the convict settlement and then with the Brisbane free settlement which was opened up by the NSW Government 15

in 1842. These early immigrants had only marginal success at first with their own English crops and animal herds. The early white settlers were therefore highly dependent on the Aboriginal fishermen and Aboriginal people for supplies like cladding sheets of shelter bark and firewood.

The Aboriginal social structure was an integration of the land and sea tenure system, the kinship system and the ‘skin’ (or class) system. It was maintained by layers of local and regional governance by elders. The whole system was founded on a set of religious and behavioural values learnt through initiation ceremonies in early and mid-adulthood. Some 200 or so initiation grounds were established throughout SEQ comprising sculpted earth ritual circles (boras), for both public and gender-divided ceremonies; some embellished with inverted wattle trees with inter-woven rope fabrics (Strong 2016).

Regional initiations were held on a rotational basis according to the availability of seasonal food to support hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people. These ceremonial festivals were accompanied by public dancing, trade, marital promises and bondings, and the elaboration of kinship relations and obligations through the classificatory skin system.

Aboriginal clans maintained a range of land and riverine management practices including patchwork rotational burning of the grasslands and woodlands. Sacred sites included a category of places that anthropologists now call ‘increase’ or ‘fertility centres’, one for each important animal and plant species, where a ritual was used to catalyse the reproductive fertility of the species and thereby maintain the ecological balance and a plentitude of foods. The reproductive energy at the site was termed ‘mimburi’. This practice was widespread in Aboriginal Australia and the range of these sacred sites included ones where rain, floods, winds and cyclones respectively could be generated.

LY UL

FER NY

G

WATER FUTURES

NYINDURU-PILI (INDOOROOPILLY) Leech sacred site Rain Making

SPRING CAMP

DHARRA-NGA (TARINGA) Place of Stones

RID GE

BANDJUR SKIN

G ON -W U T

THE POCKET SCRUB Rainforest

ISBANE BR

BANARABA CAMP Place of Red Bloodwood CAMP

R

ER IV

YERONG-PILI Sandy Gully Rain Place

CAMP

SKIN

RIDGE PATH WAY (N OW SWANN ROAD )

BAN AW AR A

SANDY CREEK SCRUB

BAARANG

RID GE

SPRING

S A ND Y CR E EK

CANOE CREEK (OXLEY CREEK)

PAT H WAY

HEALING CAMP

BANDA

JARUWANJ

SKIN

SKIN

SITE OF UQ AT ST LUCIA

A map of a small area of geography in what are now the suburbs of St Lucia and Long Pocket in Brisbane.

Mimburi, CatямБsh in the Brisbane River by Alex Bond During the charrette, Alex emphasised the importance of understanding and respecting natural cycles; for example, Aboriginal people did not hunt catfish during the breeding season. Mimburi represents fertility and reproduction.

16

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT Brisbane City today is named after its river which saw its first European explorers in the early 1800s. John Oxley named the river after NSW Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane in 1823 while investigating new sites for the Moreton Bay penal colony after it failed at Redcliffe. North Quay (the present day CBD) was chosen as the new site for its fresh water supply and the colony later bore the name of the river. Brisbane has been defined by its river since settlement, where development has straddled its ebbs and flows and confronted its extremes during floods. Brisbane’s first recorded flood was in 1825, however no further details remain. History shows there have been more than 200 flood events in the river since.

European settlement of the Lockyer Valley began in 1823.

Allan Cunningham during his 1829 exploration described the Lockyer Creek Basin as having forests and abundant grassland plains.

From 1828 convicts constructed the stone buildings in early Brisbane and three distinct areas around the river emerged: South Brisbane, Kangaroo Point and North Brisbane. When development was opened for free settlement in 1838, a boom of inner city timber homes emerged which continue to define the city today.

The ubiquitous elevated “Queenslander” house emerged due to Brisbane’s steep topography, sub-tropical climate and the abundant availability of hardwood supplies. In 1841, the Brisbane River reached its highest recorded flood peak at 8.41 metres. Little information remains as to the extent of damage, other than that a series of flood events followed in Ipswich, as well as elsewhere in the years after.

In 1859, the colony of Queensland was established as a separate entity to NSW and Brisbane became the capital as an established municipality. The Land Subdivision Act of 1885 cemented Brisbane’s development difference from the southern states, effectively banning terrace housing by enforcing ten metre frontages as a public health measure.

This meant that the city continued to grow with a prevalence of detached timber houses on stilts. Dredging the river for navigation purposes began in 1862, particularly along the inner stretches which saw industrial development and shipping up the river to Ipswich until a railway was built in 1875.

17

Paddington Houses - Helen Dash, UQ Press

The Great Flood of 1893, or the Black February Flood, came to define the city as the river burst its banks on three occasions after cyclones. Though the city had only 90,000 people at the time, the widespread damage including the destruction of both the Indooroopilly and Victoria bridges was recorded in detail, including the river’s second highest peak.

Following 1893, flood mitigation infrastructure was first suggested by Henry Somerset, a land owner on the Stanley River, who would later become the namesake of Brisbane’s first major dam after championing construction as an elected official in 1904. Brisbane became a designated city in 1902 and continued to grow at a steady pace. In 1924, the City of Brisbane Act amalgamated 19 Local Government areas to create the City of Brisbane, Australia’s largest local authority to this day.

The end of World War II saw a mass expansion of the city, departing from the Queenslander tradition into more contemporary ‘post-war’ housing. Remaining high-set on stumps, new suburbs were developed while the city’s population rose quickly. These areas make up most of Brisbane’s inner-metropolitan suburbs and include many areas along the river floodplains.

The development boom of the 1990s saw more contemporary construction on the city’s periphery, particularly in areas between Ipswich and Brisbane. Large tracts of low lying land were developed to keep up with demand. These suburbs became some of the hardest hit in 2011, with greater damage seen in contemporary housing stock than in that of the preand post-war vernaculars. Such damage underscores the importance of building appropriately around the river and further emphasises the importance of this book, given that flooding in our region is inevitable.

WATER FUTURES

TOP: The Flood, Greater Brisbane 1893, SLQ Library BOTTOM: Cartographic Map , Brisbane 1888, SLQ Library

18

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

FLOOD & DROUGHT HISTORY In our region, history shows that the pendulum has always swung between drought and flooding rains. This has become even more apparent through the work of researchers at the University of Queensland (Croke, et al. 2016) who via sedimentation analysis (see top right figure) have reconstructed the historical flood record over the last 2000 years. The timeline below shows their work in conjunction with more recent historical flood records.

1856

500s

Major flood event

Peak flood event

1887

1300s

Major flood event

Peak flood event

1893

1841 Highest flood in Brisbane’s recorded history

KEY LEGEND Drought Periods Flood Events

19

Brisbane’s first flood in 23 years. City wharves were submerged

Major flood event “The Great Flood of Brisbane”

1730s Peak flood event with a probable maximum flood (PMF) approximately five times that seen in 2011

1931

1898-1903

1925

1927-1936

One of the most severe droughts in our history ‘Federation Drought’

Major drought event

A period of continuous rain scarcity in the central and southern interior region.

WATER FUTURES

1730s 1730s

SEVERITY

1300s 1300s

1890s 1890s 500s 500s 1974 2011

2011 1980 1980 1950 1950 1900 1900 2011

1800 1800

1600 1400 1400 1000 1000 1600

0 0

Approximate reconstructed flood activity over the past 2000 years taken from Croke et al. (2016) illustrating that the region has experienced significantly greater flood events than 2011.

1984 1974 Highest flood levels of the century. 14 lives lost and 8,000 households affected

Wivenhoe Dam complete.

The dam was constructed in response to the 1974 floods to help mitigate future flood events

2017 2011 1991

Extreme flash flooding in Toowomba and the Lockyer Valley. Major river flooding in the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers

Major flood event

1964-1966

1979-1983

1990-1995 1995-2009

Drought conditions in south-western and southern Queensland

Extensive drought event affecting nearly all of eastern Australia

Severe drought event affecting most of the state

Cyclone Debbie and resultant major flood events

Millennium Drought impacts Brisbane

20

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

1900

1902

1919

1940

1974

2000

2002

2011

THE PENDULUM SWINGS 100 YEARS OF FLOOD AND DROUGHT IN AUSTRALIA For as long as we can remember, Australia has experienced countless extremes in rainfall, swinging the country from dire droughts to nationwide floods. This will never change, it will only get worse.

It is for this reason that we need to live with the weather, and stop fighting against it.

RAINFALL STATISTICS TOO MUCH

TOO LITTLE

21

WATER FUTURES

REGATTA HOTEL FLOOD LEVELS 1841, 1887, 1893,1974

22

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

MILLENIUM DROUGHT & 2011 FLOODS The drought of 2002 - 2010 saw Brisbane’s main water source drop to levels just below 17% capacity. Wivenhoe Dam is Brisbane City’s major flood mitigation infrastructure, and was originally conceived after the 1974 floods to control the upper Brisbane River while also protecting Brisbane’s drinking water supply.

In the summer of 2010-11, 200,000 homes across Queensland were affected by unprecedented rainfall and ensuing flooding, affecting an area of approximately 1,000,000 km2.

The damage bill for those events was around $6 billion. As the largest insurer in Queensland, Suncorp received over 40,000 claims alone, and paid out over $1 billion to customers.

The events of the summer culminated in the inundation of South East Queensland in early 2011. Up to January 10, 160mm of rain fell in 36 hours over the Lockyer Valley causing widespread flash flooding in the region, as well as in the city of Toowoomba.

The ‘inland tsunami’ it generated reached up to eight metres high and swept away local farms and towns, and tragically killed 12 people. Wivenhoe Dam itself received the equivalent of two 1974 capacity floods, 30 hours apart, which resulted in large releases being made. Wivenhoe reached 196% full, meaning all its drinking water capacity and the majority of its temporary flood storage capacity was full.

Both the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams can only manage and mitigate about half of the water run-off from the Brisbane River Catchment with no ability to manage the 50% of the catchment below Wivenhoe. Simply raising the dam level is not enough to protect the region. We need to pursue a holistic approach using integrated management techniques, drawing on the broad experience and depth of knowledge contained in the various actors living in the catchment.

The answer lies in supplementing hard infrastructure with soft solutions such as water-sensitive design strategies amongst others, as presented in the subsequent chapters of this book.

It is possible to build larger dams, but it is correct to say it is not feasible to build a dam capable of completely mitigating all floods. As history shows we will inevitably have much larger floods in our region than experienced in 2011. An integrated vision is needed to manage this threat.

23

WATER FUTURES

...AND WHAT IT COST US 38

1000

$30 BILLION

LIVES

FAMILIES DISPLACED

LOSS IN AUSTRALIA’S GDP

37,000

200,000

$1 BILLION

HOMES & BUSINESSES INUNDATED

PEOPLE AFFECTED (APPROX.)

IN INSURANCE CLAIMS IN SEQ (SUNCORP ALONE)

16,000

$6 BILLION

78 %

HOMES & BUSINESSES PARTIALLY FLOODED

TOTAL IN DAMAGES

OF THE STATE WAS DECLARED A DISASTER ZONE

The flood was characterised by two distinct peak inflow rates to Wivenhoe Dam separated by about 30 hours - each peak was comparable to the inflow rate experienced during the 1974 event.

A larger dam is not enough to manage water and protect our region. In 2011, Wivenhoe Dam reached over

requiring dam operators to release water into the Brisbane River which met downstream floodwaters arriving from both Lockyer Creek and the Bremer River.

24

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

VOLUNTEERS CLEANING UP AFTER THE 1974 FLOODS

25

‘MUD ARMY’ VOLUNTEERS, DEFINED

BY GENEROSITY, COMMUNITY SPIRIT, RESILIENCE AND A DESIRE TO HELP

FLOOD OF SUPPORT Amidst the devastation, the 2011 floods in Brisbane created a new level of community engagement. As the waters subsided, over 25,000 ‘mud army’ volunteers participated in the initial recovery.

With the support of the Australian Defence Force and volunteer groups, the Queensland Government and Local Councils responded quickly to coordinate recovery efforts.

With resources made available via the Queensland State Government’s Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund, SEQ bounced back quickly. While the state recovered quickly, the Queensland Flood Commission of Inquiry was established to learn from the experience in order that improvements be made in the preparation and planning for floods by Governments, agencies and the community, to minimise future impacts.

The overwhelming amount of support for those affected by the floods serves as a reminder of what can be achieved with community involvement and collaboration. The SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette was just one step towards ensuring we are better prepared for the next event.

26

RISK TO WATER QUALITY Brisbane and Ipswich were settled because of their proximity to fresh drinking water. Since then, dredging, agricultural, industrial and residential development in the region has had an adverse effect on this water quality. Affectionately known as ‘The Brown Snake’, the Brisbane River has major quality issues particularly relating to sediment discharge from the upper catchments.

The not-for-profit organisation, Healthy Land and Water, monitors SEQ catchments with a report card system measuring water quality combining the results of a freshwater (biophysical and habitat), estuarine (water quality and habitat) and pollutant load assessment. Indicators are assessed against established guidelines and benchmarks, resulting in a single grade (A to F) for each catchment or bay zone.

Before the 2011 floods, the Lower Brisbane Catchment was graded an ‘F’ as streams generally failed to meet ecosystem health guidelines, particularly in terms of nutrient cycling, aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish. By 2014, the Lower Brisbane Catchment had been upgraded to a ‘D’, while the Bremer was downgraded to an ‘F’.

In 2016 alone, over 6180 tonnes of sediment was generated in the Bremer by land use activities.

Channel and stream bank erosion exacerbate these issues. Sediment levels are now at their worst in the upper catchments below Wivenhoe, posing major issues for the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich and the Mt Crosby treatment plant. Turbidity levels after a storm event in 2013 saw the plant shut down and Brisbane City come within six hours of losing drinking water.

Water quality in SEQ must be addressed to protect our environment and way of life.

27

“Water is intrinsic to every aspect of the environment and the community. There is a strong nexus between water, the environment, energy and agricultural production 75% of the world’s water is used by the agricultural industry to produce food, fibre and fuel.”

KEY LEGEND Fresh water quality data was collected from water bodies throughout the SEQ Catchment between the years 2010 - 2017 and given a grade from A to F. This information is shown in the diagrams to the right. These clearly illustrate the poor quality of our fresh waterways and how flood events can drastically affect water quality.

A B C D F

WATER FUTURES

2009 (Pre-2011 Floods)

Source: Healthy Land and Water

2014 (Post 2011 Floods)

Source: Healthy Land and Water

28

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

OUR REGION AT RISK According to scientific evidence, heightened rainfall with increased frequency, along with longer and more frequent periods of drought are predicted to make SEQ even more vulnerable to flood risk in the future.

Higher average temperatures will mean more intense storms and frequent storm activity, as well as a predicted increase in demand for potable and agricultural water sources.

The number of hot days will triple, meaning existing small scale water storage will be limited in its capacity to supply farms and the population.

Sea level rise will pose a problem along Moreton Bay and the coast, where many properties lie within one metre of the waterline. With increased acidification and warmer oceans, the natural systems which protect our coastline will erode and therefore be less effective. The water cycle will fluctuate more intensely between drought and flood extremes meaning the natural environment, and the benefits it brings, will be under further stress.

While these factors may pose some threats to the region, they are also an opportunity to innovate and develop new systems which build on the strengths of our natural assets.

Because the risk of flood and drought is so severe, our water future is highly dependent on our ability to adopt strategies which not only mitigate against the risk of natural disaster but build and capitalise on SEQ’s identity as a sub-tropical region.

29

Brisbane and Ipswich were settled on the basis of plentiful fresh drinking water and arable land in the Lockyer Valley to support European settlement, resource appropriation and development. Our city’s development history has been intrinsically linked to the cycle of floods and droughts on the floodplain.

The Scenic Rim creates a basin which channels water into our waterways, creeks and rivers and eventually to Moreton Bay. We know that from an ecological perspective we are, and will continue to be, at risk of flooding, and that upstream and downstream flooding issues are co-dependent. We cannot ignore the regions and their important interconnectedness in this debate.

Our aim in this work is to develop innovative and practical solutions for flood and drought adaptation (and mitigation) that can be implemented across the Brisbane River Catchment basin and beyond, so the next time an extreme weather event occurs its effects on our regional community are diminished or negated. With the measures we are recommending, the damage incurred from a significant rain event like the 2011 floods would be markedly reduced.

The following charrette outcomes are the first step towards an integrated water management strategy to help secure our region’s water future.

WATER FUTURES

HIGHER AVERAGE TEMPERATURES

HOTTER & MORE FREQUENT HOT DAYS

This means higher evaporation, more storm energy and more moisture being held in clouds.

Double the number of days over 35°C and triple the days over 40°C, even with reduced emissions.

HIGHER SEA LEVELS

LONGER DROUGHTS

In 2016, Nature and National Geographic, published projections of up to 2m rises by 2100. Global warming of 2-4°C may lock in sea level rises in Brisbane of around 5-9m in 200 years or more (Climate Central, 2015).

A: More time spent in drought.

WARMER & MORE ACIDIC OCEANS

MORE STORM SURGES

A: Ocean warming is projected to continue.

Human emissions have raised ocean acidity 0.1 pH units (26%) over the last 200 years.

An indicative extreme sea level ‘allowance’ is the minimum distance required to raise an asset to maintain current frequency of breaches under projected sea level rise.

Recent figures suggest 2013 projections are too conservative.

B: Oceans around Australia will become more acidic. The rate of ocean acidification will be proportional to human CO2 emissions.

INCREASED INTENSITY OF HEAVY RAINFALL EVENTS The magnitude of change, and the time when any change may be evident against natural variability, cannot be reliably projected.

EVAPORATION RATES & SOIL MOISTURE

B: An increase in the frequency and duration of extreme drought conditions.

HARSHER BUSHFIRE EVENTS Changing climate will result in more extreme fire events.

AVERAGE ANNUAL RUN-OFF Run-off is projected to decrease.

Increases in potential evapo-transpiration in all seasons. Overall seasonal decreases in soil moisture.

ANNUAL RAINFALL

MORE INTENSE LOWS AND CYCLONES

Contrasting model simulations highlight the potential need to consider the risk of both a drier and wetter climate impact assessment (declines of up to 30% or increases of up to 25%).

A: An increasing proportion of the most intense storms, lows and tropical cyclones.

B: A larger proportion of storms may enter south of 25°S (Tropic of Capricorn) 30

CONTEXT — DROUGHTS, FLOODS & OUR RESPONSE

FLOODWATERS AT ROSALIE, 2011 FLOODS

31

“WE MUST NEVER FORGET THE SUMMER OF 2010-2011. IT WAS BY FAR QUEENSLAND’S LARGEST EVER CATASTROPHE IN RECENT MEMORY, BUT WE SHOULDN’T DISMISS IT AS A ONEOFF. QUEENSLAND STILL HAS WORK TO DO TO PROPERLY PREPARE FOR AND MITIGATE AGAINST A REPEAT.” ANTHONY DAY INSURANCE CEO, SUNCORP

32

02 33

OUTCOMES AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

34

COASTAL

CONSTRICTED

TRANSITION

TRANSITION

CONSERVE

FLUVIAL TRANSECT

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT Our aim is to develop a long-term, region-specific Integrated Water Management Plan that considers, and is concerned with, the social, cultural, environmental and economic drivers of all communities in the Brisbane River Catchment.

35

WATER FUTURES

CONSERVE ZONE

CONSTRICTED ZONE BRISBANE AIRPORT

BRISBANE

TOOWOOMBA

GRANTHAM

TRANSITION ZONE (LOCKYER)

MT CROSBY TREATMENT PLANT

PORT OF BRISBANE

COASTAL ZONE

ROCKLEA

GATTON

LAIDLEY

GOODNA IPSWICH

TRANSITION ZONE (BREMER)

The five transects or zones in our Fluvial diagram. There is an opportunity to harness the benefits of water as it passes through the catchment and waterway system from the Lockyer Valley to Moreton Bay.

36

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

For planning purposes, the 2011 flood should be considered a ‘moderate’ event.

We need to design for higher flood levels - think 2011 floods plus 30% - including floods that will affect a larger proportion of the catchment and floods that will last longer.

DESIGN CONSTRAINTS & APPROACH

Its unique geography and climate make our region particularly vulnerable to flooding. Wivenhoe Dam acts as the main fail-safe for both flood and drought protection, however we know that the dam only receives run-off from 50% of the catchment, limiting its ability to fully protect us. If rains don’t fall then we need additional water resources, whereas if there’s too much rain, the dam is not sufficient to prevent the region from flooding. Other solutions are needed.

In 2017 a significant proportion of the Brisbane River Catchment is uncontrolled, in particular the Lockyer Creek and Bremer River Catchments which flow into the Brisbane River below Wivenhoe Dam. While smaller local infrastructure exists, there is little to prevent the unpredictable and substantial amount of water (and sediment) which flows into the river from these catchments.

The Brisbane River is tidal for approximately 90kms from Moreton Bay, meaning the catchment is susceptible to king tides and storm surges, further exacerbating water levels in times of flood.

Our towns, cities and farms have been built on and around our rivers and are extremely vulnerable to flood risk. As we saw in 2011 these factors combined to create a perfect storm - an unprecedented but preventable disaster.

As seen during our design charrette, the integrated water management approach aims to manage flooding in smaller portions rather than confronting the entire wall of water at any one specific point. We imagine a series of smaller components doing their bit to alleviate flooding while also assisting in protecting us during times of drought.

For the purposes of the charrette, it was important to identify our design constraints and what we were working towards with the adaptation strategies.

We established the parameters of: •

Drought

•

2011 flood levels

•

2011 flood levels plus 30%

•

Flash flooding

We begin with the Fluvial Transect!

37

WATER FUTURES

The flood map above illustrates those areas inundated in 1893. The levels recorded during that event roughly equate to the design constraints (2011 plus 30%) defined during our charrette. Our aim is to design an integrated regional water management system which can resist a future flood event of the magnitude of 1893.

38

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

FLUVIAL TRANSECT STRATEGIES 1.

Integrated Regional Catchments (IRC) Establishing IRCs will create an uppercatchment (above Wivenhoe Dam), river, bay and coastal plan to address the different water conditions specific to each area.

Protect Critical Infrastructure An integrated plan must protect critical infrastructure in Brisbane and other satellite cities within the catchment, to allow continued investment in the region. This will acknowledge what is at stake at the heart of Australia’s third largest economic hub.

3.

Embrace Uncertainty Embracing uncertainty with a risk based (or risk assessed) approach is essential to development and safety, this encourages safe and sustainable development in areas where it is viable and safe to do so, rather than creating prescriptive limits which often have adverse effects on our built environments.

CONSERVE

TRANSITION

TRANSITION

WIVENHOE DAM

LOCKYER VALLEY

BREMER & IPSWICH

Maintain Quality > Store

Store > Delay > Recharge

Store > Delay

WATER QUALITY

39

2.

ECO-AGRICULTURE

SPONGE SUBURBIA

WATER FUTURES

4.

Multi-scalar Fluvial Zones Correct zoning for buildings, neighbourhoods, towns, cities and broader landscapes provides a vision for each of these scales and a better understanding of where we are going in the future.

5.

Utilize Natural Systems Using our natural environment as an asset will reduce our sole reliance on engineering solutions and physical infrastructure and help build long-term amenity for all. Using existing natural systems wherever possible to respond to different urban forms and landscape types goes to the heart of sustainable mitigation.

LINEAR

CONSTRICTED

COASTAL

BRISBANE

MORETON BAY

Store > Reuse

Adapt > Embrace

SPONGE URBANISM

WE SEE THE FLUVIAL TRANSECT AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS A REGIONAL INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

Imagine a flood event with more rainfall and more water entering our catchment, yet its effects are significantly less than what we experienced in 2011.

That is our goal.

BAY CULTURE

40

UPPER BRISBANE CONSERVE

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

41

WATER QUALITY & SECURITY The Conserve Zone is the water source that takes in the catchments above the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams. This zone improves water quality naturally through riparian conservation and land stewardship. It is a natural filter for SEQ’s water and a mechanism for securing our drinking water during both flood and drought events. When used in conjunction with other water-sensitive design strategies we have the potential to increase the dams’ flood storage capacity without physically raising their walls.

WATER FUTURES

ISSUES During the 2013 flood, authorities were hours away from turning off the drinking water supply to the Brisbane suburbs of Tarragindi, Camp Hill, Carina North, Mount Gravatt, Tingalpa, Rocklea and Oxley. This was due to the amount of sediment in river waters which would have damaged the filtration systems at the Mt Crosby Water Treatment Plant.

The Conserve Zone lies in the upper reaches of the Brisbane and Stanley Rivers where rocky soil types result in overland water running quickly into the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams with limited opportunity for groundwater replenishment.

Wivenhoe Dam itself sits within a natural fault line where the geology changes. In terms of land use, the zone is mostly National Park and conservation areas with some grazing lands. These agricultural zones are prone to flash flooding along valleys and gullies and become critical to the water filtration process leading into the dams.

At the time, Brisbane City was forced to draw water from the Hinze (Gold Coast) and North Pine (Petrie) Dams. Much of the sediment being carried into the treatment system was coming from Lockyer Creek upstream of Mt Crosby.

Flash flooding and erosion are major issues in this zone with sediment loss and thus pollution a serious issue threatening the Mt Crosby water treatment plant which supplies drinking water to over 3 million people downstream.

Two possible solutions were discussed, the first (and most expensive) was to relocate the Mt Crosby water treatment plant up to Wivenhoe Dam, thus avoiding the influence of Lockyer Creek during inundation events. Option Two was to pipe treatable drinking water from Wivenhoe Dam to Mt Crosby. The second option does however mean our water infrastructure remains at risk in the event of a flood.

One of the main issues identified during the charrette was how to appropriately secure the region’s drinking water supply when floodwaters threaten the forced closure of the Mt Crosby water treatment plant.

2

WESTERN CORRIDOR RECYCLED WATER SCHEME PIPELINE

DRINKING WATER BYPASS LINE BETWEEN WIVENHOE DAM AND MT CROSBY

LUGGAGE POINT TREATMENT PLANT

GIBSON ISLAND TREATMENT PLANT 1

2

CONTINUE TO UTILISE MT CROSBY WATER TREATMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

1

RELOCATE MT CROSBY WATER TREATMENT INFRASTRUCTURE UP TO WIVENHOE DAM

BUNDAMBA ADVANCED TREATMENT PLANT

WESTERN CORRIDOR RECYCLED WATER SCHEME PIPELINE

Two options were discussed to prevent sedimentation in SEQ’s drinking water supply during future flood events

42

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES These are the major strategies which make up the Conserve Zone: 1. Land use management, including land stewardship encouraging increased riparian conservation areas and farming practices reducing potential sediment to improve water quality.

2. Revegetation of specific areas, particularly along ridgelines and gullies, to decrease the risk of flash flooding by slowing water down, catching sediment and purifying water naturally before it enters the dam.

3. Controlling sediment run-off into the dam to improve flood storage and drinking water capacity.

4. Increase the flood storage capacity by decreasing the drinking water capacity of Wivenhoe Dam as a flood mitigation device for downstream communities. This could be done by proactively and strategically releasing water before a flood event.

One obvious strategy to increase the flood storage capacity of Wivenhoe Dam is to take advantage of existing infrastructure in the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme (WCRWS), built by the Queensland Government in 2007 for $2.5 billion.

The scheme comprises three advanced water treatment plants constructed at Bundamba, Luggage Point and Gibson Island and can produce up to 230 megalitres of purified recycled water a day.

The system itself has the capacity to provide water to industrial and agricultural users, as well as supplement drinking water supplies in Wivenhoe Dam. It also has the capacity to transport nutrient-rich recycled water up to the Lockyer Valley for farming use in times of drought.

Built as a response to the severe decade-long drought the region was experiencing at the time, the WCRWS was the largest recycled water project in Australia. This is a critical piece of infrastructure that is currently sitting idle. Its capacity should be harnessed to benefit the millions of people living in the catchment and surrounding areas.

DELAY FILTER STORE

The principles needed to not only mitigate flooding but also protect our drinking water during flood and drought events.

By activating the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme, there is the possibility of reducing drinking water supply levels and increase the flood storage capacity of Wivenhoe Dam.

TOP CAPACITY (225%)

50%

FLOOD STORE

FLOOD STORE

DAM CAPACITY (100%)

50%

DRINKING WATER

43

DRINKING WATER

WATER FUTURES

REVEGETATE STEEP TERRAIN

VEGETATED KEYLINE SYSTEMS TO SLOW WATER FLOW

CELL GRAZING

CONTROL SEDIMENT RUNOFF INTO THE DAM

FLOOD RESILIENT HOUSING AND FARM INFRASTRUCTURE

CONSIDER WATER TREATMENT AT THE DAM

INCREASE FLOOD STORAGE CAPACITY VIA THE WESTERN CORRIDOR RECYCLED WATER SCHEME

Water Quality and Security Strategies: Maintain Quality & Store Natural filtration systems through revegetation of riparian areas in conjunction with the control of sediment and pollutant run-off from agricultural uses will protect our long-term water supply.

44

50% OF THE BRISBANE RIVER CATCHMENT IS BELOW SOMERSET AND WIVENHOE DAMS, MEANING THESE DAMS ARE ONLY PART OF THE SOLUTION TO FLOOD MITIGATION - THEY ARE NOT ‘THE’ SOLUTION 45

46

LOCKYER TRANSITION

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

47

ECO-AGRICULTURE The Eco-Agriculture Transition Zone located in the upper and mid catchments of the Brisbane Valley presents opportunities to use water-sensitive farming and land management techniques to control sediment, recharge groundwater supplies and increase nutrient replenishment in the soil. This region plays an important role in delaying the rate and volume of floodwaters entering downstream communities. Food security during periods of drought and flood is an important issue that should be taken into consideration as well.

WATER FUTURES

ISSUES Over the last 20 years, the agricultural district of the Lockyer Valley has experienced population and development pressures.

Being on the western fringe of the main urban centres of Ipswich and Brisbane, the region is forecast to double its current population by 2031. Due to the fertile alluvial soil of its local floodplains, the Lockyer Valley produces over $260 million of fresh fruit and vegetables per year.

This equals about 20% of Queensland’s annual vegetable production. As the population in this region has increased, more houses have been constructed within the bounds of local floodplains, leaving people increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Meanwhile the agricultural industry relies heavily on groundwater irrigation, which is highly susceptible to soil integrity loss through both flooding and droughts.

Lockyer Creek and its tributaries form a basin shaped catchment, with an area of approximately 3,000km2.

Elevations range from up to 1100 metres above sea level on the Great Dividing Range to 24 metres on the broad alluvial plains at the confluence with the Brisbane River; creating two distinctly different landscapes across the region with different relationships to any impending floodwaters. The first incorporates the higher altitude mountain creeks, outside of the floodplains. These are typified by smaller streams situated in steeper valleys, and are surrounded by grazing land.

The second includes the floodplains of the valley, around towns such as Grantham and Gatton, where most of the intensive agricultural production in the region occurs. The farmers in the valley rely on minor flood events that occur frequently to deposit rich alluvial silt onto land, maintaining the fertility of the soil despite the intensive agricultural

practices of the region. Due to the speed at which the water travels downstream from the upper mountain creeks, people living in this large flood basin are susceptible to rapid water level rise, which at times can be up to three metres above ground level or higher (e.g. the 2011 floods).

In the upper reaches, there are issues with: • Flash flooding in creeks and gullies; creating • High water velocities in streambanks and channels which pose a safety risk; and cause • Erosion of top soil which affects agricultural production In the floodplains, there are issues with: • Flash flooding and high water velocities in the lower creeks • Flash flooding in lower plains, such as that seen in Grantham in 2011 where tragically 12 lives were lost • Debris and sediment dumping from upstream flows, which poses a challenge to farmers downstream as well as those upstream who have lost their alluvial soils • Transport infrastructure that was not built to withstand flooding This poses a safety risk for locals but also has ongoing overall economic impacts for the region, for example trucks carrying fresh produce being cut off from supplying Ipswich and Brisbane. The cost of repairs to critical infrastructure can also be devastating to local authorities and associated communities.

Aerial view of the town of Grantham prior to (left) and post (right) the 2011 flood event where 12 people lost their lives and significant numbers of houses and businesses were destroyed.

48

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES HIGHLANDS

UPPER CREEKS

Today, the highlands area contains mainly grazing land with minor cropping. Flooding poses a high risk to infrastructure and requires better land use management; strategies for this area include:

The potential strategies for flood mitigation for the upper creek areas focus on ideas of storing / delaying and releasing water which in turn recharges the ground water for use during drought as well as reducing or preventing soil salinity.

• Revegetate the ridgeline to resist flash flooding • New vegetation and vegetative speed bumps integrate with land contours to resist flooding and recharge ground waters. This needs to be considered from the perspective of land owners and agreements must be reached with them to achieve the strategy.

• The fire management regime needs to be developed with a collaborative approach • Consider building a system of smaller dams in the region for flood storage, irrigation and recreation • Adapt (or remove if necessary) individual farm levees which exacerbate flash flooding and lead to sediment loss (regulation may be needed)

The first strategy focuses on slowing the flow of water down adjacent slopes during significant rain events to reduce the velocity potential in creeks and waterways; while the second strategy incorporates a series of detention basins and ponds along slope contours, allowing for water retention and ground water recharge. These could be achieved by: • Revegetating and extending the natural creek riparian zones which have been removed in favour of grazing • Rebuilding and revegetating areas of creeks significantly damaged by previous floods • Using the keyline approach, creating contour banking across the adjacent slopes to slow the movement of water by diverting it away from the fastest fall paths • Reinstating traditional contour bank systems where keyline designs are not appropriate • Incorporating water retention ponds across slopes to assist in slowing and delaying water flows, and assist in recharging the groundwater supplies in readiness for drier times

KEYLINE RETENTION

OVERLAND SHEET FLOODING

Keyline water retention systems (plan and section above) are effective in creating contour banking and slowing the path of water away from the steepest and fastest fall paths.

49

WATER FUTURES

TREES & VEGETATION TO ABSORB WATER AND REDUCE CAPACITY

DENSE VEGETATION TO REDUCE WATER FLOW VELOCITY AND FORCE

TREES & VEGETATION TO ABSORB WATER AND REDUCE CAPACITY

DENSE VEGETATION TO REDUCE WATER FLOW VELOCITY AND FORCE

RIDGE LINE WATER FLOWS HERRINGBONE STRUCTURE

KEYLINE RETENTION

HERRINGBONE STRUCTURE OVERLAND SHEET FLOODING

KEYLINE RETENTION

EARTH CELL CULVERT GRAZING / VIADUCT

FRAMED VIADUCT

RIDGE LINE WATER FLOWS

DENSE VEGETATION AROUND SPEED BUMPS

INTEGRATED PARALLEL TO CONTOURS

DENSE VEGETATION AROUND SPEED BUMPS

INTEGRATED PARALLEL TO CONTOURS

SPEED BUMPS TO SLOW WATER FLOW SPEED BUMPS TO SLOW WATER FLOW

SPEED BUMPS TO

CELL GRAZING SLOW WATER FLOWS

FRAMED VIADUCT

SPEED TO bump (bottom) strategies are effective in reducing the Highland ridgeline (top)BUMPS and speed SLOW WATER FLOWS flow rate and build-up of water.

GO RE AR LAIN W VE DP MO OO TO OF FL L A UT OS OP Y O PR HWA HIG

Earth culvert / viaduct (bottom right) leading to a venturi increase in water speed and volume; and framed viaducts (bottom right) being the solution to this problem.

! !

GATTON

POTENTIAL FOR RELOCATION

!

PERMEABLE INFRASTRUCTURE

RIPARIAN ZONES

The figure above presents a broad range of regional strategies to assist the Lockyer Valley in not only adapting to the effects of climate change but also highlighting those areas where flood mitigation can take place.

50

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES OVERLAND FLOODPLAINS The floodplains of the Lockyer Valley suffer from a different set of problems to those in the highlands. Because farmers rely on intermittent flooding to recharge nutrients in the soil, a strategy of store, delay and adapt should be used in the floodplains.

Adapting levees and transport infrastructure allows water to flood agricultural land unimpeded, avoiding dangerous high volume build-ups and sudden releases. Part of this strategy involves modifying the existing rail and road infrastructure to be more permeable rather than acting as dams and levees as is currently the case.

Revegetating the riparian zonesKEYLINE to the RETENTION HERRINGBONE STRUCTURE creek edges also slows water down and serves as a sediment filter for downstream catchments.

HERRINGBONE STRUCTURE

OVERLAND SHEET FLOODING

At a larger scale, relocating major civic structures and residences from the floodplain to nearby higher contours outside of the flood zone can help improve the safety of the next generation of Lockyer Valley residents (the move from Grantham to New Grantham is an example of this). The Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme has the potential to be repurposed as a nutrient supply from the urban areas downstream, where so much of precious farming sediment has been washed into.

By re-routing the Warrego Highway away from the floodplain, taking it into the hills above, we can protect SEQ’s long term food security and improve the economic outlook for the Lockyer Valley.

As the region hosts a diverse group of property owners, GRAZING FRAMED VIADUCT strategies toCELL store, delay and adapt include:

CELL GRAZING

EARTH CULVERT / VIADUCT

• Rebuild key farming infrastructure and adapt keylines onto elevated mounds above the flood line, creating safe pads for valuable machinery, pumps and other equipment • Design houses to be flood resilient and easy to repair after a major event • Revegetate property boundary lines (green fences) to help catch silt and small particles within the fields • Create safe retreat zones for residents and machinery in nearby areas that are above the major flood level • Remove localised levees which exacerbate flooding issues and cause high volume build-ups and sudden releases of water • Encourage farmers to work together for their collective benefit in adapting individual farm levees • Utilise the Western Corridor Recycled Water Pipeline to supply nutrient-rich water from Brisbane and Ipswich to irrigated areas of Lockyer Valley - good in drought mitigation

51

HERRINGBONE STRUCTURE

Overland sheet flooding (top) leading to sediment loss, cell grazing (middle) and the offsetting of ridgelines to create topographical ‘herringbone’ structures (bottom) as a solution to slowing water and reducing the sedimentation of downstream creeks and rivers.

restrict infiltration.

Stormwater Storage Below Intensive Building Green Roof Adding Street Trees While not always the case, An isBioswale intenstive most com-green roof is a multi-layered Retention Basin (Wetthis Pond) Amendedroof Soils Bioretention Cell Adding Turf to streetscape

achieved by directing stormwater system that from is partially or entirely covered with Introducing street trees can havemonly a profound Retention or wet ponds, wellhave as ur-aare Bioswales similar to bioretention cellss Bioretention are stormwater detention Amending Lawn turfthe grass, which is quality, typicallyand introduced effectoron perception, thecharacter roof of cells a building and collecting vegetation. it inbasins, a cisIntensive green as roofs minicanals, are permanent bodies The of water. that theyAsare depressed planted areas (in wi features that collect, detain, infiltrate, and filter into streetscape theaesthetic curb andbelow peinfiltration of aacorridor.

Asidebetween from their quality, tern the structure.

The ban runoff mum can depth then of six (6) inches. composition stormwater is collected and detained, the wastructures that collect, detain, infi stormwater to releasing it of to athe storm destrian sidewalk, improves thebenefits aesthetic ofrunoff increasing th street trees provide air quality through be filtered and prior treated before being reused profileon typically consistsoverflow of growing melevel rises above the static elevation.

This filter runoff. However, trate, and sewer system overflow orterdischarge the corridor while also providing environmenwaterbioswale to mov transpiration, reduce stormwater runoff rate via an into site or discharged the city dium, drainage waterproofing sysmembrane, root barriers, volume above the static water linediffer is infrom fact bioretention cells inparticles mechanism. feature that theymo a tal benefits.

Replacing impervious surface with These facilities typically and volume, sequester carbon, provide wildlife tem.

Cisterns buildingsstorage do drainage, notcapacity. provide and The irrigation Intensivefacilities (linear systems) th edges components. of retention ponds both surface levelbelow and subsurface stormwater also conveyance turf both reduces volume rate of stormcally used on habitat, reduce the urban heatand island effects, and for infiltration. green structural are often roofs plantedrequire in orderadditional to provideare additional detention. greater insuplength than width;space they are ofte water runoff during property rain events and mitigates in betw improve adjacent values. portquality and maintenance. water and aesthetic benefits,equiped which are with an underdrain. the urban heat island effect. known as littoral shelves.

ADDING TURF TO

BIORETENTION CELL

RETENTION BASIN

BIOSWALE

AMENDED SOILS

STREETSCAPE (WET POND) Retention Soil/ Aggregate Infiltration Filter / Box Raingarden Constructed Green Open Space Amended Soils Adding StreetWetland Trees

Install New Storm Sewer (15’ P

These facilities are sandy soilThese or aggregate modular underground structures are A constructed wetland is ahave system consisting These large open spaces, which typically conAmending soils improves the conductivity, Introducing street trees can a profound Increasing filled depressions that treat stormwater used tree to detain, runoff retain, and infiltrate stormwater of a sediment forebay and one or more permasist of large spans of lawn and extensive infiltration (in/hr) of the soil. Thisais higher achieved b effect on the perception, quality, and character rate to improve water quality.

Stormwater on site. is A major capbenefit of these facilities is the nent stormwater collection zones with emercanopy, are vital within urban environments increasing the permeability of the soil, allowin of a corridor. Aside from their aesthetic quality, second, CFS tured and allowed to percolate through ability to the maximize soil/ usable land for functions, gent trees aquatic vegetation covering a through significant where urban heat islands and air pollution are water to move through the spaces betweenpip s street provide air quality benefits drainage aggregate where pollutants such are removed, as a parking lot, while managing stormmajor concerns.

Green open spaces provide portion of thereduce basin. stormwater These multifunctional particles more freely. Amendedrate soilsforare typ transpiration, runoff rate fa-layer, a gre prior to being released throughhabitat, water an underdrain within the subgrade below. opportunities as wildlife decilities collect and treat substantial amounts ofto function cally used on small soil particlesofwith little ca vo and volume, sequester carbon, provide wildlife facility tain andand treat stormwater reduce heat located at the bottom ofrunoff, the depression. runoff and have an outflow connection. habitat, reduce urban heat island effects, space in between and low permeability. with green in FLOOD TYPOLOGY improve adjacent property values. island effects, and sequester carbon. face.

CONSTRUCTED WETLAND Elevation

Constructed Wetland

RAIN GARDEN

Cistern

Wet Proofing INFILTRATION BOX Let it flow

AMPHIBIOUS DESIGN Amphibious Design (before)

ELEVATION Elevation Amphibious Design (after)

Install New Storm Sewer (15’ Pipe)

are essentially large rain barrels with A constructed wetland is a systemCisterns consisting Increasing storm Valley sewer capacity provide Adaptation Support Tools for Lockyer Valley JDA Architectural Support Tools for Lockyer capacities of a sediment forebay and one or more perma-that typically range from 100 to a higher rate of flow (typically cubic feet p gallons. These stormwater facilities, nent stormwater collection zones 10,000 with emersecond, CFS), a larger storage volume with can be sited either above ground or burgent aquatic vegetation covering awhich significant drainage pipes, and an increased discharg ied subsurface, collect and temporarily store portion of the basin. These multifunctional farate for a grey infrastructure system. This typ runoff from rooftops and adjacent impervious cilities collect and treat substantial amounts of of facility can be quite effective when paire surfaces. The collected runoff is often reused runoff and have an outflow connection. with green infrastructure measures on the su as irrigation. If not reused, the collected runoffREVEGETATE SMALL RETENTION face. is either allowed to infiltrate into the ground or DAMS TO SLOW WATER STEEP TERRAIN it is discharged through an outfall connection.

FLOW

LE

COMMUNITY RETREAT SHELTERS WITH ACCESS TO TRAIN Flood Terraces VEGETATED KEYLINE SYSTEMS

STREETSCAPE & SCALE

Without Flood Terraces

Flood Resilient Materials

Flood Terraces

CELL GRAZING

Dry Proofing Flood Barriers

REVEGETATE AND EXTEND RIPARIAN ZONES

CONTOUR BANKS WITH RETENTION BASINS

ENTS

MATERIALS & COMPONENTS

Separate Power Circuits

PERMEABLE INFRASTRUCTURE

Elevated Distribution Boards

RAISED FARMING INFRASTRUCTURE

Connecting Voids

Removable Separate Power Circuits Modular Components

VEGETATE PROPERTY BOUNDARIES

FLOOD RESILIENT HOUSING

Highland Eco-Agriculture Strategies: Store, Delay & Recharge

52

BREMER/IPSWICH TRANSITION

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

53

SPONGE SUBURBIA The Sponge Suburbia Transition Zone covers the confluence of Lockyer Creek and the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers. Forecasts predict this region will double in population by 2031 with much of the development being new residential suburbs. Therefore, there is no greater opportunity to create ‘Sponge Suburbia’ areas where water-sensitive suburban design principles are enacted to alleviate flooding not only in Ipswich but further downstream in Brisbane. Ipswich is a significant player in the region’s flood and drought protection system.

WATER FUTURES

ISSUES The Bremer / Ipswich ‘Sponge Suburbia’ Transition Zone sits between the Lockyer Valley and Brisbane Catchments with direct access to the region’s major water infrastructure - Wivenhoe Dam, the Mt Crosby treatment plant and the Western Corridor Water Recycling Scheme. The Ipswich Central Business District itself sits at a ‘choke point’ or constriction just above the confluence of the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers.

Charrette analysis of the overall Bremer Catchment revealed a series of problems and resultant opportunities. Initial strategies aimed at controlling the speed and volume of water as it travels towards the CBD ‘choke point’. Hitting such a constriction results in serious scouring and the potential for the river to burst its banks and flood nearby residential and business areas.

The flood mitigation strategies proposed at the charrette included landscape strategies to filter and slow water flow, as well as studying the local geological and geographical landscape to find key points where floodwaters could be

directed out of the main channel and released into less significant floodplains nearby. We imagine this to be a public park or sporting field with a reduced risk of flooding important infrastructure. This divert and delay approach focuses on improving public amenity and creating recreational opportunities for new local developments. Charrette participants also saw an opportunity to reframe local greenfield developments like Springfield Lakes and Ripley as important water-sensitive suburban sites.

The aim with ‘sponge’ design is to manage flooding in small sections or ‘soaks’ rather than confronting the entire flood at once - a futile pursuit. In order to consider these issues in more detail, charrette outcomes split the Bremer Catchment into three zones: highland (covered in previous section), overland and urban river. When combined with our charrette scenarios (drought, 2011 flood levels, 2011 plus 30% and flash flooding) each zone required a different set of ideas and strategies. In tackling those issues we see the development of innovative new forms of ‘Sponge Suburbia’.

4/24/2017

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2016

Print ­ PhotoMaps by nearmap

Notes:

4/24/2017

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011

Print ­ PhotoMaps by nearmap

Notes:

http://maps.au.nearmap.com/print?north=­27.606731694870653&east=152.77122111251833&south=­27.615373534118234&west=152.75115818908694&zoom=17&date=20160911

1/1

Left: North Booval -Before and during the 2011 Floods Right: Ipswich CBD - Before and during the 2011 Floods http://maps.au.nearmap.com/print?north=­27.606731694870653&east=152.77122111251833&south=­27.615373534118234&west=152.75115818908694&zoom=17&date=20110113

1/1

54

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES OVERLAND AREA The overland area southwest of Ipswich has a history of agricultural production, grazing and rural residential development. Given its location and extent, the role of the overland area is highly significant in mitigating floodwaters throughout the Bremer and greater Brisbane River Catchments, with the primary function being to delay and store floodwaters, there are a range of innovative solutions and strategies for this zone including, but not limited to:

• Consider designing local roads adjacent to flow paths as diversionary linkages between localised detention basins to further slow and delay floodwaters. Such roads can also be designed as permanent swales to assist in shedding water away from primary infrastructure and residential developments.

• Consider regulating farm levees to bring existing local levees into a workable and larger defensive network and not exacerbate flooding during major inundation events.

• Sensitively manage Jensen’s Swamp with creek extensions that assist in delaying floodwaters while at the same time treating and improving water quality. Such extensions (see lower figure on page 53) could be aggregated across the creeks and streams of the Bremer Catchment.

• Use flood resilient housing principles in renovating existing houses and building new homes to better resist the damaging effects of inundation.

• Vegetate buffer zones creating seams between streams, swamps and agricultural / grazing land.

• Augment existing local infrastructure as much as possible and integrate, not replace.

• Revegetate riparian zones along river banks to further slow floodwaters and reduce sedimentation of local waterways.

• Identify a series of locations where groundwater recharge occurs and construct infrastructure to enable this.

• Consider implementing terraces, vegetated mounds and swales to slow and delay floodwaters in reaching RUN-OFF downstream waterways.

• Store water locally in a decentralised system for detention.

• Connect this system with the highlands of the Lockyer and Bremer regions to create an overall nature corridor that supports flora and fauna, building ecological value for all of SEQ.

BRISBANE AIR

WIVENHOE DAM RUN-OFF

BRISBANE MT CROSBY TREATMENT PLANT LOCKYER CREEK

TOOWOOMBA

GRANTHAM

RUN-OFF

GATTON

SEDIMENT

URBAN RIVER AREA

LAIDLEY RUN-OFF

SEDIMENT

OVERLAND AREA

SEDIMENT

SEDIMENT

RUN-OFF

RUN-OFF

Overland Strategies: Delay & Store

55

IPSWICH

SEDIMENT

SEDIMENT

ROCKLEA

Grassed Swale Bioretention Cell

FLOOD TYPOLOGY

Retention Soil/ Aggregate FilterWATER / Raingarden Constructed Wetland FUTURES

Surface Drain

These facilities are sandy soil or aggre A grassed swale shallow depressed con- open A construct These large open spaces, spaces, which which typically typically conThese large conBioretention cells isare stormwater detention The primary function of traditional surface filled depressions that treat stormwater veyance channel gently sloped sistand of sides large spans of of lawn lawn and and extensive extensive treeto collect and convey runoff of a sedimer sist of large tree features that collect,with detain, infiltrate, filter spans drains are to inlets, to improve water quality. Stormwater is designed torunoff temporarily andcanopy, down canopy, are vital vital within within urban urban environments environments nent stormw are stormwater prior tostore releasing itslow to a storm storm sewer drain lines, and canals. These tured basins, and allowed to percolate gent through the runoff order via to an remove solidorwhere matter and heat where urban heat islands islands and and air air pollution pollution areinclude street gutters, catch aquati urban are sewer in system overflow discharge structures pollutants from the runoff.

Unlike a bioswale, major concerns. Green Green open open spaces spaces provide layer, where pollutants are remo portion of th major concerns. mechanism.

These facilities typically feature andprovide curb inlets. Depending on theaggregate design, they these facilities areand typically seeded with turf to opportunities to function function as as wildlife wildlife habitat, habitat, deprior to being released throughcilities an under opportunities colle both surface level subsurface stormwater can alsodeprovide storage and infiltration capacgrasses. Swales contain an overflow outfall tainorand and treat stormwater stormwater runoff, runoff, reduce reduce heat tain treat heat located at the bottom of the depression. runoff and h ity.

Wet Proofing Wet Proofing detention.

Elevation Amphibious Design (before) Amphibious Design (before)and sequester carbon.

Amphibious Design (after) island effects, island effects, and sequester carbon.Let it flow Let it flow connection.

BIORETENTION CELL

GREEN OPEN SPACE

Rainwater Harvesting Green Open Space

STREETSCAPE & SCALE YPOLOGY

ces

Green Open Space

Cistern

SURFACE DRAIN

RAIN GARDEN

CONSTRUCTED WETLAND

Grassed Swale

Rainwater is which the collection and Cisternsconare essentially essentially large large rain rain barrels barrels with with Cisterns are These largeharvesting open spaces, typically A grassed swale is shallow depressed constorage of stormwater for reuse on site. This capacities that typically typically range range from from 100 100 to capacities sist of large spans of lawn and extensive treethat veyance tochannel with gently sloped sides is most common by capturing 10,000runoff gallons. These These stormwater stormwater facilities, facilities, 10,000 gallons. canopy, are vitalachieved within urban environments designed to temporarily store and slow down from the roof of a building, however, it cancan also which can be sited sited either either above above ground ground or or burburwhich be where urban heat islands and air pollution are runoff in order to remove solid matter and ied throughsubsurface, collect and and temporarily temporarily store store include the collection runoffspaces from ied subsurface, collect major concerns.

Greenof open provide pollutants from the runoff. Unlike a bioswale, runoff from rooftops and adjacent impervious out the site or byproducts from systems such from impervious opportunities to function as wildlife runoff habitat, de- rooftops and adjacent these facilities are typically seeded with turf surfaces.

The collected collected runoff runoff is is often often reused reused as conditioning condensate. collection surfaces.

The tainairand treat stormwater runoff,The reduce heat grasses. Swales contain an overflow or outfall as irrigation. irrigation.

If not not reused, reused, the the collected collected runoff runoff structures can and takesequester on multiple forms and be If as island effects, carbon. connection. is either either allowed allowed to to infiltrate infiltrate into into the the ground ground or or installed either above ground or subsurface. is is discharged discharged through through an an outfall outfall connection. connection. itit is

Without Flood Terraces RAIN WATER HARVESTING Elevation

CISTERN

Cistern

Flood Resilient Materials Flood Terraces WETWet PROOFING Proofing flow LETLet ITitFLOW

Dry Proofing Without FloodDRY Terraces PROOFING Flood Barriers Amphibious Design (before)

FLOOD BARRIERS

Flood Resilient Materials FLOOD RESILIENT MATERIALS

Amphibious Design (after

Rainwater Harvesting

Cisterns are& essentially with Adaptation Support Tools for Bremer Ipswich large rain barrels JDA Architectural Support Tools for Bremer & Ipswich Rainwater harvesting is the collection and capacities that typically range from 100 to storage of stormwater for reuse on site. This 10,000 gallons. These stormwater facilities, is most common achieved by capturing runoff which can be sited either above ground or burfrom the roof of a building, however, it can also ied subsurface, collect and temporarily store include the collection of runoff from throughrunoff from rooftops and adjacent impervious out the site or byproducts from systems such surfaces. The collected runoff is often reused as air conditioning condensate. The collection as irrigation. If not reused, the collected runoff structures can take on multiple FLOOD forms and be is either allowed to infiltrate into the ground or installed either above ground or subsurface.

RESILIENT it is discharged through an outfall connection.

HOUSING

PE &MATERIALS SCALE & COMPONENTS

VEGETATE PROPERTY BOUNDARIES

HIGH VELOCITIES

Circuits

Elevated Distribution Boards Flood Terraces

LARGE VOLUMES Connecting Voids Without Flood Terraces Separate Power Circuits

RemovableBoards Modular Components Flood Resilient Materials Elevated Distribution

Dry Proofing Flood Barriers

Connecting Voids

VEGETATED BUFFER SLOWER VELOCITIES LOWER VOLUMES

FURTHER REDUCED VELOCITIES AND DECREASED VOLUMES

COMPONENTS

VEGETATED SPEED BUMP

Separate Power Circuits

Elevated Distribution Boards

Connecting Voids

REVEGETATE AND EXTEND RIPARIAN ZONES Removable Modular Compon SWAMP

BREMER RIVER

Overland Eco-Agriculture Strategies: Store & Delay

56

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES URBAN RIVER AREA Leading up to 2031, the urban river area, which includes the Ipswich CBD, East and West Ipswich, Basin Pocket and Booval will undergo major urban development. Given population growth projections for this part of SEQ, the region constitutes the maximum risk to infrastructure from flooding. As discussed previously, there is a series of major constriction or ‘choke points’ at various locations on the Bremer River (see below). The main strategies for this zone include: • Consider relief points located adjacent to choke points or constrictions in the river to alleviate the build-up of water volume during a flood event.

• Find opportunities within the urban grid to allow filling of the smaller valleys while others are to remain as water corridors, thereby alleviating stormwater discharge into areas that are already at risk of flash flooding.

• Find areas / zones in which water can be diverted and stored away from critical and significant infrastructure.

• Use seams and small swales along property boundaries which function as small ‘creeks’ that divert water back into the main storage areas across the Ipswich Catchment.

• Use large scale brown and greenfield sites for flood mitigation, water volume and velocity control.

Ipswich is significant to the flood security of Brisbane City in the same way the Lockyer Valley is critical to the flood defense system for Ipswich City. Dealing with floodwaters at each of the critical points upstream assists by reducing the volume and velocity of waters hitting downstream communities.

KEY LEGEND

• Consider revegetating the impermeable ridgelines that shed water down into the main valley where the Ipswich CBD is located, effectively slowing water and reducing flash flooding.

2011 Floodwater Level Major Parks of Water Retention

• Consider keyline contouring strategies and water-sensitive urban design strategies to overcome the effects of flash flooding affecting numerous properties in Ipswich

Potential Flood Diversion Site

IPSWICH CBD

Areas for flood diversion strategies in and around the Ipswich CBD

57

permeable interlocking concrete pavers.

and groundwater infiltration.

Tree Cell

WATER FUTURES Urban Urban Park Urban Forest/ Agriculture Grassed Swale Detention Basin (Dry Pond) Infiltration Recreation Field

An urban park, alsoisknown as a municipal parkbasins are excavated Tree cells, also known as suspended paveUrban agriculture the practice ofDetention cultivating, A grassed areas ths Roughly an acre in size, these multi-functional or a public park, is space food intended to offer ment, are a technology that supports the processing, and distributing inare or around a to detain a prescribed veyance ch designed amou STREETSCAPE & SCALE facilities are specifically designed for both athFLOOD TYPOLOGY recreation and green space to residents and weight of paving in order to create aletic voidactivities space community. Urban agriculture can of also involve runoff before reaching designed to stormwater an ove and stormwater management. of theagroforestry, city. The design, operation, and that allows for excess underneath. The primary function ofStormwater these sys- detention is provided visitors aquaculture, urban beekeeping, flow elevation runoff runoff in ord in the fiber maintenance by governtems is to provide space beneathsoil the and paving and horticulture.

These provided activitiesbe can occur to an outfall. These discharged facilitiesfro a pollutants sand subbase of these facilities and is usually ment, the environments local level, designed but- may for lightly compacted, high quality media to aidis typically seeded or sprigged both intypically dense on urban e.g. be on to drain from a full capacity with these facilitie the surface with contracted out to a private sector company.

Flood Terraces Without Flood Terraces Wet Proofing in urban tree growth and health.

They also TOOL ofroofs - as well Elevation as within less dense, 48 suburban hours, and can be fully planted with nativ grasses.

Sw a drought-tolerant, hardy grass species.

It is ADAPTATION SUPPORT ADAPTATION TOOL SUPPORT Common features of municipal parks Let it flow fer a number of other benefits suchimportant as on-site areas. plantinclude species or simply turf grasses. connection. to installurban sod onresilience these facilities, blue-green adaptation measures blue-green to enhance adaptation urban resilience measures tonot enhance playgrounds, gardens, hiking, running and fitstormwater detention, improved water quality, as sod includes a layer of clay soil which will ness trails or paths, sports field and courts. and groundwater infiltration. restrict infiltration.

TREE CELL

INFILTRATION

URBAN AGRICULTURE

RECREATION FIELD Urban Forest/ Urban Rain BarrelRecreation Field Pervious Infiltration Blue RoofPavement Retention Basin (WetPark Pond)

DETENTION BASIN (DRY POND)

GRASS SWALE

Rainwater Harvesting

An urban park, also known as a municipal A rain barrel is a small stormwater tank, typicalpavement its many variations conRoughly an acre in size, these multi-functional Awell blueaspark roof is a roofindesigned to store water, Retention basins, or wet ponds, asPervious urorcollect a public to offer ly 50 to 60 in size, used tofor and park, is space intended void space on wafacilities aregallons specifically designed athand depending on the thesurface design that canallows provide a banboth canals, are permanent bodies tain of water.

As recreation and store runoff, typically from rooftops via guttersand green space to residents ter tothe pass through the pavement into the letic activities and stormwater management. number of benefits.

Blue roofs canlayer be designed stormwater is collected and detained, wavisitors of the city.

The design, operation, and and downspouts.

These are common on resisubbase below.

In addition to reducing stormStormwater detention is provided ter in the for surface levelfiber rises above the static elevation.

Thisstorage, storage within or beneath maintenance govern-media dential and small commercial devel- is usually provided water providing its soil andproperties sand subbase of these facilities abypervious modulardetention surface, orwith below volume and above the static water line is inrunoff fact and or ment, typically on the local level, but may be opments.

Large raintanks are available as well. subbase, pervioussurface pavement filters Blue pollutants the surface is typically seeded or sprigged a raised decking or cover. roofs storage with capacity. The edges of retention ponds contracted private sectorsuch company.

The water collected is often usedspecies. for watering as suspended solids androoftop heavy storage metals.

SCALE &STREETSCAPE COMPONENTS aMATERIALS drought-tolerant, hardy grass It planted isout toinaorder that are used for temporary are& often to provide additional Common features of municipal parks include gardens.

Some of paving applicaimportant not to install sod on these facilities, can beexamples classified as pervious “active” or “passive” dewater quality and aesthetic benefits, which are playgrounds, gardens, hiking, running and fittions are:on pervious concrete, pervious as sod includes a layer of clay soil whichaswill pending the types of control devicesasphalt, used to known littoral shelves. ness trails or paths, sports field and courts. permeable interlocking concrete pavers. restrict infiltration. regulate drainage of water from the roof.

RAIN WATER TANK

URBAN FOREST / PARK

Pervious Pavement Stormwater Storage Building Retention Basin (WetBelow Pond)

FloodTERRACES Terraces PERVIOUS PAVEMENT Separate Power Circuits FLOOD

Detention Basin (Dry Pond) Water Square

Rainwater h storage of s is most com from the roof include the out the site as air condit structures ca installed eith

Without Flood Terraces Elevated Distribution Boards ELEVATED DISTRIBUTION BOARDS

Pervious pavement in its many variations con-basins Detention excavated areas Water squares are are public plazas that manage JDA Architectural Support Tools forthat Bremer & Ipswich tain void space on the surface thatare allows wa- during monly achieved by directing stormwater from designed to detain a prescribed amount ban canals, are permanent bodies of water.

As stormwater rain events.

Water squares ter to pass through the pavement layer into the the roof of a building and collecting it in a cisof stormwater runoff before reaching an overstormwater is collected and detained, the wacan integrate interpretive elements into the subbase below. In addition to reducing stormtern below theabove structure.

The runoff can then flow elevation that allows for excess runoff to ter level rises the static elevation.

This design that illustrate its function of managing water runoff and providing detention with its to an be filtered and treated before being reused on be discharged These facilities are volume above the static water line is in fact water.

Depending onoutfall. weather conditions at any subbase, pervious pavement filters pollutants site or discharged into the city drainage sysdesigned to drain from fulleither capacity within storage capacity. The edges of retention ponds time, a water square canabe entirely full as suspended solids and heavy metals. tem.

Cisterns below buildings do such not provide 48 hours, and any can water be fully planted with native are often planted in order to provide additional or not contain at all.

Some of pervious paving for infiltration. plantapplicaspecies or simply turf grasses. water quality and aesthetic benefits, whichexamples are tions are: pervious concrete, pervious asphalt, known as littoral shelves. permeable interlocking concrete pavers.

While not basins, always the case, this as is most comRetention or wet ponds, well as urAdaptation Support Tools for Bremer & Ipswich

VEGETATE PROPERTY BOUNDARIES

MATERIALS & COMPONENTS Detention Basin (Dry Pond) Retention Soil/ Aggregate Filter / Raingarden PERMEABLE

RECREATION AREAS AS DETENTION BASINS TO SLOW WATER FLOW

SURFACES These facilities SLOW are sandy soil orDetention aggregatebasins are excavated areas that FLOODWATERS Separate Power Circuits are designed filled depressions that treat stormwater runoff to detain a prescribed amount of stormwater to improve water quality. Stormwater is cap- runoff before reaching an overflow the elevation tured and allowed to percolate through soil/ that allows for excess runoff to beremoved, discharged to an outfall. These facilities are aggregate layer, where pollutants are to drain from a full capacity within prior to being released through andesigned underdrain 48 hours, and can be fully planted with native located at the bottom of the depression. plant species or simply turf grasses.

ROADS DESIGNED AS Elevated Distribution Boards FLOOD SWALES

FLOOD RESILIENT HOUSING

PERMEABLE SURFACES TO RECHARGE GROUNDWATER

WATER-SENSITIVE URBAN DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Sponge Suburbia Strategy: Store & Delay

58

BRISBANE CONSTRICTED

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

59

SPONGE URBANISM The Constricted Zone refers to the most densely built-up urban area of the Brisbane River, where flood mitigation opportunities are relatively limited. In arriving at solutions for this, we believe a localised approach which we term ‘Sponge Urbanism’ is necessary. This concept is essentially a series of water-sensitive urban design principles and strategies where our built environment is designed to effectively absorb water through a variety of techniques. When used in conjunction with the upstream strategies in the Lockyer and Bremer catchments, Brisbane could better withstand a flood of greater magnitude than 2011.

WATER FUTURES

ISSUES Located on the Brisbane River and with a population of 2.2 million people, Brisbane is Australia’s third largest city. A significant proportion of the city’s population either lives or works in the vicinity of the Brisbane River, so any form of riverine flooding has the potential to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Given its urban density, the Constricted Zone is prone to both flash and riverine flooding. Suburban creeks and gullies are often the source of local flash flooding and therefore property damage and safety issues arise. Riverine flooding occurs at a much larger scale, where a major flood of the river triggers an event of national significance. An analysis of the Brisbane Catchment shows the Brisbane River itself being fed by several smaller creeks, namely Bulimba, Oxley, Breakfast and Norman Creeks. These remain vital to the longevity and sustainability of water quality and flood / drought mitigation in the Brisbane River.

An analysis of the overall Brisbane CBD revealed a series of problems and resultant opportunities. In a similar way to the Bremer / Ipswich City, initial strategies are aimed at controlling the speed and volume of water as it travels towards

the various ‘choke’ points or constrictions in the river’s course.

Hitting such a constriction results in the potential for the river to burst its banks and flood nearby residential and business areas, such as it did in 2011.

Flood mitigation strategies proposed at the Design Charrette include utilising landscaping / forming and the river’s major tributaries to filter and slow water flow, as well as studying local geological and geographical landscape to find key points where floodwaters could be directed out of the main channel and released into a relatively less significant floodplains nearby. We envisage this to be a public park or sporting field with a reduced risk of flooding important infrastructure.

Given the scale of development, the divert and delay approach in Brisbane is not as effective as it wold be in Ipswich.

However, in its favour, Brisbane does have its creeks and waterways to assist in flood mitigation. Oxley Creek for instance, a tributary of the Brisbane River, drains a catchment area of approximately 26,000 hectares and connects the local government areas of Logan City and Brisbane City, and a small area of Ipswich City. It presents a significant Sponge Urbanism opportunity for Brisbane and should be fuirther investigated.

Left: Oxley Creek -Before and during the 2011 Floods Right: Toowong / West End - Before and during the 2011 Floods

60

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES The SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette identified Sponge Urbanism as the main design principle to be implemented in Brisbane. The concept itself describes an urban design principle which weaves together water (blue) and open (green) space to create a water management system that will function equally well in either drought or flood. An example is West End’s Green Space Strategy by Mongard et al. (2015) which re-purposes eleven hectares of hard space into park and permeable areas that can act as a network of local ‘sponges’ to absorb, hold and recycle stormwater, rather than piping it into the river. Each park must feature water-sensitive urban design techniques as they act together in relation to the overall Fluvial Transect.

At the heart of flood mitigation and adaptation strategies for this section of the Brisbane River is an understanding that individual homes and businesses will act as individual physical sponges to absorb as much water as possible via rainwater tanks or other detention systems. Beyond this, the river’s major tributaries are also vital in diverting and detaining water during a flood event. However, increased urban development is basically stymying the ability of these creeks to act as naturally intended. Therefore, any development in and around the smaller catchments of Bulimba, Oxley, Norman and Breakfast Creeks needs to consider the physical principles of Sponge Urbanism to augment the natural cycle which has been disturbed by human presence.

We see inner Brisbane and the CBD as the socalled ‘heart’ of the city, whilst, Rocklea being important from a food security point of view is the ‘stomach’, while Norman, Bulimba and Oxley Creeks serve as the ‘lungs’ and ‘kidneys’ for our city in helping to clean air pollution and filter our river water.

THE ‘ARTERIES’ BRISBANE & BREMER RIVERS

KEY LEGEND 2011 Floodwater Level Greenspace GOODNA The Heart, the Lungs, the Kidneys and the Stomach of Brisbane are largely in the floodplain

61

WATER FUTURES

ROSALIE BRISBANE CBD

WEST END

THE ‘HEART’ OF THE CITY INNER BRISBANE

NORMAN CREEK

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

ROCKLEA MARKETS

ROCKLEA

THE ‘LUNGS’ & THE ‘KIDNEYS’ OF THE CITY BULIMBA, NORMAN & OXLEY CREEKS

THE ‘STOMACH’ OF THE CITY ROCKLEA

62

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

BLUE-GREEN STRATEGY

P

VE RI NE BA IS BR

Through his involvement with the charrette, this strategy was translated into a Blue-Green Strategy, demonstrating how reclaimed public green space could be better utilised during flood events. Mongard (2015) also developed this series of strategies for consideration based on existing Dutch precedents.

R

Originally prepared for the West End Community Association, John Mongard’s Green Space Strategy proposed the reclamation and transformation of under-utilised public space into community green space for West End.

KEY LEGEND Floodwaters Major Parks River Pocket Parks Verge Parks / Planted Medians Edible Streets / Gardens Riverside Park Area

Blue-Green Strategy for West End

63

PROPOSED CYCLE / PEDESTRIAN LINK

WATER FUTURES

BRISBANE CBD

PROPOSED CYCLE / PEDESTRIAN LINK

BSHS

WEST END S.S. BRISBANE STATE HIGH SCHOOL

SOMMERVILLE HOUSE

WEST END ST. LAURENCE’S COLLEGE

64

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES SPONGE STREETS

WATER SQUARES

Streets can be repurposed with green space that doubles as blue space. Verge and median strip gardens can take water off roads by changing the levels and fall of hard space to achieve a series of discrete catchments. Verge planting and permeable surfaces can harvest water by alternating the fall of the road along its extent and creating dry creek beds and billabong style swamps in gardens.

The whole peninsula is highly urbanised and has very little capacity to absorb its own water to prevent supercharging the river system.

Large playing fields and park spaces such as Davies Park, Musgrave Park and school sports fields are opportunities to create flood plazas: areas that take local rainfall impacts.

By dropping (digging out) these areas by one to two metres, and designing other areas and buildings so they drain into these, flash flooding impacts can be minimised and water slowed prior to reaching the Brisbane River.

SPONGE GULLIES As stormwater run-off increases from denser non-permeable developments, steep, revegetated gullies can be used to prevent erosion, sedimentation of the river and bank failure. These significant wildlife corridors require revegetation, with stabilising corridors of undergrowth shrubs to provide refuge, re-establishment of the mangrove river edge and planting of succession trees to retain the forest canopy. Boardwalks would be the primary recreation asset. In times of flood, these gullies will act as sponges and absorb and reduce water impacts.

RIVERSIDE LEVEE PARKS Large grass spaces along the river edge can be dropped in level. The large fig trees can be retained on ‘grass islands’ and the surrounding grassed areas become a levee or river tributary during a peak event, providing a wider river channel and reducing the velocity and impact of water. The whole of Riverside Drive in West End could be dropped in level creating a walking / riding levee park along the river’s edge. In the south west tip of the peninsula, the Brisbane River hits a tight turn and pinch-point implying the possible resumption of land to make room for the river, to lead to fewer downstream impacts. Such planning requires major investigation before changes can be made, these are ideas and suggestions only at this point.

65

URBAN AGRICULTURE Community gardens need water and can assist in building neighbourhood systems and precincts. Irrigation water can tap into these collective building systems to harvest water locally and grow food.

DESIGN WITH WATER Designing smart, resilient buildings will help mitigate against the impact of flood if a building is inundated. For example, ground floors can act as further flood ‘walls’ through clever design, channelling water and preventing inundation in key areas. The use of flood resilient materials and building typologies should also be standardised and regulated. Building controls and guidelines need to established to encourage uptake of flood appropriate and resilient building systems. State and Local Government authorities would be well advised to consider incentivising this uptake through subsidising the costs associated with renovating existing homes in flood-prone areas for flood resilience.

ALE

NENTS

regulate drai

and groundwater infiltration.

Urban Forest/ Urban Park Urban Agriculture Infiltration Recreation Field

Grassed Swale Green Open Space

Blue Roof

Water Square

An urban park, also known as a municipal park A grassed swale is shallow depressed conThese large open spaces, which typically conUrbantoagriculture is the practice A of blue cultivating, roof is a roof designed toWater store square water, Roughly an acre in size, theseintended multi-functional or a public park, is space offer veyance channel with gently sloped sides sist & of SCALE large spans of lawn and extensive tree processing, and distributing food in or around a on the design can and depending provide ad stormwater areand specifically designed for both athSTREETSCAPE recreation green space to residents and designed to temporarily store andfacilities slow down canopy, are vital within urban environments community.

Urban agriculture cannumber also involve of benefits. Blue roofs cancan be designed integrat letic activities stormwater visitors of the and city. The design, management. operation, and runoff urban in order remove matter and where heattoislands andsolid air pollution are beekeeping, surface storage, storage within or beneath design that i Stormwater detention is provided inby thegovernfiber agroforestry, urbanfor maintenance is usually providedaquaculture, pollutants from the runoff.

Unlike a bioswale, major concerns. Green open spaces provide and These activities can occur a pervious media or modular surface, orDepen below water. soil andtypically sand subbase of these facilities andbe ment, on the local level, but horticulture. may these facilities are typically seeded with turf opportunities to function as wildlife habitat, debothcompany. in with dense urban environments - e.g.decking on a raised surface cover.

Blue roofs time, a water the surface isout typically sprigged Dry or Proofing contracted to a seeded private or sector Dry Proofing grasses.

Swales contain anFlood overflow or outfall Flood Resilient Without Flood Terraces tain and treat stormwater reduce heat Flood Resilient-Materials Flood Terraces Flood Terraces Withoutrunoff, Terraces Flood Terraces Without less Flood Terraces Flood Materia roofs as well as Materials within dense, that suburban are used for temporary rooftop orResilient notstorage contain aCommon drought-tolerant, grass species.

It is Flood Barriers Flood Barriers features hardy of municipal parks include connection. island effects, and sequester carbon. areas. can be classified as “active” or “passive” deimportant not to install sod on these facilities, playgrounds, gardens, hiking, running and fitpending on the types of control devices used to as sodtrails includes a layer of clay will ness or paths, sports fieldsoil andwhich courts. regulate drainage of water from the roof. restrict infiltration.

GREEN OPEN SPACE

INFILTRATION

Rainwater Harvesting Cistern

MATERIALS &

URBAN AGRICULTURE

RECREATION FIELD Pervious Pavement Blue Roof Retention Basin (Wet Pond)

BLUE ROOF

WATER SQUARE

Water Square

Pervious pavement in its many variations conRainwater is therain collection and Cisterns areharvesting essentially large barrels with blueasroof store squares water, are public plazas that manage Retention basins, or wet ponds, asAwell ur- is a roof designed toWater storage of that stormwater reusefrom ontain site.

This void on the surface that allows wa- on the design can provide a capacities typicallyforrange tospace depending stormwater during rain events. Water squares ban 100 canals, are permanent bodies and of water.

As is most gallons. common These achieved by capturing terfacilities, to runoff pass through the pavement number layer into the 10,000 stormwater of benefits. Blue roofs cancan be designed integrate interpretive elements into the stormwater is collected and detained, the wafrom the of a building, however, it can also subbase below. In addition to reducing stormwhich canroof be sited either above ground or burfor surface or beneath design that illustrate its function of managing ter level rises above the static elevation.

Thisstorage, storage within include the collection of runoff from throughwater runoff and providing detention with its ied subsurface, collect and temporarily store a pervious below water.orDepending on weather conditions at any volume above the static water line is in factmedia or modular surface, out thefrom site rooftops or byproducts from systems suchpervious pavement filters subbase, pollutants runoff and adjacent impervious a raised decking surface or cover.

Blue roofs square can be either entirely ful time, a water storage capacity. The edges of retention ponds as air conditioning condensate. collection such as planted suspended solids and heavy metals. surfaces.

The collected runoff is The often reused COMPONENTS that are used for temporary rooftop or not storage contain any water at all. are often in order to provide additional structures take on multiple forms and be Some examples of pervious paving applicaas irrigation.can If not reused, the collected runoff can be classified as “active” or “passive” dewater quality and aesthetic benefits, which are installed either above ground or the subsurface. is either allowed to infiltrate into ground or tions are: pervious concrete, pervious asphalt, pending on the types of control devices used to known as littoral shelves. it is discharged through an outfall connection. permeable interlocking concrete pavers. regulate drainage of water from the roof.

Separate Circuits SeparateWATER PowerSeparate Circuits Power Circuits PERVIOUS PAVEMENT Elevated Distribution Boards Elevated Distribution BoardsPower SEPARATE ELECTRICAL RAIN CIRCUITS HARVESTING

Distribution BoardsREMOVABLE Connecting Voids Removable Modular Components ConnectingCONNECTING VoidsConnectingElevated Removable Modular Components Voids VOIDS MODULAR

COMPONENTS

Detention Basin (Dry Pond) Water Square

Detention basins are excavated areas that are public plazas that manage Water JDA Architectural Support Tools for squares Brisbane are designed to detain a prescribed amount stormwater during rain events. Water squares of stormwater runoff before reaching over- interpretive elements into the can an integrate flow elevation that allows for excess runoff design that to illustrate its function of managing Depending on weather conditions at any be discharged to an outfall. Thesewater. facilities are time, a within water square can be either entirely full designed to drain from a full capacity URBAN AGRICULTURE or with not contain 48 hours, and can be fully planted native any water at all.

CAN HELP SLOW THE RATE plant species or simply turf grasses.

Adaptation Support Tools for Brisbane

OF WATER REACHING THE STORMWATER SYSTEM DURING FLOOD EVENTS

RENEWABLE ENERGY USE

ELEVATED BUILDING SERVICES PERMEABLE SURFACES TO RECHARGE GROUNDWATER

FLOOD RESILIENT MULTI-RESIDENTIAL HOUSING

FLOODABLE RIVERSIDE LEVEE PARKS

VEGETATE PROPERTY BOUNDARIES

FILTERED RUN-OFF FOR IRRIGATION

REVEGETATE AND EXTEND RIPARIAN ZONES TO ASSIST IN SLOWING THE FLOW OF WATER

SUBTERRANEAN CAR PARKS ACT AS WATER STORAGE DURING FLOOD EVENTS

HARVESTING STORMWATER TO REDUCE RUN-OFF AND AS AN ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLY FOR IRRIGATION CONTOURED RIVER BANKS CAN HELP REDUCE INUNDATION IN KEY AREAS Sponge Urbanism Strategy: Store & Reuse

66

MORETON BAY COASTAL

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

67

BAY CULTURE The Coastal Zone has a unique role in the Fluvial Transect, where it must confront the issues of sea level rise which affect coastal communities and subsequently water levels in the Brisbane River. By improving resilience along the coast, the zone can be a natural buffer for Brisbane City, Moreton Bay and SEQ more broadly.

WATER FUTURES

ISSUES The Coastal Zone is our natural buffer against sea level rise and storm surge. We need to embrace the bay as part of our water region, thus the reason for including it as a major component of our Fluvial Transect. This zone takes in Moreton Bay and the coastline from the Sunshine Coast in the north, to the Gold Coast in the south. This part of the Pacific Coast is a national treasure and one of the nation’s biggest natural assets.

Moreton Bay is one of Australia’s most complex coastal ecosystems; it supports a local fisheries industry as well as recreational boating and fishing. Bayside communities are heavily developed and enjoy valuable real estate. To the north of the Brisbane River mouth sits Brisbane Airport - Australia’s third largest airport, which accommodates the highest number of transiting passengers in the nation. To the south, the Port of Brisbane operates into the bay and is of national significance, opening up much of Queensland’s natural resources to the world.

The Port of Brisbane and Brisbane Airport currently occupy one of the most valuable parts of the region, the river mouth on Moreton Bay. The natural buffer should link these key economic infrastructures to the river and the rest of the city.

This infrastructure could be working harder for the region.

Strategies like integrating natural aquaculture, introducing protective vegetation (like mangroves) to control sediment and linking these with better public access could all work to both protect the local environment and encourage tourism.

With much of the focus on the river, the bay has largely been ignored, seeing opportunities for regional tourism fall to the north and south coasts. By embracing the bay with improved natural asset protection, we can improve amenity and tourism opportunities, and make it a pivotal part of the larger integrated water management strategy.

The amount of sediment flowing in the Brisbane River from upstream communities creates a massive pollution problem further downstream in Moreton Bay, affecting marine life, fisheries and the Port. There has been significant biodiversity loss, with several native fish species being placed on the endangered list. Sea level rise, storm surge and resultant flooding all pose a potential problem along the entire coastline, putting at risk coastal communities, the Port of Brisbane and Brisbane Airport.

68

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIES We can adapt and capitalise on the Coastal Zone. Introducing a series of natural and built coastal buffers, like mangroves, would further diversify existing ecology and help mitigate against the impact of climate change. Mangroves and other natural vegetation act as a buffer against king tides, storm surge and sea level rise while protecting the bay from sediment flow. It would also mean new opportunities to develop aquaculture in protected areas.

The Port of Brisbane and Brisbane Airport each have their own management plans to combat the risks they face because of their proximity to the river mouth. Silo-ing these types of plans and a lack of communication between key organisations and agencies have caused problems for SEQ in the past. The solution is an integrated, holistic approach like the one being put forward here.

KEY COASTAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS AT RISK OF BEING AFFECTED BY SEA LEVEL RISE

KEY LEGEND Extent of 2.2 metre Sea Level Rise

The above map shows how our coast and key pieces of infrastructure would be affected by a potential sea level rise.

Source: Australian Government, Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency

69

WATER FUTURES

THE WESTERN CORRIDOR RECYCLED WATER SCHEME (WCRWS) BEGINS HERE

BRISBANE AIRPORT IS A KEY ASSET THAT NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED. THERE IS DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL ON THE SITE THAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED MORETON BAY IS AT RISK OF OVERSEDIMENTATION - ARRIVING FROM LOCKYER VALLEY THE PORT OF BRISBANE IS ANOTHER KEY ASSET OF THE BAY REGION AND ONE OF BRISBANE’S MAJOR ECONOMIC HUBS

COASTAL VEGETATION ACTS AS A BUFFER TO SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS AND REDUCES EROSION IMPROVING COASTAL ECOLOGIES AND AQUACULTURE CAN INCREASE TOURISM AND WATER QUALITY IN THE BAY

BARRIER ISLANDS PROTECT AGAINST STORM SURGE

Bay Culture Strategy: Adapt & Embrace

70

IN SUMMARY

ECO-AGRICULTURE

1. Consider moving the region’s Mt Crosby water treatment plant closer to Wivenhoe Dam to avoid potential issues caused during flood events.

2. Revegetate riparian areas that shed water into the dam to filter and improve water quality.

3. The Lockyer Valley should be thought of in three broad geographical ‘zones’ - the mountain creeks, confluence zone and broad floodplain.

4. The broad floodplain should be allowed to flood slowly and naturally both in servicing the geological richness of the area and in mitigating risk to urban communities.

5. Infrastructure in the valley should be permeable, to avoid the damage caused by naturally occuring levees in the landscape.

6. Use better planning and design principles for key infrastructure: where possible, rail lines and roads should not be in vulnerable, low lying places prone to flooding if they can be built on higher ground or on the edge of the floodplain.

7. The planning approvals process should be updated to reflect the risk of flood, and it should be legislated that homes in the region be built to more resilient standards.

8. Consider implementing ‘Sponge Suburbia’ and ‘Sponge Urbanism’ principles in all existing and new developments across Ipswich and Brisbane City to slow and delay floodwaters, store water and recharge groundwater in the event of drought.

9. Implement water-sensitive urban design strategies to reduce water run-off and sediment reaching the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers while also considering filtering and improving water quality charging the river system.

10. Implement biodiversity strategies to remove sediment and other pollutants from Moreton Bay.

STORAGE & PROTECTION

After the charrette process was applied to the Brisbane River Catchment, participants identified a number of key outcomes to help design and define what a smart water future looks like for the region:

AN INTEGRATED 71

SPONGE URBANISM

SPONGE SUBURBIA

BAY CULTURE

SPONGE SUBURBIA

SPONGE URBANISM

WATER FUTURES

LINEAR

WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

72

OUTCOMES — AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

73

WE LIVE IN A REGION WHERE OUR LIFE IS DEFINED BY WATER, MAY IT BE THROUGH DROUGHT, FLOOD OR RAIN. WITH THAT IN MIND, OUR RELATIONSHIP TO WATER IS UNIQUE AND UNITES US ALL 74

03 75

PROCESS SEQ WATER FUTURES DESIGN CHARRETTE

76

WE SEE A NEED TO MAKE A DIFFERENT URBANISM, A CITY AND REGION THAT CAN ABSORB AND EMBRACE WATER

SEQ WATER FUTURES DESIGN CHARRETTE By collaborating between institutions, and with the support of international experts, we can develop strategies which increase value beyond conventional solutions. The Queensland Flood Commission of Inquiry Report identified the importance of this, and in 2014, at the Deltas in Times of Climate Change conference, James Davidson Architect collaborated with experts from H3 Studio and Washington University in St Louis in the USA and Bosch Slabbers Landscape Architects in The Netherlands to envision the beginning of the region’s water future via a pilot Design Charrette. This was the team that also came together to convene the SEQ Water Futures design charrette in August 2016.

This charrette was a five day multidisciplinary workshop aimed at investigating spatial design strategies through the interrogation of innovative approaches to flood mitigation and climate change adaptation across South East Queensland.

It followed numerous highly successful interactive design based workshops run in the USA and elsewhere around the world. These workshops brought Dutch and local architects, engineers, urban designers, landscape architects, planners and hydrologists, amongst others, to imagine a new sustainable interface with water.

Using drawing as a type of Esperanto between disciplines, design strategies and policy trajectories can be spatially investigated. The charrette included a one day field trip to gain an understanding of the issues across the catchment, a stakeholder meeting to scope high-level agendas and a three day workshop which facilitated design thinking and developed the strategies and outcomes included in this book.

77

WATER FUTURES

78

PROCESS - SEQ WATER FUTURES CHARRETTE

BUILDING A WATER FUTURES TEAM There has been a groundswell of ongoing activity since the 2011 floods. A passionate, engaged and influential Water Futures team has been building through key collaborations with James Davidson Architect.

International Support The Dutch Partners in International Business provided the resources to bring Dutch and American experts to Brisbane and the ongoing support of the Dutch Consul General in Sydney means that the relationships built during the SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette continue.

Local Support The Flood Community of Practice (FCoP) comprises local professionals, key stakeholders and interested parties.

They brought a key network of experts with on-the-ground experience to contribute to the charrette. With specialists in various fields from engineering, to design, to insurance, the FCoP is an excellent example of local leaders collaborating to improve Queensland’s liveability and flood resilience.

A core group of FCoP members, with the support of the International Water Centre, led a steering committee before and after the charrette, and continue to champion the outcomes. The International Water Centre is the leading institution for water management experts in Australia and continues to have an important role in the dissemination of this work.

The Water Futures team continuously engaged with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA), who are an important link between the group and the Queensland Government. The group has successfully garnered support from another state agency, seqwater, who hosted the Design Charrette’s field trip and Queensland Urban Utilities, who helped bring an important group of stakeholders who work across local government lines. Brisbane City Council, Ipswich City Council and the Lockyer Valley Regional Council all participated during the charrette, meeting Water Futures’ goal in building a collaborative effort of stakeholders.

79

Suncorp, Queensland’s largest insurance company, hosted the charrette at their headquarters and lent support in various forms, including making insurance experts available for input and advice. The support of Suncorp, a leader in the insurance industry, has brought legitimacy and validity to the FCoP and the Water Futures team as a true collaboration between industry and the community.

The University of Queensland School of Architecture and the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Sensitive Cities provided resources for the administration of the charrette, along with several academic experts and a studio of talented Masters students who were able to graphically translate many of the charrette discussions into powerful images.

A Dutch-American-Australian Collaboration The Water Futures team brought expert Dutch and American facilitators to Brisbane to create a truly international, best practice collaboration. These are the same experts James Davidson Architect has been collaborating with since the pilot charrette in Rotterdam in 2014.

John Hoal (H3 Studio and Washington University in St Louis), Derek Hoeferlin (Derek Hoeferlin Design and Washington University in St Louis) and Tijs van Loon (Bosch Slabbers Landscape Architects) facilitated over 170 professionals across the five day charrette. With the ongoing support of Stijn Koole and Steven Slabbers (Bosch Slabbers Landscape Architects), the Dutch and American reflections on SEQ provoked a new level of engagement among local participants.

Ongoing Cooperation Building a collaborative and effective team of experts committed to resilience in SEQ will be even more important as the stakes grow higher and challenges become greater as we see ever increasing climate variation. In a time of limited resources, our ability to collaborate beyond institutional or professional silos will be key in addressing these.

WATER FUTURES

23 STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE PROGRAMME

171 PROFESSIONALS FROM GOVERNMENT, ACADEMIA & PRIVATE SECTOR

3 INTERNATIONAL FACILITATORS FROM THE UNITED STATES & THE NETHERLANDS

20+ DISCIPLINES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: PLANNERS, DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS, POLICY MAKERS, HYDROLOGISTS, ECONOMISTS & SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

80

PROCESS - SEQ WATER FUTURES CHARRETTE

THE CHARRETTE PROCESS

8181

DRAW TO TRANSLATE

ENGAGE THROUGH

BETWEEN DISCIPLINES

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE

By using drawing as the universal language, the Water Futures team was able to bridge divides between disciplines, policy makers and other professionals to record and document discussions.

Drawing onto maps, sketching perspectives and visualising the data built excitement and engagement as contributors saw the alternate scenarios come together before their eyes.

WATER FUTURES

YIELD UNEXPECTED

INVESTMENT

OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH DESIGN

FOLLOWING INSPIRATION

Thinking about the issue through design processes allowed the team to synthesise complex layers of technical information into innovative new solutions and make new connections between previously separate parts of the problem.

Drawing a plan is one thing, but building investment towards one is another. Using the charrette process not only made for a more productive platform for discussion between stakeholders, but cemented new relationships which are important going forward.

82

PROCESS - SEQ WATER FUTURES CHARRETTE

CHARRETTE STRATEGIES The SEQ Water Futures method built on other very successful charrettes in St. Louis, New Orleans, New York and Rotterdam.

The method builds on four key principles: draw to translate between disciples, engage through first-hand experience, yield unexpected opportunities through design, and investment follows inspiration. These four core principles allowed us to use design as a tool to reframe questions and get to the real core of the issues at stake. The method included four techniques to reframe the question of water in SEQ:

Using Water as an Integrative Element We live in a region where our life is defined by water, through drought, flood or rain. With that in mind, our relationship to water is something that unites us. Participants were invited to find connections to water beyond a reactive response to water based issues, to find relationships between different conditions and how they could holistically build value for each other.

Regional Site Visits

Design Driven Scenarios Rather than designing models using water levels that we know to be unreliable in Queensland, participants were asked to use historic flood levels and worst case extremes, such as 2011 + 30%, to allow a collaborative discussion which was both quantitative and qualitative.

Thinking at Scale

Over 40 local participants along with international facilitators journeyed across key SEQ sites to gain a better understanding of what’s at stake in the Brisbane Watershed. From observation of eroded creek gullies in the Lockyer, to a tour of Wivenhoe Dam and walking the steep cliffs of the Bremer in the Ipswich CBD, gaining a first-hand experience of the watershed was an important first step for the charrette team.

Four teams made up the charrette, each with responsibility for a different catchment area; the Lockyer Valley, Bremer River, Lower Brisbane River and an overall view of SEQ as a region.

These focus areas, in conjunction with each other, allowed in-depth discussions on flooding and urban conditions, with a set facilitator leading each for the whole five days. Feedback sessions and presentations from each focus group led to a productive dialogue that built into the overall SEQ vision of a holistic, integrated water management plan.

WIVENHOE DAM

83

LOCKYER VALLEY

IPSWICH

BRISBANE

WATER FUTURES

84

PROCESS - SEQ WATER FUTURES CHARRETTE

85

BUILDING CONSENSUS The charrette was not only an opportunity to field new ideas using a different way of thinking, but to build relationships and foster collaboration. The charrette experience gave the team ownership over the concepts. This is important as we move forward, and helps encourage more people to support a new vision for SEQ, one based on the managment of water.

Being a part of the SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette was a fantastic opportunity to learn about South East Queensland’s current and future water challenges.

Throughout the charrette, it was incredible as students to witness the extensive collaboration between professionals from all fields of work drawing upon different backgrounds of knowledge, and the discussion of how best to prioritise the benefits and risks associated with their strategies.

With the help of international precedents and such a diverse, research-rich contribution from the floor, longterm strategies were developed that could not only be implemented in Queensland, but used as tools in other flood-affected states.

Laura Ellis - 5th Year Master of Architecture Student, UQ School of Architecture

86

04 87

FUTURE AN ONGOING IMPACT

88

We need to talk about risk more. How much is necessary, what’s acceptable and how we mitigate against it.

SOUTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL

Our natural timescales and planning responses don’t often align.

We need a better way to build resilience.

FROM ADVOCACY TO ACTION We know we are all connected. We know we need to work together to successfully adapt to a changing climate and the extreme weather events ahead. In working towards a resilient region we need to develop new ways of collaborating and cooperating to find solutions to the problems facing our region.

The SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette identified the importance of sharing the burden between communities. For example, funds from public awareness and fund raising in Brisbane could help improve infrastructure in the Lockyer Valley. Those funds could be used to incentivise farming communities to revegetate in riparian zones and regulate farm levees that exacerbate flooding and reduce sediment and top soil, producing material benefit downstream to Brisbane residents. This cost benefit sharing could promote greater resilience at a local and regional level.

TOOWOOMBA REGIONAL COUNCIL TOOWOOMBA

The Room for the River programme in The Netherlands is a precedent for the work we’re presenting here. It took a regional approach where a national plan was developed with over 100 potential projects being identified, of which 37 were then chosen to be implemented to contribute to a holistic flood management system across the nation. In a similar vein, we have identified 50 pilot projects that will build the transition towards a resilient SEQ. These pilot projects stitch together like a patchwork quilt, each influencing, and being influenced by the other - all doing their bit to mitigate flooding and manage water across our region.

Given that we know investment follows inspiration, we hope some of these will be picked up by Federal, State and Local Governments in the not too distant future. Only time will tell.

89

SOUTHER REGIONA

WATER FUTURES

PILOT PROJECTS

GYMPIE REGIONAL COUNCIL

Port of Brisbane Brisbane Airport Bulimba Creek Norman Creek Breakfast Creek Oxley Creek Revegetation West End Blue-Green Plan Moggill Ferry Rocklea Markets Wivenhoe Dam Mt Crosby Treatment Plan WCRWS Nutrient Plan North Booval Ipswich CBD Ripley Goodna Jensen’s Swamp Inland Railway Lockyer Valley Regulated Farm Levees Revegetation Programmes

SUNSHINE COAST COUNCIL

SOMERSET REGIONAL COUNCIL

MORETON ISLAND

MORETON BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

BRISBANE AIRPORT WIVENHOE TREATMENT PLANT

BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL MT CROSBY TREATMENT PLANT

GRANTHAM

RN DOWNS AL COUNCIL

BULIMBA CREEK

ST LUCIA

NORMAN CREEK

MORETON BAY

NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND

ROCKLEA

GATTON

LAIDLEY

LOCKYER VALLEY REGIONAL COUNCIL

BRISBANE

PORT OF BRISBANE

GOODNA

IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL

IPSWICH

OXLEY CREEK

RIPLEY

GOLD COAST CITY COUNCIL

SCENIC RIM REGIONAL COUNCIL

90

FUTURE — AN ONGOING IMPACT

WATER & THE SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND REGIONAL PLAN The SEQ Regional Plan is a Queensland Government initiative aimed at integrating Local Government planning measures to promote liveability and to grow, prosper, connect and sustain one of Australia’s most economically important, environmentally unique and fastest growing regions.

As a statutory plan, the SEQ Regional Plan outlines binding planning parameters for Local Governments including the urban footprint (developable land), infrastructure connections, housing diversity, and importantly, environmental protection measures to limit urban sprawl. These parameters influence biodiversity, recreation and tourism across the region. In 2016 the Queensland Government began implementing a revised plan to keep up with the rapid population growth the region is expected to see in the coming decades. By 2041 Ipswich City is expected to see 327,000 more people (150%), the Lockyer Valley 22,200 (50%) and Brisbane 409,800 (40%). The region will be home to an additional one million people by 2050.

The urban footprint has identified areas of growth in undeveloped agricultural land to house these additional people, particularly in areas such as Ripley and Springfield in Ipswich as well as Lanefield and Grandchester on the border with the Lockyer Valley. In Brisbane, most development will occur as infill within the existing urban footprint.

We know how flood-prone these areas are. We know how important an integrated approach to water management is for the economic and environmental sustainability of the region.

Our goal is to promote the collaborative ideas developed in the SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette to ensure these can be incorporated into the new plan.

This includes: • Incorporating ‘Sponge Suburbia’ principles into the Ripley, Springfield and Lanefield development areas, where new development is occurring in flood-prone sites. A resilient approach will protect new communities and be an asset, rather than a liability to downstream communities.

• Applying ‘Sponge Urbanism’ principles to infill development in Brisbane floodplains, aligning with the plan’s identified ‘urban greening’ goal while utilising design strategies of blue infrastructure, allowing existing communities to grow.

• Implementing resilient planning strategies and flood appropriate architectural design elements in the SEQ Design Manual.

• Using the ‘City Deals’ strategy for regional resource sharing in leveraging Federal Government funding.

• Building on the Resilient Rivers Initiative to include the entire Brisbane River Catchment to foster a holistic regional approach - from the Conserve Zone to Moreton Bay. The plan outlines a goal of ensuring SEQ communities are resilient to flood risk through a coordinated approach to manage that risk, but does not propose how it could be done.

The Fluvial Transect provides a spatial framework for State agencies and Local Governments to work towards integrated flood risk management; promoting ‘build back better’ and water-sensitive urban design principles.

INFILL 21%

GREENFIELD 32% INFILL 68%

Brisbane and Metropolitan Areas Greenfield vs. Infill Development 409,800 People 91

GREENFIELD 79%

Ipswich, Lockyer and the West Greenfield vs. Infill Development 359,200 People

WATER FUTURES

The Fluvial Transect concept and integrated plan has the potential to form the basis for a new way of looking at the SEQ Regional Plan. The management of water becomes the foundation on which we design our future urban footprint.

* KEY LEGEND

*

*

REDCLIFFE NORTH LAKES

Knowledge / Technology Precinct

*

Major Industry / Enterprise

STRATHPINE

*

Brisbane Airport

AUSTRALIAN TRADE COAST

Port of Brisbane

*

CHERMSIDE

Regional Economic Significance

*

Major Centre

**

TOOMBUL

* *CBD TOOWONG * ** **

Urban Footprint

* * *

*

*

* * * ** *

CAPALABA

* *

*

* * * * * *

* *

*

SPRINGFIELD

WYNNUM CENTRAL

CARINDALE

INDOOROOPILLY

* IPSWICH

MORETON BAY

VICTORIA POINT

* SPRINGWOOD

LOGAN CENTRAL

*

*

LOGAN HYPERDOME

BEENLEIGH

This figure, taken from the SEQ Regional Plan identifies areas of economic significance and development in Greater Brisbane and Ipswich Source: Shaping SEQ - Draft South East Queensland Regional Plan, Queensland Government

* YARRABILBA

FLAGSTONE JIMBOOMBA

92

FUTURE — AN ONGOING IMPACT

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT Working in collaboration with our team, James Davidson Architect (JDA), Brisbane City Council (BCC) and the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC), in 2016 Dr Paola Leardini of The University of Queensland’s School of Architecture organised a Design Studio within the Master of Architecture programme called “Future Waterscapes” which involved the investigation of resilient building options for different flood-prone areas within Brisbane.

Project sites were in inner city suburbs around Norman Creek, which have been identified by BCC as suitable for accommodating future urban growth and infill development.

The studio investigated the idea of “Creek Urbanism” where

N PARK

students were challenged to design buildings and public space of an appropriate density while at the same treating them as filtration machines, engaging a Blue-Green design approach to improve the water quality of our creeks and waterways.

The studio started with participation in the charrette process, which was one key generator of design ideas for the semester.

Leveraging this experience, students surveyed the limitations of the project site, considering planning, flood data and current development characteristics. Students then came up with alternatives to the status quo in Kingfisher Creek, Turbo Drive and Hanlon Park and worked in groups to develop masterplans of each creek area, developing individual designs of high density housing and associated public space.

ARCH7004 Dwelling and Density Dr. Paola Leardini and Dr. James Davidson Prithwi Chakraborty Daniel Hickey Gemma Sedgwick

GY

1:10 000 Site Strategy

Hanlon Park site was to improve its potential should the site serve as a key part of a flood gies should also improve the site itself in its ub. Broadly, the flood strategies will follow a reat’.

h and south ends of the site will expand to waters. Around these points dense revegetation flow speed as well as facilitate a landscape oints to the site. Along with widening and annel, ‘relief pockets’ will be added to serve as een the main green space and new built form. capacity of the site to hold and retain a larger vide adaptable green space for the whole site.

erived from the larger scale flood mitigation Q waterfutures charrette. It is expected that applied to the Norman Creek catchment success of its flood mitigation capability.

site was to improve its overall connectivity. The e, residential zone, and green space should all mixed use hub for the greater region. The idea the crux of the strategy for connectivity. The ints, which are derived from the larger scale e sites landscape and built form experience. oose paths that draw them further into the cial built sector of the site. Strategic points pathways from Hanlon Park to Logan Road.

is ensuring its land use and amenity create the s well as a space that the general public want pulling back high density built form, the sites human scale, with a mixed experience of built ed flood plane plays a major role in the amenity between more privatised residential space and ulevard-like multipurpose streets facilitate the as they allow movement through the site, with nd enjoy the sites green space and built form.

ood Analysis

owl to contain the excess water, and give the river more ntains the north-south view corridor, mediates between and allows sunlight in at varying levels.

on Strategy

Diagram 2: 1:5000 Water Defense Strategy

Diagram 3: 1:5000 Accessibility + Connectivity Strategy

Hanlon Park Masterplan, Norman Creek Gemma Sedgewick, Daniel Hickey and Prithwi Chakraborty

AGGREGATE AGGREGATE

Aggreggate Aggregate, Kingfisher / Norman Creek Jonas Darr ‘Aggregate Aggregate’ is a concept that reconsiders the programmatic relationships within urban environments at a variety of scales. From the critique of the status quo’s unsustainable and growingly unlivable civic system new kind of urbanity is invented. This solution is an aggregated urbanity which includes programs of residence, agriculture, industry, commerce (both retail and offices), recreation and parkland.

93

ting upstream patterns and to minimise the overflow of water channel has become larger, and the bend has been smoothed apt to its natural movement and behaviour.

[RELIEF TERRACES] The site’s organising principle is a continuous public green terrace. It aims to act as a bowl to hold excess water, whilst also creating a core gathering space with terraced pockets, large grass areas, and lush vegetation.

[GATHERING SPACES] To ensure a highly walkable and dynamic community, which favours bikes and pedestrians, a network of paths are created. It links important corners and connects with Logan Rd, forming gatherings nodes that relate to the core terrace and surrounding neighbourhood.

Currently in Brisbane, the relationship between home and food is disjointed by ever more congested road networks, further strained by the civic separation of commerce and home. As well as including the complex road networks, more space is wasted by the underutilised space of suburban environments during day, and the underutilisation of spaces in office complexes at night. While traffic is a tangible problem the compartmentalisation of these programs also denies a holistic interpretation of the city’s function which is experienced in everyday living. This causes communities, civic system components and even parts of an individual to be divided by the long threshold of the daily commute.

From these examples and others, it appears that the civic system, that is a city which relies greatly on city-wide networks and zonal development is failing.

By aggregating urbanity, ie, aggregating the programs of residence, commerce, industry, agriculture and recreation into a hierarchy of scales

Image 2 - Flooding of land within BBC’s Flood Planning Area 1 (FPA1).

In this event, the floodwater rises to th edge of the wetland sponge. The entire o the development can still function and wate doesn’t enter the spill-zones during this kin of event (see masterplan).

he of er nd

WATER FUTURES

Outcomes included several mixed-use design proposals which confronted the site conditions of flood with ‘Sponge Urbanism’ aligning to the principles developed for the Constricted Zone in the charrette. An example of those design proposals is the integration of floodable public spaces which accommodated local water when necessary, as well as ideas about how to slow water in line with the principles of store, delay and adapt. The integration of concepts like urban agriculture and floodable commercial areas demonstrates how using a BlueGreen approach can drive economic and social benefit for local communities.

Norman Creek Waterscapes’ later curated at Suncorp. This exhibition formed an important visualisation for participants of the charrette on how the principles developed during the workshop could manifest in reality.

A number of panels from the student exhibition were then ARCH7004 Dwelling and Density Dr. Paola Leardini and Dr. James Davidson selected by Brisbane City Council representatives to be shown Charisa Chan Yan Yan 42020240 at the Council’s public gallery in Brisbane Square.

DESIGN FOR AN AGEING POPULATION

BCC gave positive feedback during design reviews, with an exhibition ‘Creek Urbanism - Perspectives of Future

LOCATION PLAN

Thank you to the University of Queensland’s School of Architecture for their support on this engagement activity.

Special thanks to Dr Paola Leardini for her support in running the Masters Design Studio on Flooding and Housing Density.

W ATER TTREATMENT REATMENT WATER

DESIGN EVOLUTION PLATFORM

JONUS DARR

Turbo Drive Flood Community, Norman Creek Charisa Chan

94

FUTURE — AN ONGOING IMPACT

BUILDING CONTROLS REPORT QRA engaged James Davidson Architect to study the effects of continual flooding on properties in Queensland and produce a problem definition and desired outcome statement that can be used to improve the effectiveness of building controls.

2. The divide between planning and building controls when evaluating flood resilient building design systems creates confusion for the wider community and local authorities and it needs to be simplified.

Given that Queensland’s largest material hazard is flooding, with over 60% of hazard losses in the past century being caused by major flood events in the state, in addition to several of the more holistic ideas generated during the charrette, flood resilient design is one way to mitigate flood risk.

3. Develop a flood resilience matrix similar to the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) system for bushfire design that gives the wider community and local authorities greater certainty in designing homes and planning communities.

The report generated several recommendations including: 1. Provisions in the National Construction Code (NCC) and Queensland Development Code (QDC) can be improved to encourage greater use of water resistant materials and flood resilient construction systems.

The Aftermath of the 2011 Floods Pro-bono house inspections organised by Emergency Architects Australia

95

4. Incorporating flood resilient systems into housing design could see low-risk uses located under the defined flood level, resulting in significant reconstruction cost savings, reduced insurance premiums and a greater uptake of flood insurance.

WATER FUTURES

The findings from the report have been utilised by the QRA to engage with Queensland Housing and Public Works, Building Codes Queensland and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission to develop a material selections guideline to be used in conjunction with building certification in order to encourage the implementation of flood resilient design principles in the renovation of existing building stock and new build housing in Queensland. A great outcome.

Building Controls for Flood Resilience report, published by James Davidson Architect in 2015

96

FLOOD EVENT

QUEENSLAND FLOODS The 2011 floods saw extreme flash flooding in Toowomba and the Lockyer Valley and major river flooding in the Brisbane and Breme Rivers. Over a period of two months, 200,000 homes were affected across Queensland. This was the worst flood event in nearly fou decades.

OUR JOURNEY SO FAR...

James Davidson Architect (JDA) is a Brisbane based architectural studio which intimately links design practice, research consultancy and community development activities.

Since the beginning, our practice has established a reputation for self-initiated, collaborative projects with a very strong emphasis on design advocacy.

We don't specialise in a particular type of work, however we focus on undertaking projects that present an opportunity to turn potential problems into enjoyable challenges.

The more complex and difficult the project appears, the more we like it.

Reflecting on this process, this distinction greatly benefited the project and became somewhat of an asset as all participants, Government and non-Government, could remove their respective ‘hats’ and freely collaborate.

97

PRO-BONO FLOOD ASSESSMENTS

AIA / EAA / JDA COLLABORATION

WE ARE HERE

ADVOCACY

BOOK “Water Futures: Integrated Water and Flood Management strategies for enhancing liveability in South East Queensland”

It is this inherent drive within our practice to give back that has helped the ideas in this book come to fruition. Although we were fortunate to have a lot of support in the production and printing of this book, the charrette was the result of many late nights and pro-bono hours.

The result of this was that the SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette became an impartial environment that was purely about ideas, outside normal jurisdictions. Participants were therefore free to approach issues without obligation or endorsement.

ACTION

RESPONSE

Lessons learned and flood design principles developed

100 60 230 1000

AC

JDA PRAC

Flood appropriate wet-proofing and d

ARCHITECTS STUDENTS FORMAL ASSESSMENTS FAMILIES ASSISTED

ADVOCACY

BOOKLET PUBLISHED “SEQ Water Futures Charrette Outcomes”

ACTION

SEEDING IDEAS WITH INTERESTED COMMUNITY GROUPS

ACTION

TECHNICAL CHARRETTE

THE NEXT STEPS

ACTION

REVISION OF BUILDING CONTROLS

ACTION

REVISION OF PLANNING CONTROLS

ACTION

FUNDING THE NEXT STEPS

INTEG MANA

(

WATER FUTURES

RESPONSE

e er d ur

ADVOCACY

FORMATION OF THE FLOOD COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

RESEARCH

PUBLIC EVENTS Awareness Raising

2036 FLOOD HYPOTHETICAL

RESEARCH

CTION

CTICE WORK

e residential design, design principles

RESEARCH

WINSTON CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP “Accommodating Water: Adaptive Architectures, Reactionary Planning and Design Resilience in the USA, Netherlands and UK”

JAMES DAVIDSON PRESENTS HIS WINSTON CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP RESEARCH

JAMES DAVIDSON MEETS BOSCH SLABBERS DURING FELLOWSHIP JDA proposed Dutch Diaglogues style charrette for Rotterdam

ACTION

UQ STUDIO “Future Waterscapes”

GRATED WATER AGEMENT PLAN

(INSPIRATION)

RESEARCH

CHARRETTE PILOT SEQ Water Futures, Rotterdam

ADVOCACY

ACTION

WORLD WATER CONGRESS

COLLABORATION

SEQ WATERFUTURES DESIGN CHARRETTE JDA, FCoP, University of Queensland, Suncorp Insurance, PIIB (Netherlands) Collaboration

23 171 3 20

ACTION

DUTCH PARTNERSHIPS

EAA / AIA / JDA PARTNERSHIP AND FLOOD COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE COLLABORATE

STUDENTS PROFESSIONALS INTERNATIONAL FACILITATORS DISCIPLINES

IMPLEMENTATION PILOT PROJECTS (TESTING IDEAS)

IMPLEMENTATION

INFLUENCE

LEGISLATIVE CHANGES (IMPACT) National Construction Code Australian Standards Local & State planning scheme amendments

FEED INTO

BUILT PROJECTS IMPLEMENTATION BROADER COMMUNITYLED INITIATIVES

98

FUTURE — AN ONGOING IMPACT

INVESTMENT FOLLOWS INSPIRATION The SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette was the first of its kind in Australia. We brought together experts, stakeholders, community leaders and young minds to collectively generate visions for our region. By bringing people together in a fresh space with fresh thinking, we challenged everyone to think outside the box and look towards the future. We created visual

$

plans, maps and scenes to map out what our shared future might look like. The ideas generated during the charrette will help the team to continue to drive interest in and generate momentum towards investment from all levels of Government as well as private industry and local community groups.

FUNDING

$ FUNDING

HEALTHY COUNTRY PROGRAMME

PUBLIC FUNDING

FLOOD RECOVERY MONEY

THINKING

EXTENSION OFFICERS

FLOOD MITIGATION MONEY

HEALTHY COUNTRY PROGRAMME

REGIONAL EDUCATION TOP DOWN EDUCATION

IC NG

FLOOD RECOVERY MONEY

WATER RECYCLING

THINKING EXTENSION OFFICERS

FLOOD MITIGATION MONEY

REGIONAL EDUCATION TOP DOWN EDUCATION

WATER RECYCLING

DOING

TE NG

SEDIMENT RECOVERY

DOING

PRIVATE FUNDING REGIONAL

RESOURCE EXCHANGE

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS COMMUNITY EDUCATION EXCHANGE

INTERNET

INTERNET PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

COMMUNITY PUBLICITY EDUCATION EXCHANGE

VALUE CAPTURE JOBS

SEDIMENT RECOVERY

EXISTING INITIATIVES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

DEVELOPMENT

PUBLICITY

HEALTHY WATERWAYS LIDAR DATA, QUANTIFY VALUE

VALUE CAPTURE

CROWD SOURCING

JOBS

COMMUNITY LEADERS

LOCAL EDUCATION

99

EXISTING INITIATIVES DEVELOPMENT

REGIONAL RESOURCE EXCHANGE

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

BOTTOM UP ADVOCACY, THINKING AND ORGANISATION

CATCHMENT GROUPS

WATER FUTURES

Government Funding

Private Funding

The Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) was supportive of the initiative and are an important stakeholder for the group moving forward. They, along with Local, State and Federal Governments, will be a key partner for the Flood Community of Practice (FCoP).

Suncorp hosted the charrette event and has contributed funds and human resources for this book and other work of the FCoP. Their involvement as Queensland’s largest insurer is vital to our future endeavours. We see them leading the insurance industry into supporting this initiative more generally.

Community

Public-Private Partnerships

The local community is key in generating both material and social investment towards a resilient SEQ. We aim to continue to collaborate, to visualise and to generate inspiration at the local level. To respect the enormous social capital available in the water space across our region.

We were in a unique place during the charrette to act as a middle ground between Government stakeholders, experts and private practice. We continue to seek opportunities where we can facilitate cooperation between public and private funding.

THINKING

DOING

INTERNET

REGIONAL EDUCATION TOP DOWN EDUCATION

PUBLICITY

JOBS

EXISTING INITIATIVES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

CATALOGUE OF SOLUTIONS HEALTHY WATERWAYS LIDAR DATA, QUANTIFY VALUE

COMMUNITY LEADERS

PILOTS

LOCAL EDUCATION

BOTTOM UP ADVOCACY, THINKING AND ORGANISATION

CATCHMENT GROUPS

EXTENSION OFFICERS

100

THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY SEQ WATER FUTURES AND THE SENDAI FRAMEWORK The Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders. It aims for the following outcome: “The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.”

More than $1 billion was wiped from the economy during the Queensland floods. By making our houses, buildings and infrastructure in SEQ more resilient we will be able to ensure this does not happen again. This aligns with the Sendai Priority for Targets 3 and 4, promoting a build back better approach in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Target 3: Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.

Target 4: Substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.

101

By advocating for increased investment in resilient infrastructure we will be able to ensure the economy and communities are protected. Ideas such as relocating the Warrego highway outside of the flood zone mean that trucks can still keep supplying Brisbane from the Lockyer Valley. This lines up with Sendai Priority for Action 3 promoting both public and private investment in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

We have been guided by similar principles to the Sendai Framework including: •

Engagement from all members of society by convening a non-government funded objective initiative.

•

Inclusive decision making through our collaborative design methodology.

•

Accounting for local characteristics throughout the design process to ensure that SEQ’s identity is retained and enhanced through a more integrated approach to water management.

•

Taking a risk based approach, ensuring communities are sustainable, affordable and liveable in the long-term.

•

Adopting a ‘Build back better’ policy for reducing existing disaster risks and preventing new disaster risks by advocating an integrated approach ensuring resilience in every part of the Brisbane Valley at all scales.

WATER FUTURES

WATER FUTURES AND THE SDGs The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. These 17 goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success for one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another. They tackle the root causes of poverty and unite us together to make a positive change for both people and the planet.

Throughout our experiences since the 2011 floods, we have been advocating for better, more resilient development that is affordable for all. James Davidson Architect’s flood resilient houses were examples of how these could work at the architectural scale in Brisbane. The Fluvial Transect aligns with the SDGs in multiple ways by encouraging resource sharing between each zone and creating an integrated approach to water management across the SEQ region.

The SDGs that align best with the Fluvial Transect Framework include: Goal 6: To ensure access to safe water sources and sanitation for all.

Goal 8: To promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.

Goal 9: To build resilient infrastructure with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.

Goal 11: To make cities and human settlements resilient and sustainable. To support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening development planning, as well as increasing integrated policies Goal 12: To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Goal 13: To take urgent action to tackle climate change and its impacts.

Goal 14: To conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans, seas and marine resources.

Goal 15: To sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.

In 2016 the United Nations identified 17 goals to be tackled by 2030.

The Water Futures framework aligns with these values and seeks to demonstrate a few of these goals on an Architectural scale in Brisbane.

Source: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

102

FUTURE — AN ONGOING IMPACT

103

WATER FUTURES

A STRONGER AND MORE RESILIENT COMMUNITY In the beginning of this book, Memmott and Bond, when discussing the region’s Aboriginal history, make an interesting observation. They show that Aboriginal people in the region belonged to a greater regional society and worked together to thrive in this environment.

Coincidentally, this was also one of the major outcomes of our charrette process; that we are all interconnected and each catchment across the region is influenced by and impacted on by the others.

Brisbane City needs supportive and collaborative thinking if it is to solve the ongoing issues of drought and flood. The Lockyer Valley and Ipswich are also at the mercy of extreme weather events, however if these communities were to work together towards a regional integrated water management framework, then it is possible to reduce the effects and impacts of flooding and drought across the entire SEQ region.

Resultant economic benefits will flow.

The Flood Community of Practice (FCoP) is a catalytic hub for exploring ideas and creating shared vision. We encourage participation from citizens with an interest in open and appreciative inquiry and developing pathways for sustainability.

We welcome your views and suggestions on SEQ Water Futures. If you are interested in discussing issues raised in this book or if you’d like to be included in our Community of Practice mailing list, we invite you to get in touch with us and we will keep you informed on progress and initiatives.

Learn, Design and Adapt.

Advocacy and collaboration are key in working towards a shared vision to adapt our living environments to changing natural conditions. The SEQ Water Futures Design Charrette and this book demonstrate that there are actions we could be taking to address ongoing water management issues in SEQ in strengthening the symbiosis between humans and the natural environment.

104

105

106

GLOSSARY 100 Year Flood

A flood event that has a 1% probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also known as the “base-flood”)

Natural Defenses or “Green” Defenses

Brisbane City Council

This book uses “green” or “natural” defenses to refer to approaches that restore, mimic, and enhance natural coastal features to reduce coastal flooding and erosion risk, including beach nourishment, dune management, living shorelines, and wetland restoration

CBD

Overland Flow / Sheet Flooding

BCC

Central Business District

Cell Grazing

The movement of water over land, downslope, typically as part of the water cycle

A grazing system where stock is rotated between different areas at a time

Pluvial

Choke Point

Probable Maximum Flood

The threshold where large scale interventions for flood mitigation become unviable due to existing development

CRCWSC

Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities

Delta

Relating to rainfall

The Probable Maximum Flood is the largest flood that could conceivably occur at a particular location, usually estimated from probable maximum precipitation, and, where applicable, snow melt, coupled with the worst flood producing conditions

QRA

An area of low, flat land, where a river divides into several smaller rivers before flowing into the sea

Queensland Reconstruction Authority

Earth Culvert

Queensland Urban Utilities, the statutory body controlling infrastructure delivering drinking water, recycled water and sewerage services in Brisbane, Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley

A natural structure allowing water to flow under a road or similar

Flash Flood

A sudden flood typically due to heavy rain

Fluvial

Relating to a river

Blue-Green Infrastructure

QUU

Retention Basin

A piece of infrastructure designed to hold stormwater run-off for a particular period of time, often in times of high rainfall

Riparian Zone

The area on or relating to the banks of a river

This book uses the definition of “blue-green infrastructure” to include strategies that use vegetation, soils, and natural processes to manage stormwater, overland flow, tidal areas and fluvial areas

The concentration of dissolved salts in water, usually expressed in parts per thousand by weight

Green Roofs

Stormwater

Vegetation installed on rooftops

ICC

Ipswich City Council

JDA

James Davidson Architect

Keyline Systems

A technique for maximizing the beneficial use of water resources of a piece of land. The keyline refers to a specific topographic feature linked to water flow, including planned contouring, graded channels, and careful consideration of placement of roads, trees, buildings, fences, and structures

LVRC

Lockyer Valley Regional Council

107

Salinity

Surface water run-off from impervious surfaces resulting from rainfall or snowmelt

seqwater

The statutory body controlling water supply in South East Queensland

SEQ

South East Queensland, the urban agglomeration including Brisbane City, Ipswich, the Lockyer Valley, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast

Sponge Urbanism

The concept that a city can absorb water as part of the water cycle within its own built and natural environment.

UQ

The University of Queensland

WATER FUTURES

BIBLIOGRAPHY Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 2014. “Interactive: 100 years fo drought in Australia” Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/ news/2014-02-26/100-years-of-drought/5282030 Bosch Slabbers. 2016.” Adaptation Planning Support Toolbox”.

Croke, J et al. 2016 “The Big Flood: Will it Happen Again?” Final Report ARC LP 120200093, Australian Research Council, Canberra.

Dilley, M and Heyman, B. 1995. “ENSO and Disaster: Droughts, Flood and El Nino Southern Oscillation Warm Events” Disasters Vol. 19, No. 3, pp.181-193.

IAG Australia. 2016. “At What Cost? Mapping Where Natural Perils Impact on Economic Growth and Communities” pp.16.

Kerkhove, R. 2013 “Aboriginal Trade in Fish and Seafoods to Settlers in Nineteenth-Century South-East Queensland: A Vibrant Industry?” in Queensland Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp.144-156.

Strong, M. 2016 “’One Ring To Rule Them All?’ Towards Understanding the Plethora of Bora Grounds in Southeastern Queensland” in Queensland History Journal, Vol. 22, No. 12, February.

Queensland Government. 2016. “Shaping SEQ - Draft South East Queensland Regional Plan” Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning (Queensland) pp. 44-47 West End Community Association. 2015. “The Green Space Strategy - West End, Highgate Hill and South Brisbane” Winterbotham, L.P. (recording) “The Gaiarbau Story, Some Native Customs and Beliefs of the Jinibara Tribe as well as those of some of their Neighbours in South-East Queensland” in G. Langevad (ed.) Queensland Ethnohistory Transcripts, Vol. 1, No. 1, Archaeology Branch, Queensland, pp.21-136.

United Nations. 2015. “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030” The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, pp.35.

United Nations. 2015. “UN Sustainable Development Goals” Retrieved from http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ sustainable-development-goals/

IMAGE SOURCES Front and Back Cover Image: Michael Petter Iconography: Noun Project Introduction 8-9 Clive Ba-Pé, JDA / 10 Ted Holliday / 12 Amanda Kempthorne, JDA 01: CONTEXT — Droughts, Floods and Our Response 19 Paul Memmott, UQ / 20 Helen Dash, UQ Press / 21 SLQ Library; SLQ Library / 23 Jackie Croke et al / 24 Bureau of Meteorology Australia / 25 Clive Ba-Pé, JDA / 28 News Ltd / 31 Healthy Land and Water / 33 Noun Project 02: OUTCOMES — An Integrated Water Management Strategy 34 Mara Francis / 41 SLQ Library / 48-49 seqwater / 51 Nearmaps / 57 Nearmaps / 60 Nearmaps / 63 Nearmaps / 67 Nearmaps / 76-77 Clive Ba-Pé, JDA 03: PROCESS — SEQ Waterfuture Charrette 80-81 Clive Ba-Pé, JDA / 84-85 Noun Project / 87 Clive Ba-Pé / 88 Clive Ba-Pé, JDA 04: FUTURE — An Ongoing Impact 96-97 Gemma Sedgewick, Daniel Hickey and Prithwi Chakraborty; Jonus Darr; Charisa Chan / 98 James Davidson, JDA / 104 Brad Marsellos, ABC Open / 105 United Nations / 108 Mara Francis / 109 Alex Bond / 110-111 Clive Ba-Pé, JDA 108

CONVENOR

DESIGN TEAM

James Davidson Architect

Prof. John Hoal Director - H3 Studio, Chair of Urban Design at Sam Fox School, Washington University in St Louis, USA

CORE STAFF

Assistant Prof. Derek Hoeferlin Director - Derek Hoeferlin Design, Faculty at Sam Fox School at Washington University in St Louis, USA

Dr James Davidson (JDA) Samuel Bowstead (JDA) Britt Hill (JDA) Clive Ba-Pe (JDA) Martin Arroyo (JDA)

Tijs van Loon Bosch Slabbers Landscape Architects, The Netherlands Dr James Davidson, James Davidson Architect Samuel Bowstead, James Davidson Architect

FACILITATOR Dr. Piet Filet, Convenor of the Flood Community of Practice

CHARRETTE SPONSORS Dutch Partners in International Business CRC for Water Sensitive Cities - The University of Queensland Flood Community of Practice

BOOK SUPPORTERS The University of Queensland - School of Architecture CRC for Water Sensitive Cities seqwater Water Technology Queensland Urban Utilities Healthy Land and Water Suncorp

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT Dr Paola Leardini, The University of Queensland Dr Antony Moulis, The University of Queensland

PARTICIPANTS Acacia Alterra Wageningen UR Baber Studio Bligh Tanner BMTWBM Bosch Slabbers Landscape Architects Brisbane Airport Corporation (Mick Keniger) Brisbane City Council Buckley Vann CRC for Water Sensitive Cities Cultivar Deltares Dutch Consul General Sydney Gilvear Planning Griffith University

Healthy Land and Water Ipswich City Council James Davidson Architect John Mongard Landscape Architects Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mainstream Co. Office of Queensland Government Architect Probono Econos QLD Dept. of Energy & Water Supply QLD Dept. of Environment & Heritage Protection QLD Dept. of Natural Resources & Mines Queensland Reconstruction Authority Queensland University of Technology Queensland Urban Utilities

Roadmenders Consultants SEQ Catchments seqwater SMEC Suncorp Insurance The International Water Centre The University of Queensland University of Southern Queensland University of Washington in St Louis Urban Equity Urban Food Growers Vokes and Peters Water Technology