Upcoming Events
Vegetated Stormwater Assets require maintenance in order to deliver their stormwater management benefits. Maintaining vegetated stormwater assets doesn’t have to be difficult. This one day course provides detailed guidance on how to maintain bioretention systems and constructed wetlands as easily and cost effectively as possible.
By the end of this course participants will:
- be aware of the activities required to maintain bioretention systems and constructed stormwater wetlands.
- have an appreciation of the cost of maintaining bioretention systems and constructed stormwater wetlands.
- understand how bioretention design affects long term maintenance requirements, and how to design for low long term maintenance.
- be inspired by simple ways to rectify underperforming vegetated stormwater assets.
Presenters:
This course is presented by Jack Mullaly (Healthy Waterways)
Who should attend?
Those involved in designing and maintaining vegetated stormwater assets, including civil and landscape designers, development assessment officers, stormwater asset managers and maintenance coordinators.
*Click here for further details and registration. Discount registration is available to Stormwater Queensland members.
The ASCE Australia Section will be holding a Master Class in Brisbane on the Principles of Streambank Analysis and application of the Bank Stability and Toe-Erosion Model (BSTEM). It will be presented by Dr Andrew Simon.
The master class will be held in the Cardno Training Room, Level 11, Green Square North Tower, 515 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley on Monday 25 May 2015.
Please click here for the attached flyer that describes the Master Class Program.
Dr Andrew Simon is a geomorphologist with 30 years of experience in mechanistic analysis of unstable-channel systems, streambank erosion, cohesive-sediment entrainment, the role of riparian vegetation, “reference” sediment-transport rates, and river restoration, working on projects throughout the United States, in Queensland, NSW, New Zealand and elsewhere around the globe.
He has advised that the mathematics is cursory and is used to understand the processes. The master class works for non-engineers as well. He has received excellent reviews from managers, biologists and landscape architects alike.
It is open to all who would like to attend the Master Class
Registrations are open until Thursday 21 May 2015. Don’t miss your opportunity to attend. To Register click here.
Visit the Conference Website, please click here.
On behalf of the Conference Committee, we are pleased to announce that the 2015 Stormwater Queensland Conference will be held on Wednesday, 15th and Thursday, 16th July, with a Technical Tour to be held on Friday, 17th July. The two-day Conference will be held at The Armitage Centre, Empire Theatre in Toowoomba.
In recent years, more sustainable water management has been a key focus of the ‘Garden City’. In 2009, the city’s water supply was at an all-time low of 7.7%, leading to major water restrictions, a proposed (and subsequently rejected) indirect potable re-use scheme, and the construction of a $187 Million pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam. In January 2011, however, the city and surrounding areas were devastated by flash flooding.
With significant growth predicted in the region, Toowoomba Regional Council is committed to managing its water cycle more sustainably, including the extreme events. Council’s goals are to “plan and deliver safe and effective stormwater management outcomes and a flood resilient region” and “advance water use efficiency and water cycle innovation throughout the region” (Toowoomba Regional Council Corporate Plan, 2014-19).
This Conference provides a unique opportunity to bring together the best and brightest minds within the stormwater industry in Queensland (and beyond) to share and gain knowledge, experience and expertise – and build strong collaborative partnerships.
As in past years, we aim to build a strong conference program that will provide an opportunity for delegates to learn from the experience of others on a broad range of topics, and continue to provide these stormwater professionals with an insight into the key factors that have resulted in successful urban water management projects across Queensland.
If you would like to receive further information about the 2015 Stormwater Queensland Conference, please contact GEMS Event Management on +61 2 9744 5252.
The 2015 Annual General Meeting of Stormwater Queensland will be held on Thursday, 24th September 2015.
Nominations for a position on the Management Committee of Stormwater Queensland will be open 21 days prior to the AGM. If you wish to register your interest in joining the Committee for 2015 – 2016 please contact the Association Secretariat on (02) 9744 5252 or email siaqadmin@stormwater.asn.au
Healthy Waterways invites you to attend the 2015 Report Card launch on: Thursday 22 October 2015 at 11.30am to 12.30pm.
This year, Healthy Waterways has evolved the Monitoring Program and Report Card to assess the benefits the community receives from our waterways, and the actions they undertake to protect and improve waterway health.
This holistic approach to reporting will provide the insight and information to drive best-practice waterway management to achieve environmental outcomes and enhance the community’s quality of life.
The Report Card launch is a culmination of 12 months of scientific monitoring throughout the region, with results independently assessed and verified by apanel of scientific experts.
The launch is held simultaneously in four locations across South East Queensland: For more details click through to the Report Card – Launch invitation
Register to attend your local launch before Friday 16 October to reportcard@healthywaterways.org nominating your launch location.
Stormwater Queensland will be holding the association’s End of Year Drinks directly after the Stormwater Quality Offsets Forum from 4.30 pm to 7.00 pm.
Come join the Stormwater Queensland committee for a few drinks and canapes to celebrate a year of achievements in the Stormwater Industry and take the opportunity to have a chat to industry friends and colleagues.
Registration to attend this event is free of charge.
If you would like to attend the Stormwater Queensland End of Year Drinks, please register at https://www.secureregistrations.com/SQNOV2015/.
Should you have any questions regarding this event, please contact the Stormwater Queensland Secretariat on 1300 721 220.
The new Moreton Bay Regional Council Planning Scheme will commence on 1 Febraury 2016. This is the first time since amalgamation that a clear, consolidated strategic planning vision has been established for the entire Moreton Bay Region.
You are invited to a briefing session on the new scheme hosted by Council’s planning staff.
To register and for more details please click here.
The Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce is seeking feedback on its Interim Report which sets out initial recommendations to the Queensland Government on how to deliver substantial reef water quality improvements.
The River Basin Management Society (RBMS) would like to make a submission on behalf of its members. To gather feedback from its members the RBMS would like to host a reading group in Brisbane on the 2nd of Febraury. The Interim Report can be found here.
“It would be great to hear from our members and anyone new who would like to provide feedback on the initial recommendations. If you are unable to attend the reading group but would like to provide feedback please email info@rbms.com.au. Hope to see you there!” – RBMS Committee
To register or for further enquiries click here
The River Basin Management Society presents the award winning documentary “Lost Rivers” Screening.
ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY:
Once upon a time, in almost every industrial city, countless rivers flowed. We built houses along their banks. Our roads hugged their curves. And their currents fed our mills and factories. But as cities grew, we polluted rivers so much that they became conduits for deadly waterborne diseases like cholera, which was 19th century’s version of the Black Plague. Our solution two centuries ago was to bury rivers underground and merge them with sewer networks.
Today, under the city, they still flow, out of sight and out of mind… until now. That’s because urban dwellers are on a quest to reconnect with this denigrated natural world. Lost Rivers takes us on an adventure down below and across the globe, retracing the history of these lost urban rivers by plunging into archival maps and going underground with clandestine urban explorers. We search for the disappeared Petite rivière St-Pierre in Montreal, the Garrison Creek in Toronto, the River Tyburn in London, the Saw Mill River in New York, and the Bova-Celato River in Bresica, Italy. Could we see these rivers again? To find the answer, we meet visionary urban thinkers, activists and artists from around the world.
View the trailer here
Don’t miss out – Register Here
Stormwater Australia invites you to attend STORMWATER 2016, the 4th National Conference convened by Stormwater Australia, to be held from Monday, 29th August to Friday, 2nd September, 2016 in Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
In 2009, the United Nations reported that more than half the world’s population lived in urban centres. This proportion is set to increase to 66% by 2050, when it is estimated that city dwellers will live and share their neighbourhoods with an additional 2.5 billion people.
As our cities grow and evolve, it is imperative that we manage our resource and our natural resources to ensure they continue to provide clean, healthy environments for ourselves and the next generation. Access to adequate supplies of safe and fit-for-purpose water will be increasingly important to meet the needs of a growing population, while the responsible management of runoff from both increasing sprawl and density in existing urban areas will be needed to increase our resilience to natural disasters such as flood and heat waves, and to avoid further environmental and social degradation.
The modern stormwater industry seeks to balance traditional issues with emerging priorities which are being placed on our infrastructure. Practitioners are experienced in working at the coal face, often pragmatically dealing with issues in a complex environment where policy requirements are often unclear, but the demand for good outcomes and multiple benefits are not. The growing need to work in multidisciplinary teams, to lead and influence, to understand and assimilate different points of view and technical requirements, will be core skills required in the future.
Challenge and change brings opportunity. Fiscal constraints are an ever present reality. New and emerging technologies are developed to provide technical solutions. Increasingly we are seeing new business models that empower greater choice. Increasingly we are looking to solve nexus issues around water, energy and food. In an increasingly connected world, information has a new currency to support decision making and engagement with community. As economies around the world transition to make better use of all this knowledge, there is potential to develop new markets and trade opportunities.
The ‘Rising to the Challenge’ Conference will reach out beyond our core industry practitioners to engage with a broader group of committed and talented people who will all need to work together to develop the solutions of the future. Stormwater Australia invites you and your colleagues from all disciplines and experiences to participate in what we anticipate to be an exciting and engaging Conference that builds upon earlier successes, inspires participants and provide opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing.
For all enquiries and registrations please visit – www.stormwater2016.com.au
