Upcoming Events
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 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 Queensland are pleased to present the 2016 Awards for Excellence Presentation Luncheon.
The award categories for the 2016 Awards for Excellence are:
- Excellence in Strategic or Master Planning
- Excellence in Infrastructure
- Excellence in Asset Management
- Excellence in Research and Innovation
- Excellence in Policy or Education
- Excellence in Integrated Stormwater Design
If you would like to register for this event, please contact Lilly Barker on +61 2 9744 5252 or via email lbarker@gemspl.com.au.
National Awards for Excellence
Under the Awards for Excellence protocol adopted by Stormwater Australia, only the recipients of the State Awards for Excellence will be eligible for the National Excellence Awards. Preceding two years of State award winners (2015 and 2016) will be eligible for the National Awards in 2016. Therefore, entry of a project into a State Excellence Awards is a minimum prerequisite for participation in the National Awards.
The National Awards is held every two years. The next National Awards will be announced at the Stormwater National 2016 Conference in Brisbane, Queensland on Wednesday, 31st August, 2016.
Should you have any questions about the 2016 Stormwater Queensland Awards for Excellence, please contact Event Coordinator, Lilly Barker on +61 2 9744 5252 or via email to lbarker@gemspl.com.au.
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
Managing Long Life, Hidden Assets
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Developed to assist asset management practitioners apply best practice in accordance with PN5 and ISO 55000 AM Standards for inspection, condition and performance assessment for stormwater drainage assets. |
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Participants will be able to develop an action pipeline for how they can best progress their organization along the path to meeting the objectives of PN5 |
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Explore the practicalities of how to prepare and undertake a stormwater drainage network condition survey including sampling of the network and specifying the services of external providers. |
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Learn about using the WSAA Conduit Inspection Code Appendix D for SWD |
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Learn about using the AUS-SPEC Tools and resources for SWD asset management |
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Opportunity to network and share your experiences. |
Objectives
- Understand the use of the new PN5 to improve SWD asset management practice taking into account ISO 55000 requirements.
- Be able to follow a consistent approach to SWD survey and condition assessment
- Have the tools to scope and plan a condition assessment project to achieve application of PN5 good practice
- Learn about the latest trends for identifying and scoring of defects in SWD assets.
Outcomes
These Workshops will give you the knowledge and skills to;
- Develop your own action pipeline to guide the journey for applying PN5 for your SWD assets
- Confidently update your SWD asset register and break it into its components
- Develop reports on the overall condition grading of the SWD network
- Produce risk based Action plans – maintenance and renewals derived from the condition analysis
- Have better information on which to analyse and report on valuations, depreciation and financial planning for the SWD system.
Who should attend
- Stormwater drainage asset practitioners,
- Engineers
- Asset Managers
- Technical Officers
- Field staff involved in inspection and condition assessment and asset management of SWD Assets
- Applicable to local government, public works or other organisations (public or private)
Presenters
- Alf Grigg | Principal A Grigg & Associates P/L
- Peter Way | Chair NAMS.AU, IPWEA Peter is project manager and principal author of the SWD Practice Note 5.
- Kirk Bloomfield | Manager GSDS
- John Thomson l Geospatial Integrated Services
* Presenter/s will vary between locations.
For more information and details of a workshop in your area, head over to the IPEWA website by clicking HERE
Get the your own copy of the latest Practice Note HERE
The Report Card provides an annual assessment of the pressures facing our waterways, their current environmental condition (A-F grade), and the level of social and economic benefit the waterways provide to local communities (1-5 star rating).
As their organisation transitions into the new entity Healthy Waterways and Catchments, they have leveraged the combined skills and resources of Healthy Waterways and SEQ Catchments to further build upon their holistic monitoring and reporting approach. This includes working with the Council of Mayors to assess the risks to environmental values in each sub catchment. A component of this assessment will be released through the 2016 Report Card, identifying the sub catchments in most need of action to reduce sediment pollution.
To release the results, four launch events will be held simultaneously across South East Queensland.
Central Launch
Host: Healthy Waterways and Catchments
Venue: Riverlife Centre – Naval Stores, Lower River Terrace, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane
Northern Launch
Host: Unitywater
Venue: Mooloolaba Yacht Club, 33-45 Parkyn Parade, Mooloolaba QLD 4557
Western Launch
Host: Somerset Regional Council
Venue: Kilcoy Information Centre, 41 Hope St, next to Yowie Park, Kilcoy, QLD 4515
Southern Launch
Host: Scenic Rim Regional Council
Venue: Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk, 333 Geissmann Dr, Mt Tamborine QLD 4272
For more information and/or to register your attendance, head over to http://healthywaterways.org/eventscalendar . You don’t want to miss this one!
