WHITEHORSE COUNCIL’S COMMITMENT TO REINVENTING WATER CONSERVATION

By April Shepherd, Editor, Council Magazine

The City of Whitehorse, located in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, has a future-minded outlook on water management – with a keen focus on managing this resource to ensure a sustainable future for all. Council plans to do this through its new Integrated Water Management Strategy 2022-2042, collaboration, and community feedback.

The City of Whitehorse is home to many waterways, parks and reserves which create a unique ecosystem for the area, but as the population grows and climate change becomes more evident, Council has begun preparing for the challenges of the future – today.

To combat these future issues Council, with assistance from the Victorian Government through Melbourne Water Corporation and as part of the Living Rivers Stormwater Program, has created its Integrated Water Management Strategy 2022-2042.

The 20-year strategy focuses on three main outcomes: healthier landscapes and waterways, reduction of flood risk and valuing all water as a resource.

WHY IS THE STRATEGY NEEDED?

One of the catalysts for the creation of the strategy is not only the effects of climate change, but the intensified impacts of urbanisation and population growth that cause hotter days, urban heat islands, increased wastewater and pressure on the water system.

Urbanisation also causes greater stormwater runoff – with more hard surfaces for the rain to run off, increasing challenges on the water cycle and chances of flash flooding.

Whitehorse City Council Coordinator Natural Environment & Strategy, Leonie Gibson, discussed why the strategy was needed to create a sustainable future for the community.

“We're preparing for the future,” Ms Gibson said.

“Our population is continuing to grow and we're talking about climate change. It's still uncertain as well. The strategy is an adaptive plan, so it covers that 20-year time frame through a vision.

“The plan is adaptive on how we actually work in this space, so looking at how we maximise the use of the diverse range of available water sources and use what we have efficiently.

“It's about supporting the water management practices in Whitehorse and considering all elements of the water cycle and how we plan around that. It provides a strategic and integrated approach.”

Ms Gibson said that the Council has previously managed water through an ad hoc approach and focusing on standalone projects. The strategy differs as it offers a holistic approach and studies how all elements affect each other and work together.

Overhauling The Water Cycle

The strategy and it’s accompanied technical analysis, the Integrated Water Management Strategy Technical Report 2021,is aiming to combat the urban water problem through promoting community action and collaborating with fellow councils and organisations.

“The vision is really supporting community action. The strategies have been prepared through consultation and they've shown through community feedback how important waterways in Whitehorse are,” Ms Gibson said.

“The pandemic raised that as well, in terms of support for biodiversity and networks for walking and riding, trail networks and just mental health and wellbeing.”

Ms Gibson said that the community is also expressing concerns about the impact of pollution, and would like to see initiatives such as stormwater harvesting – so it has enough water for vegetation if a drought were to strike.

“Council wants to help residents do what they can do in their own space, but then show what it's doing throughout the strategy,” Ms Gibson said.

Ms Gibson said that the plan, and its success, is all about community feedback – supporting what the community wants for the future to make sure Council develops projects that alter environmental impacts and future proof infrastructure.

Council is also highly focused on building proactive, instead of reactive, operations for the future and embedding integrated water management into internal processes.

Collaboration is also an important element of the plan, with Whitehorse City Council working with other councils, water retailers such as Melbourne Water and Traditional Owners as well.

“We've all got those water management responsibilities and we need to work together when we're looking at that catchment context,” Ms Gibson said.

As with many good things, Ms Gibson said that the community might have to wait to see the full effects of the actions outlined in the strategy.

“You might not see the benefit in some of these things for a little bit of time – similar to our urban forest where you might plant a tree, you might not see that in its real form until ten years time,” Ms Gibson said.

The Challenges

In any long-term project challenges are sure to arise, and although it is early days Ms Gibson said that so far the initiative has been smooth sailing.

“I think it is always around competing service priorities as Integrated Water Management (IWM) is one of the many responsibilities of Council” Ms Gibson said.

To combat this the team will look to apply for external funding when available, with more funding streams hopefully opening up.

“That's something that we're really keen to make sure that we tap into,” Ms Gibson said.

One of the other challenges is managing community expectations around timelines and projects.

“It's great that we've got engagement with the community, but they would love us to do more action quicker,” Ms Gibson said.

Ms Gibson said that this can be remedied by keeping the community up to date with the work that is being done, even if it is in the background.

The Next Steps

In the coming years the goals in the strategy will start to come to life, firstly through setting up the initial processes, and secondly through delivering high quality demonstration projects in the first five years.

Ms Gibson hopes that these projects will deliver some immediate outcomes, such as stormwater harvesting initiatives, and aims to incorporate these new concepts with existing strategies as well – such as Council’s Urban Forest

Strategy, streetscape works or road drainage projects.

Council will also be considering undertaking some scoping and prioritisation through a place-based plan – discussing where the new assets will go – and developing a ten year plan to use alongside the Capital Works process.

“We've also been doing some asset auditing of our natural spaces, so we really understand the function of how they're going, and getting baseline information so that we’re meeting the targets in our strategy,” Ms Gibson said.