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This independent Review aims to assess the Queensland Government’s proposed strategy for meeting the long-term water supply-demand balance for South East Queensland, of which the Traveston Crossing scheme is a major and controversial component. The Review, conducted by a team from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technolog...
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... Propositions concerning the efficacy of demand management had been criticized strongly as dangerous idealism by the infrastructure lobbies proposing new infrastructure solutions such as the Traveston dam. In a technical submission to a federal Senate inquiry into the water needs of the Mary River region, environmental research consultants (Turner et al. 2007) had claimed that a concerted program of water conservation and water efficiency could have deferred the need for an expensive new reservoir in or near SEQ. This argument was fiercely rejected by project consultants for the project and by the government, which had announced its commitment to building the dam. ...
In this case study, I examine the quality of decision-making under conditions of rapidly evolving urban water crises, and the adaptive policy challenges of building regional resilience in response to both drought and flood. Like other regions of Australia, Southeast Queensland has been subject to substantial cycles of drought and flood. I draw on resilience literature concerning sustainability, together with governance literature on policy change, to explain the changing awareness of urban water crises and the strategic options available for addressing these crises in this case study. The problem of resilience thinking opens up a number of important questions about the efficacy and adaptability of the policy system. The case provides insights into the interplay between the ways in which problems are framed, the knowledge bases required for planning and decision-making, the collaborative governance processes required for managing complex and rapidly evolving issues, and the overall capacity for policy learning over time. Regional resilience was proclaimed as a policy goal by government, but the practices remained largely anchored in traditional technical frameworks. Centralized investment decisions and governance restructures provoked conflict between levels of government, undermining the capacity of stakeholders to create more consensual approaches to problem-solving and limiting the collective learning that could have emerged.
... Living and surviving in the low population density areas depend on the use of local sources of water such as rainwater collected in tanks and groundwater (NSW Health, 1998). Even in areas that receive mains water, many households collect rainwater in domestic tanks to augment supplies and to provide an alternative and renewable source of water (Turner et al., 2007). ...
... The rapid expansion in the use of rainwater catchment system technologies have coincided with a period of growing interest in communitybased, grassroots, and self-help development (White et al., 2006). The success of privately owned roof catchment systems, more than any other technologies in the water-supply field, has demonstrated that individual ownership and small-scale communal effort can bring impressive results of developing alternative source for water (Turner et al., 2007). ...
... During the 1990s, there has also been a growing interest in the use of rainwater catchment systems in urban contexts (Martin, 1980;Turner et al., 2007). This may seem surprising, given the con-straints of using rainwater systems in urban areas, especially for domestic water supply. ...
Australia is currently facing a serious water crisis. Saving water is not the government's solo effort, it also requires support from individual households. The use of rainwater tanks for rainwater storage has been highly recommended for both outdoor and indoor uses. This paper investigates cost effectiveness on the use of rainwater tanks for Australian residential environment. Seven cities are examined in this paper, including Gold Coast, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra. Cost for installing and operating rainwater tanks and cost from alternative water sources including building additional dams and desalination plants are compared. It is found that using rainwater is an economical option for households in Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Sydney. Recommendations of suitable tank sizes for different household environments are also proposed.
... Results demonstrate that the installation of high water efficiency washing machines could save around 7 % of total household consumption. Low flow shower heads are another popular water efficient device that has been widely adopted in the last five years or so (Turner et al. 2007). Measured shower flow rates from each home were clustered into three efficiency categories that corresponded to the Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (WELS) definitions, where low or standard non-efficient heads use 15 to 25 + litres per minute (L/min), medium shower heads consume 9 to 15 L/min and high efficiency shower heads can use less than 7 L/min. ...
... and without deta iled consideration of a ll a lternatives (including demand-side options), is inconsistent with the planning and design mechanisms under the Integrated Resource Planning framework – and will not lead to cost-effective outcomes for the community. For example, analysis undertaken by the Institute for Susta inable Futures and Cardno (Turner et. al. 2007) for the Council of Mayors indicated th a t the increase in yield due to Traveston Dam would only be needed, on average, after 2030 – and th at, consequently, would be a very costly option to construct today. ...
... Even using the Government's untested assumptions about t he community's aversion to restrictions, subsequent ana lysis undertaken by the Institute for Susta inable Futures and Cardno indicated th at a suite of demand and supply side options has the potentia l to save over 180 GL/a of water by 2050 at an average unit cost of $1.15. In comparison, the Traveston Crossing scheme will supply approximately 150 GL/a by 2050 (Turner et al 2007). Although full assessment of socia l and environmenta l impacts (through an environmenta l impact assessment, including as required under th e EPBC Act) has yet to commence, t he Traveston Dam decisions have progressed significantly. ...
In response to one of the most severe and extensive droughts in recent history, water restrictions h ave been imposed across an unprecedented number of urban areas across Australia. Both in terms of drought responses and longer-term planning, in some situations the decision space has been portrayed as a polarised "restrictions vs infrastructure" trade-off, with restrictions of any nature widely portrayed as inherently limiting personal freedom and rights. Yet th is apparently libertarian rhetoric not been matched by the reality of decision-making during th is drought. Drawing on extensive work conducted across Austra li a by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, th is paper critica lly examines the influence of the following issues on decisions and the direct, indirect and externality costs of water supply: • Community engagement strategies • Publicly ava ilable and transparently communicated information • Reliance and emphasis on quantita tive dollar estimates of impacts and risks Th is paper also discusses practical applications of an emerging deliberative framework for involving the community in decision-making processes wh ich h ave profound implications for sustainable urban water futures.
... That review (Turner et al 2007) concluded that the dam, which has been proposed for the express purpose of meeting a deficit in the supply-demand balance, would not be required until after 2030, using the Queensland Government's own revised estimates for the yield from the water supply system. The Queensland Government had previously reduced their yield estimate from 635,000 ML/year to 450,000 ML/year, primarily due to a re-writing of rules on future water restrictions to significantly reduce their frequency and depth. ...
... In addition to this failure in the decision-making process, the choice of the Traveston Crossing dam as the next major supply source for meeting the supply-demand balance after 2030 has not been based on a consideration of the potential of the full suite of demand-side and supply-side options. The review concluded that, while the Traveston Crossing dam would supply water at a unit cost of more than $3/kL, a suite of demand management measures would provide a greater yield (190,000 ML/year compared to 150,000 ML/year) and at an average unit cost of $1.15/kL (Turner et al 2007). ...
This paper considers the way in which pricing and decision-making processes in the Australian electricity, road transport and water sectors seek to balance multiple objectives. Specifically, it examines the ways in which the principles of National Competition Policy and the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability are addressed in specific decisions about energy, transport and water infrastructure. In the electricity sector, we consider the planned roll out of smart meters and decisions on retail price regulation in NSW. We also consider emissions trading proposals affecting the electricity and transport sectors and the existence of energy and transport subsidies amounting to billions of dollars per year. Finally, we consider recent water planning decisions in South-East Queensland and Sydney. Despite a rhetorical commitment to principles of cost-reflective pricing and market efficiency by Australian governments, the primary objective in many of the cases considered appears to be political self-interest. Least cost options, environmental outcomes and social justice are rarely given the attention they deserve and systematic failures in decision-making processes are evident. We suggest ways to move towards sustainability pricing and decision-making by making prices more cost-reflective, adopting specific actions to address social justice concerns, using representative, deliberative processes to engage the community in decision-making and undertaking comprehensive sustainability assessments in the electricity, road transport and water sectors.
In 2008, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) commissioned the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) to undertake a study on the energy implications of emerging distributed water service infrastructure in Australia. The study, termed the Water Energy Nexus, was commissioned after ISF and CSIRO identified a gap in knowledge regarding the energy aspects of water service infrastructure and specifically the growing need to understand the energy implications of new water infrastructure currently being planned and built in Australia.
Since the post-positivist turn in the 20th century, many scholars and philosophers have argued for the importance of Other Ways Of Knowing - including local, embodied, situated, partial, and indigenous knowledges - in developing a better understanding of the world. This argument has been further stressed by a large subset of scholars working in the fields of geography, policy, planning, natural resource management, and community development, yet in practice, positivism retains its epistemological dominance. Drawing from a case study of a dam proposal at Traveston Crossing, Queensland, Australia, this paper will explore these epistemological tensions from the perspective of those whose first/primary ways of knowing about the issue were marginalised, namely the local activists who opposed the proposal. Using data gathered from document analysis and interviews, the paper will explore how these activists implicitly understood this epistemological marginalisation, how they adopted and employed positivist knowledge and language to further the exposure and credibility of their campaign, how this credibility was mediated by their identities, how they strategically deployed different forms of knowledge at local, national, and international scales, and how their successful navigation of these epistemological tensions was critical to the ultimate success of their campaign.
The Urban Water Security Research Alliance (UWSRA) is a $50 million partnership over five years between the Queensland Government, CSIRO's Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Griffith University and The University of Queensland. The Alliance has been formed to address South East Queensland's emerging urban water issues with a focus on water security and recycling. The program will bring new research capacity to South East Queensland tailored to tackling existing and anticipated future issues to inform the implementation of the Water Strategy. For more information about the: UWSRA-visit http://www.urbanwateralliance.org.au/ Queensland Government-visit http://www.qld.gov.au/ Water for a Healthy Country Flagship-visit www.csiro.au/org/HealthyCountry.html The University of Queensland-visit http://www.uq.edu.au/ Griffith University-visit http://www.griffith.edu.au/ Enquiries should be addressed to:
Institute for Sustainable Futures UTS 2007 i Summary In February 2007, the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) and Cardno Australia released a Review of Water Supply-Demand Options for South East Queensland (the Review). The Review was submitted to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport (RRAT) Committee Inquiry into Additional Water Supplies for South East Queensland. The key finding of the ISF/Cardno Review is that Traveston Crossing Dam will not be useful to provide water security in the current drought and is unnecessary to ensure water security for South East Queensland after the drought and for decades to come. The suite of supply and demand options – excluding Traveston Dam – which are currently being implemented as part of the South East Queensland Regional Water Supply Strategy (SEQRWSS) are sufficient to ensure the supply-demand balance to around 2030. For the period 2030-2050, ISF/Cardno suggest a number of enhanced demand management programs that will maintain the supply-demand balance to 2050. The demand management measures suggested by ISF/Cardno are more cost effective than Traveston Dam (in terms of $ per kilolitre) and perform significantly better than Traveston Dam when assessed on social and environmental criteria including greenhouse impact. In the event that a period of water scarcity worse than the current drought occurs, ISF/Cardno propose that a 'readiness' strategy be adopted whereby water supply projects with relatively short construction and delivery times are planned and approved but only built if and when absolutely necessary to defer a crisis in water supplies. This strategy avoids investing in infrastructure that may not be needed. This represents a lower cost strategy than building capital works pre-emptively. It is important to note that the water supply projects outlined in the ISF/Cardno Review are suggestions of appropriate 'readiness' options. ISF/Cardno do not propose that these supply options be included in the supply-demand strategy for South East Queensland for pre-emptive construction.
Providing a secure water supply for future population growth that accommodates climate change is a high priority of governments. Moreover, investing in such costly infrastructure must meet obligations for economic, social and environmental sustainability and high standards of governance. In this research, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability framework is used to assess alternative water supply options proposed in the 2009 draft South East Queensland (SEQ) Water Strategy. While it has become the norm for large companies to use the GRI to report on progress using economic, social and environmental sustainability indicators, this paper investigates the applicability of the GRI 2005 Public Agency Supplement designed for use by governments. By including indicators about public policy disclosures, efficiency and effectiveness, governments can be called to account for decision-making that affects future generations. The results illustrate the value of the GRI approach as a basis for improving transparency in governance and decision-making to achieve sustainability performance in water source options.
