assessing the water sensitive performance

Water Sensitive Cities Benchmarking and Transitions Assessment - Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation, New South Wales 1

ASSESSING THE WATER SENSITIVE PERFORMANCE FOR THE ILLAWARRA SHOALHAVEN REGION, NEW SOUTH WALES

Water Sensitive Cities Benchmarking and Transitions Assessment - Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation, New South Wales 1-1

Water Sensitive Cities Benchmarking and Transitions Assessment Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation, New South Wales

Authors Fiona Chandler, Jan Orton, Jonathan, Ho Liam Nicholson, Katie Hammer,

© 2015 Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities

This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of it may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction rights should be directed to the publisher.

Publisher

Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities Level 1, 8 Scenic Blvd, Clayton Campus Monash University Clayton, VIC 3800 p. +61 3 9902 4985 e. [email protected] w. www.watersensitivecities.org.au

Date of publication: October 2020

Citation

Chandler, F., Orton, J., Ho, J., Nicholson, L. and Hammer, K., (2020). Water Sensitive Cities Benchmarking and Assessment: Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation, New South Wales. Melbourne, Australia: Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Statement

The authors and the Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation would like to show their respect and acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Land, of Elders past, present and emerging. We respect and recognise their strong connection to land and water and acknowledge the continuing importance to the future management of these resources.


SUMMARY

The Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation (ISJO) have assessed and benchmarked their water sensitive performance and that of their member local government areas (LGA) of:

• Kiama Municipal Council

• Shellharbour City Council

• Shoalhaven City Council

• Wollongong City Council

Using the Water Sensitive Cities Index developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC), the benchmarking results were determined through four interactive, online workshops held over two days (22nd and 24th of September 2020) and facilitated by Alluvium Consulting Australia and Mosaic Insights.

In addition to Council and ISJO representatives, the workshop included representatives from Sydney Water Corporation and the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

This report provides a summary of the benchmarking results along with high level recommendations that could strengthen their water sensitive city performance and inform future strategic directions.

Water sensitive city benchmarking

The city-state benchmarking results for the ISJO region and four member LGAs are provided in Figure 1. The LGAs and the ISJO achieved a range of 25% - 50% attainment of Water Cycle City-state and 5% - 14% attainment of a Water Sensitive City-state. These results demonstrate there is already a degree of progress towards delivering a water sensitive future for the Illawarra-Shoalhaven community.

Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation

Kiama Municipality Shellharbour City

Shoalhaven City Wollongong City

Figure 1. City-state benchmarking results for ISJO member LGAs


The benchmarking results for ISJO and LGAs against the seven goals of a Water Sensitive City are provided in Figure 2. The dashed blue line indicates the performance needed to achieve a Water Cycle City-state with actual benchmarked performance shown as the light blue shaded area.

The results show that:

1. The goal of Achieve equity of essential services is exceeded across the board.

2. For most LGAs and the ISJO the goals; Good governance, increase community capital and Promote adaptive infrastructure closely align with the Water Cycle City-state benchmark which is a positive progression towards a Water Sensitive City.

3. Goals that require further improvement to achieve the Water Cycle City and ultimately a Water Sensitive City-state include Improve ecological health, ensure quality urban space, improve productivity and resource efficiency.

Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation

Kiama Municipality Shellharbour City

Shoalhaven City Wollongong City

Figure 2. Benchmarking results against the seven goals of a water sensitive city.


Priority regional transition strategies

The water sensitive city benchmarking and analysis of the enabling environment provides a wholistic picture of where progress across the region is being made towards becoming more water sensitive as well as where there are opportunities to continue to proactively and collaboratively steer towards the regions vision.

The ‘Enabling Water Sensitive Communities in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region’ program provides a critical opportunity and platform to pursue the following priority transition initiatives:

1. Develop a shared water sensitive vision and desired strategic outcomes for the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and use this shared vision to inform the development of:

a. a new regional integrated water / water sensitive communities’ policy

b. a suite of clear and regionally consistent messages that communicate the social, environmental, cultural, and economic benefits water provides to the local community

c. a business case that can underpin future funding and resource decision-making.

2. Formalise the Water Sensitive Cities Working Group (established

to support the ‘Enabling Water Sensitive Communities in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region’ program) to provide a collaborative mechanism to continue to prioritise and scope key initiatives. Explore the inclusion of:

a. a rolling senior executive to chair the group to build senior champions and executive level support

b. representatives from external agencies including Sydney Water, DPIE, urban development sector and Traditional Owner groups to enable greater collaboration and ownership of regional initiatives.

3. Review lessons from existing green infrastructure and WSUD projects completed to date (including pilot projects) to better

understand the social, environmental, cultural and economic costs and benefits. Use this information to:

a. build a culture of learning and continual improvement (i.e. adaptive management),

b. enhance guidance / supporting material for future projects c. support business cases for innovation and transitioning

from pilot projects and demonstration to core business.


Contents

1. Introduction 2

Context 2 Enabling Water Sensitive Communities in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region 2

Approach to benchmarking the water sensitive city performance of the ISJO 3

2. What is the Water Sensitive Cities Index? 4

City-state Benchmarking 4 Characteristics of the city-states 5 Interpreting WSC Index scores 6

Water Sensitive City Goals 6

3. Measuring progress towards a water sensitive city – using the transition dynamics framework 7

4. Results and opportunities for strengthening progress towards a water sensitive city 8

ISJO’s Water Sensitive City Goals 9 Goal 1. Good water sensitive governance (Score – 2.8) 11

Summary justification for the score: 11 Summary of opportunities 11 Summary of justification 11 Summary of opportunities 11

Goal 3. Achieve equity of essential services (Score – 4.0) 12 Summary of justification 12 Summary of opportunities 12

Goal 4. Improve productivity and resource efficiency (Score – 2.4) 12 Summary of justification 12 Summary of opportunities 12

Goal 5. Improve ecological health (Score – 3.1) 13 Summary of justification 13 Summary of opportunities 13

Goal 6. Ensure quality urban space (Score – 2.2) 14 Summary of justification 14 Summary of opportunities 14

Goal 7. Promote adaptive infrastructure (Score – 2.5) 14 Summary of opportunities 14 Summary of enabling opportunities 16

Priority regional transition strategies 17


Kiama Municipal Council 18 City-state benchmarking 18 Kiama’s Water Sensitive City Goals 18 City-state benchmarking 22 Shellharbour’s Water Sensitive City Goals 22

Shoalhaven City Council 26 City-state benchmarking 26 Shoalhaven’s Water Sensitive City Goals 26

Wollongong City Council 30 City-state benchmarking 30 Wollongong’s Water Sensitive City Goals 30

5. References 34

Appendix A – Benchmarking participation 35

Online survey responses 35 Benchmarking Workshop Participants 35

Appendix B – Workshop Agenda 36


1. Introduction

Context The Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation (ISJO) consists of four member councils:




• Wollongong City Council.

It encompasses a combined area that spans 5,800 km2 with a population of approximately 404,000. The ISJO facilitates collaboration between councils and the NSW government to develop a shared vision for the region. It was one of five Joint Organisations piloted in NSW in 2015 and was formally established on 1 July 2018.

The core functions of the ISJO include:

• Regional strategic planning.

• Inter-government collaboration at state, federal and local levels.

• Regional leadership and advocacy on behalf of councils and community.

The ISJO also functions to provide services directly to communities and supports member councils in their ability to provide services by enhancing their strategic capacity.

The ISJO is supported by the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Regional Plan 2036, which aims to guide the region to ecologically sustainable development and economic growth into the future. The Plan’s vision is for a sustainable future and a resilient community, capable of adapting to changing economic, social, and environmental circumstances. This Plan is being reviewed and, at time of writing this report, is on public exhibition.

To help to achieve its vision, ISJO and its member councils are aiming to become more water sensitive.

Enabling Water Sensitive Communities in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region

In 2019, the ISJO received a grant from the NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment to implement the two-year regional program Enabling Water Sensitive Communities. The ISJO’s Water Sensitive Communities program forms a critical component of managing growth in the region in a sustainable, resilient, and productive way while delivering liveability (including urban heat) outcomes for its member council’s communities. It aims to ensure coordination and collaboration to support the effective and efficient use of resources and build collective capacity across and between the various organisations to enable strong leadership and guidance to industry.

It is focussed on:

• increasing the uptake and success of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) systems across the newly urbanising areas of the region to mitigate the negative effects of stormwater pollution that come from development in catchments

• developing a regional WSUD Policy

• building the capacity of Council staff in the planning, implementation,

and management of WSUD systems.

What is a Water Sensitive City?

In Australia, the vision of the water sensitive city is widely used to represent a state where water is central in the planning and design of a city or urban place. Typically, a water sensitive city has:

1. a mix of innovative centralised, decentralised, and distributed fit-for-purpose water supply and reuse systems

2. urban design and green infrastructure that supports human and ecosystem wellbeing, providing environmental, economic, and social benefits

3. government, business, and community able and active in working together to make plans, designs and decisions that are water sensitive.

https://watersensitivecities.org.au/what-is-a-water-sensitive-city/


Approach to benchmarking the water sensitive city performance of the ISJO The ISJO engaged Alluvium Consulting and Mosaic Insights to benchmark the current water sensitive cities performance using the Water Sensitive Cities Index (WSC Index). The WSC Index was developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC) to determine priorities for a transition to a more water sensitive region.

The benchmarking process (Figure 3) uses a participatory process that aims to include as wide an audience as possible. A briefing for all participants was held by online webinar on the 1st of September 2020 to provide background on key water sensitive city principles and to explain how the benchmarking process would run. A copy of the briefing was available online following the live briefing (https://youtu.be/kzerPspLwVE). 41 participants joined the online briefing or attended in person.

Online surveys to collect preliminary scoring and evidence to inform and support the benchmarking process during the workshops were distributed. Twenty-two responses were received (Appendix A).

Four benchmarking workshops where held (online) over two days (22nd and 24th of September 2020).

Figure 3. WSC Index virtual benchmarking process

In addition to council and ISJO representatives, the workshop included representatives from Sydney Water Corporation and The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

A list of all participants is provided in Appendix A and a copy of the benchmarking workshop agenda in Appendix B.

During the benchmarking workshop, the WSC Index scores were determined using four steps:

1. Review of the combined organisations’ preliminary scores from the online survey.

2. Discussions to gauge individual participants’ perspectives on the score for the indicator in question.

3. Interactive discussion to uncover evidence and justification to inform a final indicator score.

4. Consensus was reached amongst the participants on the final score assigned along with a level of confidence in the final score as determined by participants (that is High, Medium, or Low confidence). Some of these discussions were held in small break out room to enable a single organisation to discuss their results.

Each of the 34 indicators (shown in Table 1) were scored on a 1-5 rating scale in a collaborative workshop process.

Following the benchmarking of current water sensitive performance, a transitions analysis for the ISJO was conducted using the CRCWSC’s Transition Dynamics Framework (TDF). The analysis was completed in collaboration with the ISJO and representatives from each LGA working with ISJO on the Enabling Water Sensitive Communities project. This TDF analyses the enabling environment, and the conditions that need to be established to overcome current barriers to progressing towards a more water sensitive city (see Section 3).

Using the WSC benchmarking results and the TDF analysis, we have identified a number of opportunities for strengthening water sensitive city performance for each goal and some high priority strategies that will support a transition towards a Water Sensitive City for the ISJO.

3. Scoring session 1 Score Goals 6, 1 and 7 (3hrs) in two workshops

5. Present results Results and transition dynamics framework

4. Scoring session 2 Score Goals 2, 3, 4 and 5 (3hrs) in two workshops

2. Participant surveys Preliminary scoring and evidence collection

1. Initial briefing WSC Index background and process (1 hr)

2 w

eeks

https://youtu.be/kzerPspLwVE


2. What is the Water Sensitive Cities Index?

City-state Benchmarking Ensuring communities are ecologically sustainable, liveable, resilient, and productive into the future requires a detailed understanding of the current performance in relation to their aspirations (Hammer, 2018). The CRCWSC’s WSC Index is a tool designed to assess the current performance against the seven goals of a water sensitive city.

The seven goals are measured through indicators that represent the major attributes of a WSC (Table 1). The indicators are mapped to the idealised city-states represented in the Urban Water Transitions Framework (Figure 4) to provide a benchmarked city-state.

The Urban Water Transitions Framework identifies the changing socio-political drivers and service delivery functions as six distinct developmental states that cities may fulfil in response to their community’s expanding objectives for urban water management. The city-state benchmarking provides the first layer of analysis, based on a subset of all indicators, that are rated above or equal to the threshold values associated with each idealised city-state.

The WSC Index supports the diagnosis of key areas of organisational strength and weakness. These insights then inform the prioritisation of actions and provide a framework for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of a city’s water sensitive performance.

Figure 4. Urban Water Transitions Framework

The Water Sensitive Cities Index:

• describes key attributes of a water sensitive city

• defines the shared goals of a water sensitive city

• benchmarks water sensitive performance

• measures the progress and direction towards achieving water sensitive city goals

• assists decision-makers to prioritise actions, define responsibility and promote accountability for water-related practices.


Characteristics of the city-states The characteristics of each city-state along the Urban Water Transitions Framework (Figure 4) (Brown, 2016) are outlined below to provide context to the benchmarking scores for each LGA and ISJO.

Water Supply and Sewered City

The Water Supply and Sewered City-states describe the degree of safe, reliable, and equitable access to basic water and sewerage infrastructure in a city. This benchmarking tool was designed to be applicable to all cities including those in developing countries where adequate sanitation and clean water supplies may not be available. These states do not consider the state of maintenance or environmental impacts of the systems, focusing solely on equitable access.

Drained City

The Drained City-state analyses the current water drainage infrastructure and its ability to mitigate flood impacts. This is achieved through conventional conveyance methods including open channels and pipe networks discharging to catchment outlets. This city-state does not consider the environmental or economic impacts of stormwater pollution, erosion, or maintenance. This city-state focuses on the equitable access to flood protection.

Waterway City (Brown, 2016)

The Waterway City provides social amenity and environmental protections through water management to support environmental health, stormwater quality/WSUD, river water quality, connectivity of blue/green assets and community connection to natural areas.

It is important to note that the Waterway City-state is the first of which social amenity and environmental concerns are considered. Traditional water supply and wastewater management focused solely on delivery of services regardless of any deleterious effects on waterways and other environmental factors. As such, scores for the Waterway City are influenced not only by current pollutant management but also a range of socio-political indicators and broader water management practices such as fit-for purpose water supplies.

Water Cycle City

The Water Cycle City transitions from the Waterway City by focusing more on the whole-of-water cycle approach, taking into account collaboration across organisations and stakeholders, community literacy of the entire water cycle and opportunities for engaged and active citizens, resource recovery (including water recycling) and potable water demand, and economic and business opportunities.

Water Sensitive City

Indicators affecting this city-state represent universal planning and adoption of all water sensitive elements, particularly in the case of the multiple social and environmental aspects that are outside the scope of most current processes globally.


Interpreting WSC Index scores The city-state benchmarking and water sensitive city goals are used to interpret the WSC Index scores.

Water Sensitive City Goals

The seven goals of a water sensitive city are:

1. Ensure good water sensitive governance.

2. Increase community capital.

3. Achieve equity of essential services.

4. Improve productivity and resource efficiency.

5. Improve ecological health.

6. Ensure quality urban space.

7. Promote adaptive infrastructure.

Each goal has its own set of indicators (Table 1). Some of these goals may represent collaboration with organisations outside of councils’ and ISJO’s core responsibility e.g. Sydney Water and Shoalhaven Water. These relationships are accounted for during the benchmarking process.

Table 1. WSC Index goals and indicators.

1. Good governance

1.1 Knowledge, skills, and organisation capacity

1.2 Water is a key element in city planning and design

1.3 Cross-sector institutional arrangements and processes

1.4 Public engagement, participation, and transparency

1.5 Leadership, long-term vision, and commitment

1.6 Water resourcing and funding to deliver broad societal value

1.7 Equitable representation of perspectives

2. Increase community capital

2.1 Water literacy

2.2 Connection with water

2.3 Shared ownership, management, and responsibility of water assets

2.4 Community preparedness and response to extreme events

2.5 Indigenous involvement in water planning

3. Achieve equity of essential services

3.1 Equitable access to safe and secure water supply

3.2 Equitable access to safe and reliable sanitation

3.3 Equitable access to flood protection

3.4 Equitable and affordable access to amenity values of water-related assets

4. Improve productivity and resource efficiency

4.1 Benefits across other sectors because of water related services

4.2 Low GHG emissions in water sector

4.3 Low end-user potable water demand

4.4 Water-related economic and commercial opportunities

4.5 Maximised resource recovery

5. Improve ecological health

5.1 Healthy and biodiverse habitats

5.2 Surface water quality and flows

5.3 Groundwater quality and replenishment

5.4 Protect existing areas of high ecological value

6. Ensure quality urban space

6.1 Activating connected urban green and blue space

6.2 Urban elements functioning as part of the urban water system

6.3 Vegetation coverage

7. Promote adaptive infrastructure

7.1 Diverse fit-for-purpose water supply

7.2 Multi-functional water system infrastructure

7.3 Integration and intelligent control

7.4 Robust infrastructure

7.5 Infrastructure and ownership at multiple scales

7.6 Adequate maintenance


3. Measuring progress towards a water sensitive city – using the transition dynamics framework

The ISJO’s transition towards a water sensitive city will require significant changes across the structures, cultures and practices of urban and water system planning, design, management, engagement, and decision-making.

These changes are likely to happen over a long timeframe, in the order of decades, as new water sensitive practices are established and replace old, established practices. CRCWSC research has identified water sensitive transitions unfold over six phases (Figure 5Error! Reference source not found.): (1) an issue with old practice emerges and (2) becomes more defined; people develop (3) shared understanding and agreement about the issue; (4) knowledge about solutions is disseminated; and new solutions are (5) diffused through policy and practice, eventually becoming (6) embedded as new mainstream practice.

Figure 5. Six phases of change during the transition to a new practice (Source: Brown et al, 2017)

The CRCWSC’s Transition Dynamics Framework sets out five factors (enabling factors) that help progress through these phases of transition:

1. champions,

2. platforms for connecting,

3. science and knowledge,

4. projects and applications, and

5. practical and administrative tools.

Together, these five factors create an enabling environment for accelerating a water sensitive transition.

Building the momentum for transition will require a diverse range of strategies and actions that progressively establish these enabling conditions. Strategies and actions with the most impact during the early phases of transition will be different from those during the later phases. It is critical to identify where a community or city sits with respect to its current transition state. This will ensure that actions are prioritised according to their effectiveness in accelerating the community or city towards their vision towards a WSC.


4. Results and opportunities for strengthening progress towards a water sensitive city

The following sections outline a summary of the performance against each WSC goal for:

• ISJO




• Wollongong City Council.

Progress towards attaining each city-state is based on the results and key findings obtained during the surveys and benchmarking workshops.

While a Water Sensitive City-state represents the highest possible score in every goal, delivering a direct comparison to a Water Sensitive City-state at this stage would not provide any nuanced information about key indicators and goals to prioritise and target as it is a conceptual and aspirational state.

As a result, performance has been compared against the Waterway City-state. This is the best City-state to highlight gaps and identify recommendations for progressing towards a Water Sensitive City-state.

The notes for each organisation, including justification of each of the scores can be accessed via the WSC Index web platform.

We have also provided a high-level summary of the assessment of the transition dynamic framework including the presence or absence of the enabling factors for the ISJO as a region.

It is the enabling factors that will be crucial for a transition to a water sensitive city and that will assist ISJO progress with each of the water sensitive city goals.

Recommended strategies for advancing the water sensitive transition in the Illawarra Shoalhaven region as a whole have been identified.


Illawarra-Shoalhaven region (combined Council area of ISJO)

This section presents a summary of the results and key findings obtained from the survey and during the benchmarking workshop. Detailed notes, including justification of each of the score can be accessed via the WSC Index web platform.

City-state benchmarking

Figure 6 summarises the city-state benchmarking results for ISJO, which interprets the scores for each of the 34 indicators (Table 1) against the modelled requirements for the six phases of the Urban Water Transitions Framework. Percentage attainment for each city-state ranged from 100% as a Water Supply City and Sewered City through to 8% as a Water Sensitive City.

Figure 6. Summary of ISJO’s performance against the ideal measures for each city-state.

ISJO’s Water Sensitive City Goals

Figure 7 outlines ISJO’s results for the WSC Index goals. The individual scores for each of the indicators are provided in Table 2. These results are shown against the desired scores of a Water Cycle City-state (blue dashed line). The actual benchmarking results for ISJO are identified as the shaded blue area.

From these results, the following goals closely align with the Water Cycle City state and are progressing towards a Water Sensitive City.

• Good water sensitive governance

• Achieve equity of essential services.

The remaining goals require improvement to achieve the Water Cycle City-state:

• Increase community capital

• Improve productivity and resource efficiency.

• Improve ecological health

• Ensure quality urban space

• Promote adaptive infrastructure.

Areas that could be strengthened to support further progress towards a water sensitive city are described below. Indicators that scored at or above the Water Cycle City metric or do not affect Water Cycle/Water Sensitive City scores have not been discussed in this report.


Figure 7. ISJO performance (shaded area) for the seven WSC Index goals compared to the idealised Water Cycle City (dashed line).

Table 2. WSC Index scores (goals and indicators) for the ISJO

1. Good governance 2.8

1.1 Knowledge, skills, and organisation capacity 2.5

1.2 Water is a key element in city planning and design 3.0

1.3 Cross-sector institutional arrangements and processes 2.5

1.4 Public engagement, participation, and transparency 3.0

1.5 Leadership, long-term vision, and commitment 3.0

1.6 Water resourcing and funding to deliver broad societal value 3.0

1.7 Equitable representation of perspectives 2.5

2. Increase community capital 2.7

2.1 Water literacy 3.0

2.2 Connection with water 3.0

2.3 Shared ownership, management, and responsibility of water assets 2.5

2.4 Community preparedness and response to extreme events 3.0

2.5 Indigenous involvement in water planning 2.0

3. Achieve equity of essential services 4.0

3.1 Equitable access to safe and secure water supply 5.0

3.2 Equitable access to safe and reliable sanitation 4.5

3.3 Equitable access to flood protection 3.0

3.4 Equitable and affordable access to amenity values of water-related assets 3.5

4. Improve productivity and resource efficiency 2.4

4.1 Benefits across other sectors because of water related services 2.0

4.2 Low GHG emissions in water sector 2.0

4.3 Low end-user potable water demand 3.0

4.4 Water-related economic and commercial opportunities 2.5

4.5 Maximised resource recovery 2.5

5. Improve ecological health 3.1

5.1 Healthy and biodiverse habitats 3.0

5.2 Surface water quality and flows 3.0

5.3 Groundwater quality and replenishment 2.5

5.4 Protect existing areas of high ecological value 4.0

6. Ensure quality urban space 2.2

6.1 Activating connected urban green and blue space 3.0

6.2 Urban elements functioning as part of the urban water system 2.0

6.3 Vegetation coverage 1.5

7. Promote adaptive infrastructure 2.5

7.1 Diverse fit-for-purpose water supply 2.5

7.2 Multi-functional water system infrastructure 2.5

7.3 Integration and intelligent control 2.0

7.4 Robust infrastructure 3.0

7.5 Infrastructure and ownership at multiple scales 2.5

7.6 Adequate maintenance 2.5


Goal 1. Good water sensitive governance (Score – 2.8)

Summary justification for the score:

• There is limited collaboration between water authorities, regional and state government agencies, and Councils.

• Citizens are engaged and informed.

• Member councils have strong advocates and champions within their organisations who are willing to push for change, however they are not always supported by the organisation.

• Water sensitive planning lacks a holistic approach that considers the full water cycle and the region.

• Water-related resourcing or funding is often not considered or is allocated on ad hoc basis.

• There are polices and strategies with a strong emphasis on inclusivism, equitable decision-making, and diversity, however, it is not clear how successful these are in practice.

Summary of opportunities

• Build a shared vision and/or strategic outcomes for a water sensitive Illawarra Shoalhaven region that can underpin the development and dissemination of clear and consistent messaging across the urban development sector and local community.

• Map the alignment between the shared region-wide vision and outcomes with individual and team level implementation plans (Delivery Plan and Operational Plan) for each member council to establish a shared understanding of the multiple benefits water provides to the region.

• Build cooperation and collaboration between councils and external agencies, particularly building a stronger connection with Sydney Water and Shoalhaven Water to promote an integrated water approach and with the aim to share knowledge and improve collaboration on projects and ensure strategic alignment.

• Formalise and continue to build and resource a regional water sensitive cities program and oversight group to develop and prioritise shared directions, build individual and collective capacity for WSC, and share

resources and knowledge around water including strategies, policy, demonstrations, tools and training programs.

• Demonstrate (e.g. through case studies or guidance material) the benefits water can contribute to other land use, place-based and asset planning outcomes (beyond drainage and water supply areas) such as liveability, connectivity, and urban cooling.

Goal 2. Increase community capital (Score – 2.7)

Summary of justification

• There is overall good community water literacy. Educational material is distributed by Sydney Water and how they work with councils.

• Several Landcare groups and community-based organisations are involved in a broad range of environmental activities and are active across the region.

• Member councils generally have a strong focus on community engagement and communities in the region have moderate-good water literacy and awareness especially in relation to extreme events.

• Member councils broadly consult with First Nations communities, however, not effectively with regards to water.

• DPIE is currently writing a regional water policy which is detailed and includes formal consultation with First Nations. There are systems in place to ensure input.


• Develop a suite of common messages and resources that will enable the dissemination of consistent communication across the region and that promotes the multiple benefits of water to the community e.g. reducing urban heat and improving water quality in waterways and along the coast.

• Support existing programs that educate and engage the community to become water sensitive and aware of their impacts on environmental and waterway health, such as stormwater pollution, e.g. through workshops, school programs and demonstration projects (rain gardens, wetlands with interpretative messaging).


• Review opportunities for the community to actively participate in planning and decision-making around water by promoting co-design and collaborative engagement process early in a project’s life,

• Share lessons and successful approaches to community engagement that will promote positive outcomes and link programs across the region.

Goal 3. Achieve equity of essential services (Score – 4.0)


• Most residents across the region have affordable and equitable access to safe and secure drinking water and sewerage connections, with some rural communities utilising on site wastewater systems.

• Baseload water is supplied from Sydney Water (Wollongong, Shellharbour, and Kiama LGAs) and Shoalhaven Water.

• Floodplain management and mitigation plans and programs are ongoing. Some disruptions to lifestyles are experienced during heavy rainfall events. The essential and emergency services work well together but the community is generally not well prepared for flooding.


• Improve flood management, preparedness and resilience through better community access and understanding of the extreme events likely to affect the region with a focus on areas of increasing flood risk. This includes accurately determining the level of understanding of response protocol of the community through awareness programs and surveys.

• Improved risk assessments, standards, and education for considering new urban developments on floodplains. Mitigating impacts and improving safety for existing floodplain developments.

• Monitor onsite waste and water systems in urban release areas and identify opportunities for connection to the centralised system where appropriate.

• Continue to prioritise and target high risk catchments to review and update drainage plans that also consider broader catchment-scale outcomes including water quality and ecosystem health, blue (water), green (vegetated open space) and yellow (beach and coastlines)

corridors that enhance connectivity and walkability, and identifies opportunities for alternative water use (e.g. through stormwater harvesting for local irrigation).

Goal 4. Improve productivity and resource efficiency (Score – 2.4)


• There are a handful of examples or recycled water reuse, notably the Reclaimed Water Management Scheme (REMS). There is scope for expanding the use of recycled water across the region.

• Solar is used for pump stations and Green House Gas offsets are being actively considered.

• BASIX (NSW Building Sustainability Index) a sustainable planning measure aimed at reducing water and energy consumption in homes across NSW is being applied across the region. It applies to all residential dwelling types and is part of the development application process in NSW.

• Natural waterway assets support tourism and aquaculture in the region.


• Seek to mainstream WSUD and broader WSC principles into infill or brownfield and greenfield design and planning through improved development controls and planning outcomes. Elevate WSUD implementation from ad-hoc or opportunistic to a necessary component of all future development.

• Investigate various incentive programs that promote innovation and delivery of multiple water sensitive outcomes, these could include working collaboratively with Council and researchers and offset programs.

• Engage with community, tourism, commercial and industrial entities on water conservation and water stewardship initiatives through education and communication programs.

• Investigate opportunities to expand recycled water usage such as REMS.


• Adopt efficient fittings and transitioning to mixed, renewable energy sources such as solar installations across all Council assets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This includes providing incentive for the community to reduce individual greenhouse gas impacts through rebates or education.

Goal 5. Improve ecological health (Score – 3.1)


• There is a mix of habitat quality and health across the region. Riparian zones are largely protected and in good condition.

• Stormwater treatment assets have been constructed throughout the region; however, they are implemented opportunistically. There does not to appear to be a strategic approach to WSUD implementation or consistent guidelines, design standards and monitoring.

• Regional and state-level strategies and policies support biodiversity protection throughout the ISJO region, these include:

o The Illawarra Biodiversity Strategy developed by Kiama, Wollongong, and Shellharbour, and provides a coordinated regional approach to biodiversity conservation between the three councils. As result, mapping of ecological communities across these three LGAs is extensive and available.

o Part 3 of the State Environmental Planning Policy 2017 (SEPP Vegetation) states that a person must not remove or destroy vegetation in any non-rural area of the State without a permit granted by Council.

o The Water Management Act 2000 (NSW) regulates development activities carried out in proximity of waterways and water bodies, requiring controlled activity approvals for certain types of development.

o ISJO supports a weeds program and ISJO staff provide regional weed control and policy advice.


• Improve stormwater quality management through the Enabling Water Sensitive Communities Program:

o Establish a regional strategy and consistent approach initially for stormwater management but building to a whole-of-water cycle or water sensitive cities approach.

o Set policy and development controls to restrict the levels of connected impervious surfaces in new public and private developments.

o Share knowledge and lessons on WSUD implementation across the region.

o Expand the implementation of vegetated stormwater treatment assets, including bioretention, constructed wetlands, swales and street tree-pits and other biofilters.

• Link and promote local community-based groups (such as Landcare and local environment groups) with a regional WSC vision and environmental protection outcomes.

• Investigate opportunities to provide additional funding and support for on-ground community-led initiatives, including funded catchment and corridor maintenance programs, regional small grants programs and resource sharing.

• Develop a business case to support increased resourcing to ensure compliance with existing environmental protections and pursue more stringent requirements where threats to waterway, catchment and coastal health remain.

• Investigate opportunities for restoration or rehabilitation of historically degraded lands.

• Investigate groundwater-dependent ecosystems and impacts of extraction on local aquifers.


Goal 6. Ensure quality urban space (Score – 2.2)


• There is a mix of availability and connectivity of quality urban space across the region.

• There are some examples of strategic planning for urban greening and active transport connectivity.

• Urban canopy cover is generally low and new developments are perceived to not have space allocations for new trees or for replacement of existing remnant trees.

• Coastal zones and beaches provide important connections and corridors along the coast and provide a range of social and economic benefits to the community.

• Heat mitigation is not currently being considered.


• Continue to map and assess regional opportunities to provide quality green places with strategic placement and that can provide multiple WSC outcomes i.e. having water quality green infrastructure that provide visual amenity, mitigating urban heat, passive and active interactions.

• Investigate and prioritise active transport (walking and cycling) networks to link existing, high-value green spaces with urban and residential centres or enhance and extend existing blue-green-yellow corridors and linkages.

• Trial solutions to improve integration of green infrastructure into the urban landscape, such as through passively irrigated street trees, green roofs, green walls etc. Work with local councils to map and identify opportunities and priorities to increase canopy cover in urban areas. Investigate solutions to integrate street trees into the urban landscape and into new developments with consideration of safety, space constraints and maintenance, e.g. by providing a practical street tree design and maintenance guideline.

• Continue to explore and document the local and regional social, environment, cultural and economic benefits of vegetated open space and urban corridors

Goal 7. Promote adaptive infrastructure (Score – 2.5) Summary of justification

• There is some uptake of rainwater harvesting, however stormwater harvesting, and recycled water initiatives could be progressed further.

• There is some adoption of rainwater harvesting in commercial and industrial areas across the ISJO region.

• There is a lack of strategic push for expanding alternative water supplies and a heavy reliance on the centralised potable network. Efforts to expand and diversify water supplies are generally ad hoc and opportunistic rather than planned.

• The Illawarra-Shoalhaven Smart Water Management Project has been funded from the Federal Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs program. The program utilises smart technology systems and data analytics to respond to and improve stormwater management, water quality and flood mitigation. It provides the community access to information to improve safety during flash flood events.


• Investigate options to increase proportion of water supplied by alternative sources and work with Councils to develop targets and strategies to diversify water supplies.

• Continue to support rainwater harvesting and efficiency programs through BASIX.

• Consider approaches to water infrastructure design that integrates with the urban landscape, linking with open spaces and providing multiple benefits beyond drainage and stormwater management.

• Secure budget for proactive maintenance, redesign and placement for

aging and damaged green infrastructure and conventional stormwater

assets. Ensure clear guidance and knowledge of maintenance practices

are available and shared.


Assessment of enabling factors to support a transition to a water sensitive city within the ISJO

The CRCWSC’s Transition Dynamics Framework (TDF) was used as a diagnostic tool to assess the presence or absence of enabling factors. Enabling factors are indicators of progress towards ISJO’s aspired water sensitive practice.

The TDF provides a checklist of the enabling factors that should be deliberately and sequentially built up to inform the prioritisation of strategies and actions.

The overall transition progress assessment for ISJO (

Figure 8) suggests that significant advancements have been made towards its water sensitive vision. However, it is at risk of stagnation if critical enabling conditions are not established to shore up phase 2 (issue definition) and start pushing into phase 3 (shared understanding) and phase 4 (knowledge dissemination). An explanation and justification of the transition assessment is outlined in the following sections.

Figure 8. Overall assessment of the presence or absence of enabling factors to support ISJO’s transition process


Summary of enabling opportunities

Champions

• Enable and empower champions to support the ISJO and assist in communicating and implementing positive change towards a Water Sensitive City.

• Continue to work regionally with individual champions to share information and experiences around water.

• Investigate opportunities for key individuals to work across different parts of the organisation and external agencies to build capacity and capability across the water sector.

Platforms for connecting

• Formalise an inter-council and ISJO Water Working Group (or similar) that enables collaboration across the region and can provide advice and guidance on strategic priorities and identify opportunities and resources for their efficient implementation (e.g. through shared funding arrangements).

• Extend invitations to other external agencies and organisations such as Sydney Water, DPIE and Traditional Owners representative organisations to work with the Water Working Group on the development of a shared regional water sensitive vision / plan that builds a common understanding of policy and priorities needed to transition to a water sensitive city.

• Continue to develop formal and informal networks with research and development organisations to identify and promote opportunities for sharing learning and address key knowledge gaps.

• Integrate communications, celebrations, and engagement (with council, agencies, and community) into on ground works and demonstration projects.

Knowledge

• Articulate how a water sensitive approach can deliver on ISJO and individual Council aspirations (outlined in Regional Strategies, Community Strategic Plans and Local Strategic Planning Statements), including the business case to support implementation and maintenance.

• Prepare a common consistent clear communications plan to identify key messages around water sensitive cities to include in all reports, communications grant applications and community engagement activities.

• Develop water sensitive city knowledge and lessons across the region and within each Council on solutions and practices to common problems in the urban and peri urban areas.

• Work with key developers in the region on improving water sensitive city knowledge and outcomes.

• Develop a prioritised capacity building program for individuals and organisations.

Tools and Instruments

• Prepare a WSUD policy for new developments and for inclusion of Water Sensitive City design into all capital works.

• Develop guidelines for developers of large greenfield sites.

Projects and Applications

• Review lessons associated with existing green infrastructure and alternative water project completed to date to better understand the social, environmental, cultural, and economic costs and benefits, and use this information to develop guidance for future projects and initiatives.

• Continue to seek opportunities for integrating multiple water sensitive city principles into capital works projects and place-based urban renewal programs.


Priority regional transition strategies

The water sensitive city benchmarking and analysis of the enabling environment provides a wholistic picture of where progress across the region is being made towards becoming more water sensitive as well as where there are opportunities to continue to proactively and collaboratively steer towards the regions vision.

The ‘Enabling Water Sensitive Communities in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region’ program provides a critical opportunity and platform to pursue several priority transition initiatives. These priorities are identified below.

1. Develop a shared water sensitive vision and desired strategic outcomes for the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and use this shared vision to inform the development of:

a. a new regional integrated water / water sensitive cities policy

b. a suite of clear and regionally consistent messages that communicate the social, environmental, cultural, and economic benefits water provides to the local community

c. a busines case that can underpin future funding and resource decision-making.

2. Formalise the Water Sensitive Cities Working Group (established to support the ‘Enabling Water Sensitive Communities in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region’ program to provide a collaborative mechanism to continue to prioritise and scope key initiatives. Explore the inclusion of:

a. a rolling senior executive to chair the group to build senior champions and executive level support

b. representatives from external agencies including Sydney Water, DPIE, urban development sector and Traditional Owner groups to enable greater collaboration and ownership of regional initiatives.

3. Review lessons from existing green infrastructure and WSUD projects completed to date to better understand the social, environmental, cultural and economic costs and benefits and use this information to build a culture of learning and continual improvement (i.e. adaptive management), enhance guidance material for projects and support business cases for innovation and pilot projects.


Kiama Municipal Council


Figure 9 summarises the city-state benchmarking results for Kiama, which interprets the scores for each of the 34 indicators outlined in Table 1 against the modelled requirements for the six phases of the Urban Water Transitions Framework. Percentage attainment for each city-state ranged from 100% as a Water Supply City and Sewered City through to 10% as a Water Sensitive City.

Figure 9. Summary of Kiama’s performance against the ideal measures for each city-state.

Kiama’s Water Sensitive City Goals

Figure 10 outlines Kiama Municipal Council’s results for the WSC Index goals. The individual scores for each of the indicators are provided in Table 3. WSC Index scores (goals and indicators) for Kiama. These results are shown against the scores for each index of a Water Cycle City. The results for Kiama (shown by the shaded blue area) are compared to a Water Cycle City (the dashed blue line).

From these results, Kiama was found to exceed the Water Cycle City benchmark for the goal:

• Achieve equity of essential services

The following goals closely align with the Water Cycle City benchmark and are progressing towards a Water Sensitive City.




• Ensure good water sensitive governance




Some of these goal areas and areas that could be improved are described below. Indicators that scored at or above the Water Cycle City metric or do not affect Water Cycle/ Water Sensitive City scores have been excluded.


Figure 10. Kiama performance (shaded area) for the seven WSC Index goals compared to the idealised Water Cycle City (dashed line).

Table 3. WSC Index scores (goals and indicators) for Kiama











































Goal 1. Ensure good water sensitive governance (Score – 2.4)


• Council acknowledges the challenges of working across sectors and a culture of working in silos.

• Collaboration with Sydney Water is limited. Kiama is at the southern limit of the Sydney Water supply area and feels there has been a gradual decline in collaboration and extension services offered by SW in the LGA in recent years.

• Integrated water management planning lacks a holistic approach and there are significant barriers to stormwater harvesting, treatment, and re-use implementation.

• While there is a formal process for development applications, there is not a structure set up within Council and there is no collaboration with developers.



• Kiama has a number of active Landcare groups, community-based, grassroots organisations who are involved in a broad range of environmental activities.

• Council has plans in place to respond to extreme events and resources available, e.g. SES, however, community preparedness could be improved.

• Development on flood plains and watercourses is contentious and the community is not fully aware.



• The community has equitable access to safe and secure drinking water and all urban households have a sewerage connection

• Access to services/ amenities of water assets is of low or no cost and is universally available, regardless of socio-economic status.

• Kiama considers flood plain management and mitigation to be an ongoing process.



• Kiama has reduced their water consumption by improving water efficiency through the roll out of residential water efficiency upgrades, notably for older houses in the region.

• Council have good rainwater tank uptake in new subdivisions as a result of BASIX. Stormwater harvesting projects are not being utilised to their full potential and need maintenance, but still perform a function..

• Water supply system is gravity fed where possible and utilises by renewable energy (hydro).



• Kiama has reasonably healthy ecosystems but there is room for improvement.

• Overall, Kiama has good surface water quality, however there are some legacy issues that result in deterioration.

• Kiama’s Development Control Plan (2012) contains site considerations for riparian corridors to ensure they continue to maintain water quality and aquatic ecosystems, provide habitat for native wildlife, and maintain the natural functions of waterways.

• Council has a tree preservation and vegetation management section in its DCP which provides a process for management of trees in the urban area for a range of objectives including public safety, ecological health, heritage and cultural significance etc. The area was heavily cleared in the past for timber and agriculture. Council has a policy protection regarding the removal of trees; however, large scale clearing has occurred in the past.

• Council have some bioswales, stormwater treatment and some filtration ponds.




• There are a lot of green spaces in Kiama Council with good connectivity, however improvements can be made, there are still sections of the urban area that are not connected to green spaces by footpaths, walking tracks.

• LGA has very little urban tree canopy cover, with < 5% over all canopy cover.

• Council have a Tree Preservation Order, however conflicts between canopy cover and development demand for coastal views.

• Infill subdivisions and developments leave less room for trees.

Goal 7. Promote adaptive infrastructure (Score – 2.5)


• Recycled sewerage accounts for 10% of Kiama’s demand for uses such as golf course irrigation as well as the Gerringong Dairy, which runs on 100% recycled water. There is currently no scope to expand recycled water use for residential use.

• While rainwater harvesting is being utilised, there is room for improvement. There are not formal initiatives to progress the use of fit-for-purpose water supplies.

• While failures and blockages occur due to lack of maintenance and resources, failure rates are low.

• Response to failures is retrospective rather than through proactive or preventative maintenance schedules.

• Limited knowledge and access to adequate funding for maintenance of WSUD and green-blue open spaces.

• Around 10% of the wastewater from the Kiama STP is reused for the golf course at Kiama Downs / Minnamurra. The Gerringong Gerroa STP has no ocean outfall and re-uses the treated effluent on the SW irrigation property. (Possibly need some SW clarification on this one)


Shellharbour City Council


Figure 11 summarises the city-state benchmarking results for Council, which interprets the scores for each of the 34 indicators outlined in Table 1 against the modelled requirements for the six phases of the Urban Water Transitions Framework. Percentage attainment for each city-state ranged from 100% as a Water Supply City and Sewered City through to 8% as a Water Sensitive City.

Figure 11. Summary of Shellharbour’s performance against the ideal measures for each city-state.

Shellharbour’s Water Sensitive City Goals

Figure 12 outlines Shellharbour’s results for the WSC Index goals. The individual scores for each of the indicators are provided in

Table 4. These results are shown against the scores for each index of a Water Cycle City. The results for Shellharbour (shown by the shaded blue area) are compared to a Water Cycle City (the dashed blue line).

From these results, the following goals closely align with the Water Cycle City benchmark and are progressing towards a Water Sensitive City.









Some of these goal areas and areas that could be improved are described below. Indicators that scored at or above the Water Cycle City metric or do not affect Water Cycle/Water Sensitive City scores have been excluded.


Figure 12. Shellharbour performance (shaded area) for the seven WSC Index goals compared to the idealised Water Cycle City (dashed line).

Table 4. WSC Index scores (goals and indicators) for Shellharbour













































• For urban release areas, there are obvious formal processes for cross-sector collaboration as well as a formal development application process. However, these can be ad hoc and not actually imbedded in council practice

• Council has identified organisational champions in WSUD and are investing in initiatives to drive change.

• There is no budget or business cases for water in project development.

• Council are working to improve racial diversity and representation through advisory committees.



• Council has a strong focus on community engagement

• Shellharbour has several active Landcare groups. There are extensive environmental events programs. There is collaborative planning with community and waterways are really valued.

• Surveys and community consultations regarding open space and recreational needs are conducted.

• Data available is for parks use for sport. Wetland developments are popular.

• Council recognises the importance of indigenous input.



• Most residents, barring a small number of rural properties have access to reticulated water & sewerage

• Sewage discharges to the environment do not appear to happen regularly; the right processes are in place to ensure public health. There is no knowledge of overflows causing public health issues.

• There is a wealth of assets up and down the coast. There are several isolated communities along the coast; not all have access to all essential

services. Access is being incorporated into new subdivisions but is not available everywhere. Some communities across the region can be isolate during flood events.



• There is no resource recovery in the region.

• Solar is used around pump stations. Solar and Offsetting is being considered

• Lake Illawarra is an asset for recreation/ tourism as well as commercial fishing.

• Water supply system is gravity fed where possible and utilises by renewable energy (hydro)

• Residents use roughly 250 – 300 L/person/ day. Industry water consumption is even higher.



• Good riparian corridors city wide that link to open water bodies such as lakes or the ocean.

• Council has policies regarding size and maintenance requirements of riparian corridor as well as subdivision guidelines for retarding basins and stormwater treatment assets.

• There is some limited groundwater usage within Council, and potentially some groundwater dependent ecosystems, however there is a knowledge gap regarding groundwater use systems.

• Areas of high ecological value are well protected from urban development.

• Terrestrial biodiversity is mapped in Council’s Local Environment Plan. Council considers state regulations and offsetting obligations and uses vegetation application forms and assessments for any vegetation removal.


• Council makes note of the Illawarra biodiversity strategy, with the Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS) containing actions on improvements on ecology.



• Areas such as Albion Park, Oak Flats and Warilla which have open spaces/ovals. Calderwood and Shell Cove have good connectivity with riparian corridors, cycle ways and walking paths.

• Council have GIS for green open space and a recommendation for a Greening Policy is listed in the Local Strategic Planning Statement

• Heat mitigation is not being looked at.

• Older suburbs have remnant old trees. Trees are not replaced when old lots are redeveloped and subdivided. Newer developments have large houses with no room for trees.

• There is a vegetation removal application process based on risk to life/ property and health of the tree.



• Stormwater reuse from wetlands to supply sports fields

• Some WSUD systems in place, however no coordinated plans or strategies.

• Council has resilient water infrastructure including grassed swales, waterways with good riparian zones, detention basins and GPTs.

• Council do a lot of monitoring. There is an ISJO grant for a Smart Water Monitoring. It is monitored on an isolated system but not integrated with others.

• The water supply is robust including multiple dams and good filtration system. There is redundancy built in.

• Stormwater infrastructure is less robust. Council has old infrastructure and old standards.

• There have been a lot of upgrades to infrastructure in last 5-10 years (water mains, reservoirs)

• New subdivisions do not consider integrated water/ sewerage management on site. Sydney Water decision.

• Maintenance of traditional drainage assets is performed well, however maintenance of blue and green assets is less understood.


Shoalhaven City Council


Figure 13 summarises the city-state benchmarking results for Council, which interprets the scores for each of the 34 indicators outlined in Table 1 against the modelled requirements for the six phases of the Urban Water Transitions Framework. Percentage attainment for each city-state ranged from 100% as a Water Supply City and Sewered City through to 14% as a Water Sensitive City.

Figure 13. Summary of Shoalhaven’s performance against the ideal measures for each city-state.

Shoalhaven’s Water Sensitive City Goals

Figure 14 outlines Shoalhaven’s results for the WSC Index goals. The individual scores for each of the indicators are provided in Table 5. These results are shown against the scores for each index of a Water Cycle City. The results for Shoalhaven (shown by the shaded blue area) are compared to a Water Cycle City (the dashed blue line).

From these results, Shoalhaven was found to exceed the Water Cycle City benchmark for the goal:


The following goals closely align with the Water Cycle City benchmark and are progressing towards a Water Sensitive City.







• Ensure quality urban space.



Figure 14. ISJO performance (shaded area) for the seven WSC Index goals compared to the idealised Water Cycle City (dashed line).

Table 5. WSC Index scores (goals and indicators) for Shoalhaven













































• There are internal formal processes for assessing development applications with good collaboration of the environment team.

• There are structured formal engagement processes and policies at Council, with consultative bodies, advisory committees, and formal groups.

• There is policy in place supporting water sensitive practices and references to Local Strategic Planning Statements. However, reliant upon champions as senior leaders are not advocating.

• Limited budget allocated for water projects or business cases available. Council is more focused on the coastal space.



• Highly engaged advisory committees and groups around waterways and lakes.

• Council engages with community to improve their awareness the water supply system. There are some misconceptions, however, understanding is overall good.

• Tourists and local community alike have strong connections to water and understanding of environments that protect waterways (i.e. riparian corridors).

• Community lead strategies (e.g. Sussex Inlet Resilience Plan) developed using social media networks to ensure people are prepared and supported.

• Local Strategic Planning Statements recognises the importance of developing better partnerships. Council is developing a broader framework to engage with local communities and local land councils building on existing Memoranda of Understanding.



• 7,500 households are on site sewerage management systems, which are highly regulated to ensure safety.

• There are ongoing programs of floodplain & flood risk management plans and studies.

• There are several isolated communities along the coast and not all have access to reticulated water and sewerage. Access is being incorporated into new subdivisions, but it is not available everywhere.



• Reclaimed Water Management Scheme (REMS) is a highlight and there has been significant infrastructure investment going in as part of project with future opportunities.

• Solar is used for pump stations and GHG offsets are being actively considered.

• High water demand is driven by tourism.

• Reticulated sewerage investment schemes provide water quality benefits to protect waterways and aquaculture industries.



• Shoalhaven has good ecological connections with riparian corridors. Council has rated its ecosystems as healthy to very healthy.

• There are policies to preserve existing corridors within new developments.

• Council’s Development Control Plan stipulates pollutant reduction targets.

• New subdivisions comprise water infrastructure that provide habitat. Council has negotiated with developers to preserve wetland areas.

• Currently the only Council still using a tree removal permit. There is clear felling in subdivisions.




• Local spaces are well connected, with several formalised walking and cycle paths, and trails throughout the LGA. Shoalhaven receives tourism grants for bushwalking trails.

• Council's Pedestrian and Mobility Plan is slow integrating. Council has GIS and Open Space strategies for data management

• Shoalhaven is large LGA with lots of green spaces.

• There is no consideration of heat mitigation in urban centres.

• Council’s 45° rule means trees within falling distance of houses or structures can be removed without permit. This results in low canopy cover and shading in urban areas.



• Shoalhaven has its own diverse water supply, supplied by multiple dams, and managed by Shoalhaven Water.

• Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) controls are in place in new developments for rainwater harvesting.

• REMS and water supply system are interconnected to provide backup water source.

• Drainage systems have moderate failures. Water supply system is robust with renewals undertaken to improve infrastructure. Pipe networks nearing end of life.

• The maintenance system is generally funded, understood and upgraded as failures occur. Council has good maintenance manuals and adequate money. However while maintenance of water supply and wastewater infrastructure by Shoalhaven Water is reasonably well funded the maintenance of stormwater infrastructure and WSUD devices is poorly funded and not always well understood by operational staff.

• Council has good asset management and GIS systems. However, WSUD systems mapping and condition assessments are not well captured due to inadequate budget.


Wollongong City Council


Figure 15 summarises the city-state benchmarking results for Wollongong City Council, which interprets the scores for each of the 34 indicators outlined in Table 1 against the modelled requirements for the six phases of the Urban Water Transitions Framework. Percentage attainment for each city-state ranged from 100% as a Water Supply City and Sewered City through to 5% as a Water Sensitive City.

Figure 15. Summary of Wollongong’s performance against the ideal measures for each city-state.

Wollongong’s Water Sensitive City Goals

Figure 16 outlines Wollongong’s results for the WSC Index goals. The individual scores for each of the indicators are provided in Table 6. These results are shown against the scores for each index of a Water Cycle City. The results for Wollongong’s (shown by the shaded blue area) are compared to a Water Cycle City (the dashed blue line).

From these results, the following goals closely align with the Water Cycle City benchmark and are progressing towards a Water Sensitive City.


• Achieve equity of essential services.









Figure 16. Wollongong performance (shaded area) for the seven WSC Index goals compared to the idealised Water Cycle City (dashed line).

Table 6. WSC Index scores (goals and indicators) for Wollongong













































• Integrated water-related skills and capacity have not been harnessed, but there is strategy and policy direction from Council.

• Council have strong advocates and champions within the organisation that are willing to push for change.

• Council has policies with a strong emphasis on inclusivism, equitable decision-making, and diversity, however, not clear how successful it is in practice.



• Community has general understanding of water cycle. Council does not have outreach programs. There are some Landcare and environmental groups.

• There is a lot of citizen involvement in the decision making, there is plenty of consultation, and channels provided. Plans have been influenced by community input.

• Visitors have connection to water and have a sense of appreciation for the sense of place which encourages migration.

• Lake Illawarra has a strong indigenous and important indigenous connection. Council broadly consult with indigenous communities, however, not effectively with regards to water.



• Aging infrastructure experiences occurrences of failure and has resulted in contamination of lakes and beaches.

• Some development occurs on flood plains, council is working to remediate.

• Council considers flood plain management and mitigation to be an ongoing process.



• Recycled water used at Blue Scope facility, Port Kembla Coal terminal as well as at golf courses and council buildings.

• Council is currently investigating the recovery of biogas from waste facilities.

• Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) controls are in place in new developments and for rainwater harvesting in commercial and industrial areas.

• Water supply system is gravity fed where possible and utilises by renewable energy (hydro)



• There are established riparian corridors and some functioning ecosystems throughout the LGA.

• There is disparity in stormwater runoff quality and flows between catchments. Some catchments affected by flash flooding and urbanisation.

• There is a knowledge gap on groundwater dependent ecosystems. Council has legacy issues with existing industrial areas – there are actions in place to try to improve this.

• Council has strategic policies for biodiversity management. There is extensive mapping of ecological communities throughout the LGA). Numerous community groups such as Landcare exist.

• Permits for vegetation removal such as tree management plans are required.




• Council have GIS mapping and Urban Greening Strategy and policy for Urban Release Areas. 5,000 plants have been planted under Urban Greening Strategy, establishing canopy long-term.

• Canopy cover is 17% overall but highly variable (3% to 52%).

• Connection to open space is varied across the LGA. Better in the north, near the coast.

• Need to further implement harvested stormwater to irrigate sports fields. Council does not have a strategy or set targets and reacts opportunistically rather than strategically.

• There is a very low proportion of integration of water in urban landscape. Very few raingardens are in urban renewal or established areas. Council policy does not refer to urban renewals.



• BlueScope uses 100% recycled from the sewerage water treatment plant plus seawater intake.

• Council parks have incorporated stormwater harvesting. Council reuses rainwater for golf courses, parks, and buildings.

• New development requires rainwater harvesting and reuse as part of BASIX.

• Rainwater harvesting and recycled water supplies majority of golf course irrigation.

• Council has several diversified sources all backed up by Sydney Water base load. Council does not have strategies around diversifying water supply.

• New developments incorporate multifunctionality in water assets, however, existing assets in established urban areas are typically are

purpose built traditional drainage assets and are not considered for wider public benefit or access.

• Stormwater drainage capacity no longer keeping up with current growth resulting in blockages and system failures.

• Limited funding allocated for maintenance. Council has some broad maintenance guidelines but generally relies on developers for maintenance plans, however Council is ultimately responsible for long-term maintenance.


5. References

Brown, R. R. (2016). Moving toward Water Sensitive Cities: A guidance manual for strategists and policy makers. . Melbourne, Australia: : Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.

Inner West Council. (2018). Our Inner West 2036. A community strategic plan for the Inner West community. Sydney: Inner West Council.


Appendix A – Benchmarking participation

Online survey responses

Biophysical Survey Responses

Organisation No. of participants

Illawarra Shoalhaven JO (DPI Fisheries) 4

Kiama LGA 4

Shellharbour LGA 1

Shoalhaven LGA/ Illawarra Shoalhaven region 6

Wollongong LGA 7

TOTAL 22

Socio-political Survey Responses

Organisation No. of participants

Illawarra Shoalhaven JO (Sydney Water) 3

Kiama LGA 5

Shellharbour LGA 1

Shoalhaven LGA 5

Wollongong LGA 6

TOTAL 20

Benchmarking Workshop Participants Socio-economic Workshops 1 – Fiona Chandler facilitator, notes by Claire and Snez Wollongong

Wollongong – Jess Faustini, Mike Dove, Chris Stewart, Renee Winsor, Nur Joy

Shoalhaven – Kelie Clarke

Shellharbour – Jess Lintern

Kiama – Paul Kzulowski, Byron Robinson (both moved to Biophysical), Edward Paterson

IS Region – Aaron Coutts-Smith DPIE, Andrew Sloan DPIE, Katrina Zantiotis-Linton DPIE, Amanda Sydney Water (only for part of workshop 1), Melinda Liberato ISJO.

Socio-economic Workshops 2- Jan Orton and Fiona Chandler facilitators, notes by Tracey ISJO

Wollongong – Mike Dove, Renee Winsor, Elliot Jones

Shoalhaven – Kelie Clarke (left before end of workshop), Matt Rose

Shellharbour – Jess Lintern

Kiama – Darren Brandy, Peter L

IS Region – Katrina Zantiotis-Linton DPIE

Biophysical Workshops 1 and 2 – Johnathan Ho facilitating

Shoalhaven – Mark Stone, Ali Sevenler, Shin Lee, Kay Murray and Greg Howarth. The same staff attended both workshops.

Shellharbour – Adam De Clouett, Andrew Lee, Prabin Kayastha

Kiama – Paul Kzulowski, Byron Robinson

Wollongong – Sasho Srbinovski; Isabelle Ghetti; Nathan Mcbriarty; Jenna Andrews; Luke Dean; Mathew Carden

Facilitation team – Alluvium Consulting Australia and Mosaic Insights in Collaboration with the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities

Fiona Chandler Alluvium Consulting Australia

Jan Orton Mosaic Insights

Jonathan Ho Alluvium Consulting Australia

Liam Nicholson Alluvium Consulting Australia

Katie Hammer CRC for Water Sensitive Cities


Appendix B – Workshop Agenda

Water Sensitive Cities Index Benchmarking Virtual Workshop – Biophysical (PART 1)

AGENDA │Tuesday 22 September 2020 │ 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Time Duration Activity

9:45 15 mins Registration

10.00 10 mins Welcome, check in, and opening remarks

• Agenda

• Recap of purpose

10.10 10 mins Introduction and workshop process recap, Q&A

10.20 30 mins Goal 6: Quality Urban Space (3 indicators)

• Indicator 6.1

10:50 20 mins • Indicator 6.2


11.30 5 mins Break

11:35 20 mins Goal 7: Promote adaptive infrastructure (6 indicators)

• Indicator 7.1






1:10 5 mins Reflections on process

1:15 THANK YOU AND CLOSE

Water Sensitive Cities Index Benchmarking Virtual Workshop – Biophysical (PART 2)

AGENDA │Thursday 24 September 2020 │ 1:30 pm – 4:45 pm




• Agenda


1.35 20 mins Goal 4: Productivity & Resource Efficiency (5 indicators)

• Indicator 4.1

1.55 20 mins • Indicator 4.2




3.15 5 mins Break

3.20 20 mins Goal 5: Ecological Health (4 indicators)

• Indicator 5.1




4.40 5 mins Reflections on process

4.45 THANK YOU AND CLOSE


Water Sensitive Cities Index Benchmarking Virtual Workshop – Socio-political (PART 1)

AGENDA │Tuesday 22 September 2020 │ 9:00 am – 12:30 pm




• Agenda


09.10 10 mins Introduction and workshop process recap, Q&A

09.20 30 mins Goal 6: Quality Urban Space (3 indicators)

• Indicator 6.1



10.30 5 mins Break

10:35 20 mins Goal 1: Good Governance (7 indicators)

• Indicator 1.1







12:25 5 mins Reflections on process

12:30 THANK YOU AND CLOSE

Water Sensitive Cities Index Benchmarking Virtual Workshop – Socio-political (PART 2)

AGENDA │Thursday 24 September 2020 │ 1:30 pm – 4:45 pm




• Agenda


1.35 20 mins Goal 2: Community Capital (5 indicators)

• Indicator 5.1





3.15 5 mins Break

3.20 20 mins Goal 3: Equity to essential services (4 indicators)

• Indicator 4.1




4.40 5 mins Reflections on process

4.45 THANK YOU AND CLOSE

assessing the water sensitive performance

Documents