Water sensitive future
The increasing urbanisation of Australia has had a significant impact on the supply, capture and storage of water for urban use.
The National Water Commission’s urban water reform activities encourage innovation and capacity building to create water sensitive Australian cities.
The concept of how a city becomes water sensitive was developed by the National Urban Water Governance Program at Monash University. National workshops of urban water practitioners developed an agreed set of attributes of a water sensitive city and this work is being continued by the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.
A range of resources are available to encourage urban centres to adopt a water sensitive approach to managing their water.
Toward a Water Sensitive Future handbook
The Toward a Water Sensitive Future handbook (PDF, 328K)* is designed to assist Queensland water managers adopt a holistic and sustainable approach to managing urban water in their communities.
The handbook includes case studies that demonstrate what can be achieved on different scales, in various locations. Expanded versions and analysis of the case studies are available in a companion publication Sustainable Water Management for Cities Research Report (PDF, 1.3M)*.
Evaluating Options for Water Sensitive Urban Design—A National Guide
Evaluating Options for Water Sensitive Urban Design—National Guide has been jointly developed by the Australian Government and state and territory governments to help fulfil the National Water Initiative’s aim to develop ‘national guidelines for evaluating options for water sensitive urban development, both in new sub-divisions and high rise buildings’.
ICON Water Sensitive Urban Developments report
The ICON Water Sensitive Urban Developments report was developed by CSIRO Land and Water to evaluate existing icon water sensitive urban development.
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Last reviewed 21 July 2011
Last updated 16 December 2010