Integrating One Water into urban liveability

Liveability is the new catch phrase in urban planning, where residents get to enjoy an urban landscape that consists of green open spaces, trees to keep the concrete jungle cool, and a water system that is resilient to drought and disruptions. For the water industry this means a shift in the way we view service delivery, from one of avoiding bad impacts, to one where the services we provide add more value. This means viewing all forms of water in the urban landscape as potential resources, and not problems to get rid of. Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) considers this to be a whole-of-water approach, or a “One Water” approach, as termed by some in the US. This approach attempts to integrate planning and management of water supply, wastewater and stormwater systems in a way that minimises the impact on the environment and maximises the contribution to social and economic vitality

Water access, water scarcity, and climate change

This article investigates the approaches of the various discourses operating in the water sector and how they address the issues of scarcity and equitable access under projected climate change impacts. Little synergy exists between the different approaches dealing with these issues. Whilst being a sustainable development and water resources management issue, a holistic view of access, scarcity and the projected impacts of climate change is not prevalent in these discourses. The climate change discourse too does not adequately bridge the gap between these issues. The projected impacts of climate change are likely to exacerbate the problems of scarcity and equitable access unless appropriate adaptation strategies are adopted and resilience is built. The successful delivery of accessible water services under projected climate change impacts therefore lies with an extension of the adaptive water management approach to include equitable access as a key driver. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Understanding the adaptive capacity of Australian small-to-medium enterprises to climate change and variability

Abstract Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) comprise 96 per cent of all private businesses in Australia. The SME sector is the economy’s largest employer and the largest contributor to GDP. Moreover, SMEs play a significant role within socio-economic systems: they provide employment, goods and services and tax revenue for communities. Climate change may result in adverse business outcomes including business interruptions, increased investment and insurance costs, and declines in financial indicators such as measures of value, return and growth. After natural disasters, SMEs face greater short-term losses than larger enterprises, and may have lower adaptive capacity for various reasons. This study examines the underlying factors and processes shaping adaptive capacity of Australian SMEs’ to climate change and associated sea level rise. Specifically, the research asks the following questions: 1) How have SMEs considered and integrated adaptation into business planning? 2) What are the key underlying processes that constrain and influence the adaptive capacities of SMEs? and 3) What types of support are required to promote SME business continuity under a changing climate? The study adopts theories from Political Ecology and draws on literature on vulnerability and hazards to understand the processes that mediate the adaptive capacity of SMEs. The empirical research involved an online survey targeting SMEs, attending business engagement events hosted by chambers of commerce, 30 semi-structured interviews with secondary stakeholders, five case studies involving SMEs and secondary stakeholders, and finally a stakeholder workshop which brought together participants from both groups. The central conclusion of this study is that underlying contextual processes are critical to enhancing the adaptive capacity of SMEs. These processes include: the social relationships between SMEs and support organisations; the relationships within support organisations themselves; the agency of SMEs to direct resources toward building resilience into business continuity; SMEs’ perceptions of climate risks; and power struggles between support organisations. Unfavourable combinations of these processes have the potential to limit the adaptive choices that SMEs can adopt in order to overcome climate change and other related stresses on business continuity. These processes generate vulnerability and often occur at scales external to the SMEs;including relationships between different tiers of government as well as between various support organisations working with SMEs. These contextual processes have been largely overlooked in formal programmes that aim to build business resilience. The programmes have tended to be reactive and have tended to focus on business recovery during and after disasters rather than on altering the vulnerability context of SMEs through anticipatory prevention and preparedness or adaptation planning. This study suggests that the success of efforts to build the adaptive capacity of SMEs to future climate and related stresses will depend on how they address these underlying processes to facilitate the ability of SMEs to exercise their agency in pursuing adaptive choices that they value

Shifting to urban sensitive water design – One Water

Urban planning has adopted liveability as its new catch phrase, and is seeking to create an urban landscape where residents get to enjoy green open spaces, trees that keep the concrete jungle cool, and water systems that are resilient to drought and disruptions. For the water industry this has meant a shift in the way services are delivered, from an approach that has traditionally aimed to avoid the bad impacts of nature and humans to one where the services provided add more value, designing water systems that are sensitive to the urban needs or urban sensitive water design. New pathways for cost-effective revenue generation should be explored, as they provide multiple benefits to customers and could cross-subsidize the creation of liveability benefits

Potential consequences of projected climate change impacts on hydroelectricity generation

There is a growing concern that countries should reduce their dependence on fossil fuels for electricity generation and look to other cleaner technologies. Hydroelectricity is one such option. However, given that hydropower is dependent on rainfall and associated runoff for power generation, it is susceptible to both the positive and negative impacts of climate change, such as increases in temperature and changes in precipitation and runoff. In this paper, impacts on hydropower generation have been organised as either changes in long-term trends or short-term variability and shocks. These impacts could either manifest themselves as direct impacts on hydropower generation potential or as indirect impacts (or ancillary impacts) such as increased competition for water. Citing examples from around the world, this paper investigates the scale of these projected impacts, and the potential cost implication of inaction. It concludes by making recommendations for possible adaptive options to build resilience in response to local impacts. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Qualitative assessment of municipal water resource management strategies under climate impacts: The case of the Northern Cape, South Africa

This paper considers existing coping strategies in times of climate variability and proposes long- term strategies for dealing with future projected climate change and variability. A qualitative strategy assessment methodology is proposed and tested for climate conditions in the Northern Cape. The analysis of the results suggests that dry sanitation, education projects and tariff structures are identified as being the most useful strategies. Key factors which were perceived to inhibit the implementation of appropriate drought adaptation strategies are the lack of local capacity and the low financial resource base to cover the capital and running costs of most of the strategies. With the likelihood of increased future rainfall variability, it is important that planners and decision-makers take into account the effects of climate change and variability on water resources. In so doing, they need to adopt sustainable water supply and demand solutions for the longer term

Water resources management strategies for adaptation to climate-induced impacts in South Africa

This paper focuses on the development of a framework for strategy considerations for water resources management in South Africa to meet the development goals in the municipal and agricultural sectors. The north western part of South Africa experiences severe periods of drought and according to the climate change projections, will be most vulnerable to future climate induced water supply stress. A framework for selecting appropriate strategies is presented. A series of potential adaptation strategies most suitable for long term adaptation are discussed. These include both supply and demand side strategies. Barriers and obstacles to implementing these strategies include human and financial resource deficiencies at local municipal and community levels. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007