HIGH FLYERS THINK TANK

Innovative technical solutions for water management in Australia

University of Adelaide, 30 October 2006

Explanatory notes regarding the definitions of categories – to be read in conjunction with the matrices

1. Energy Tradeoffs – These were defined as covering three categories outlined as follows: (1) Renewable energy, where the cost of treating and delivering water is compared using the cost of innovative solutions like wind, solar etc; (2) Externalities, where increased transparency about the real cost of producing water, including waste disposal is encouraged and more fully disclosed. The advantage is that this method enables the cost of recycled water to be better compared with potable water; (3) Energy tradeoffs encountered when the pressure in pipes is significantly reduced to reduce energy consumption and with added benefits for reducing leakage. However, in such cases there is a trade-off with the management of sedimentation and requirements for flushing pipes.

2. Water transport and storage infrastructure, maintenance, engineering – This was defined as relating to water supply and delivery. In the context of urban environments this would mostly refer to water supply via pipe and pump delivery whereas in rural environs, this would mostly refer to channels, dams, and weirs. Freshwater supply may also be supported by centralised or decentralised infrastructure. Similarly, the treatment of this water and disposal of associated waste may be supported by centralised or decentralised services. It is recognised that there are significant costs associated with upkeep of current infrastructure or retrofit and these need to be balanced with costs when new infrastructure is planned and implemented.
   
   Some of the more cost-effective solutions may involve innovative engineering such as re-sleeving existing ageing pipes without the need for excavation. One of the biggest challenges for managing storage infrastructure involves coping with seasonality in water use (summer crop irrigation) and natural rainfall events. For instance, at Werribee most recycled water is required in summer but there are issues associated with storing the water produced in winter. For this reason, Aquifer Storage Recovery (ASR) is a very attractive option because it assists with storage while reducing evaporation losses as compared with dams.

3. Standards, access rights, water quality and quantity, environmental allocations, seasonality – This category was defined as encompassing regulations. This includes those that are legally binding such as standards and those that represent suggested guidelines for best practice. Standards and practices often differ between jurisdictions in relation to water quality analysis, water resource data, and analysis (including collection, processing, and data compatibility). The presentation and distribution of data includes the need to provide sufficient metadata. This refers to information about the data, and standards for this data such as those for spatial metadata as produced by Geoscience Australia. This significantly improves the usefulness and quality of data for scenario building, planning, and forecasting although there is a substantial cost associated with analysing and upkeep of this resource.
   
   The measurement of water quality and quantity (including countercyclical trading) is implied by this category. This raises issues relating to the challenges of metering water in urban and rural environs including access, ownership, problems of data harmony, and privacy of information. Increasingly, there is a call for mandatory transparency in relation to water data ownership, management and use. This is particularly important in relation to justifying access regimes and demonstrating the use of fair water restrictions.
   
   This category includes the provision of broader information about water systems. For example the length of the water cycle – Is the system open or closed? How long is the circuit? For example the option for Toowoomba to operate as a closed short-circuit for recycling versus the Murray River operating as an open, long circuit with water extractions and returns.

4. Risk management – This category was defined as relating to the awareness of risks as well as better anticipating and planning for shocks, surprises, extremes, and uncertainty. It involves pre-prepared options for immediate action perhaps developed using techniques such as scenario planning and Monte-Carlo simulation. For example, what would be the response if there was no flow out of Lake Hume, or insufficient flow down the Murray River which led to no entitlement flow for the city of Adelaide? What would be the action taken for different salinity scenarios? Often adequate development of responses will require access to information about possibilities, the biological adaptability of systems, associated developments, likelihoods, and possible consequences. In some cases, staged assessment such as that which occurs along process chains may be the most appropriate for controlling situations. For example, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is useful for recycled water production and appears appropriate for containing risk by compartmentalising the process.
   
   Access to sufficient data can dispel myths and enable improved perception of risk by the community. Some of these points can be summarised by the formula: Risk = hazard + outrage. In some cases, release from a risk may enable more focussed attention to be directed to another risk.