Integrating flood issues into other programs – 27 October 2015

How do we best integrate flood risk management into resource management, regional land use and infrastructure programmes?  A number of SEQ case-studies and an international perspective

The inclusion of flood risk considerations in any resource management, regional land use planning and infrastructure delivery in Queensland has had amplified recognition since the state-wide floods of 2010/11.  So how is that best done and how is this approach tracking for various South East Queensland  and State-wide programs?   At this forum there is an opportunity to be updated and discuss what has been underway in SEQ and other parts of the State and also to glean insights from such approaches in other parts of the world.

Nanco Dolman

Leading Professional Water Resilience in Urban Areas – from Royal Haskoning DHV in Rotterdam-the Netherlands

Today, half of the world’s population lives in cities. Many of these cities are subject to a
range of risks, of which water-related risks such as coastal flooding, storm water nuisance and drought
are among the most severe. With cities continuously growing and new cities begin built, it is of
importance to create urban environments that are less vulnerable to water extremes and at the same
time can accommodate the ongoing population growth. This is a pressing issue, especially in densely
populated urban areas under increased pressure by climate change. In this study we discuss case
studies, following the Water Sensitive City framework (Brown et al, 2008), and distil lessons learnt
from different approaches of cities dealing with water-related challenges. Cities along coasts, rivers and
deltas have favorable conditions for trade, logistics and agriculture and have a pleasant living and
working environment. For these cities water-related risks are addressed by a range of ideas for adaptive
water management and green infrastructure, directly related to development schemes, management
strategies and various water-related risks. To illustrate different approaches towards water resilient
cities eight case studies are presented, representing three different continents and including six
megacities. All cities are in a different stage of their transition to a more water resilient city. It can be
observed that it is clear that an integrated approach is required and that frameworks are present.
However, implementation remains a very significant challenge and to get this started it is advised to
build on existing case studies.

Nanco’s powerpoint presentation