Inspiration from Water Futures – a Book that shines a spotlight on a Vision for a livable and water smart SEQ, a framework for considering options and resilience building measures for our varied landscapes and communities

The evolution of the Book Water Futures has been a showcase collaboration for the Flood Community of Practice with the lead authors James Davidson and Sam Bowstead.  Steps along the way have included:

  • While on his Churchill Fellowship in 2012 James was exposed to the success of a collaborative design approach to solving the various complex issues associated with flooding.
  • Next the concept to run a design charrette was tested at a workshop in Rotterdam in 2015
  • Then in in August 2016 we assembled a team to run the SEQ WaterFutures workshop
  • From the rich material, a design and authoring team of James, Sam, Britt Hill and Clive Ba-Pe brought together the myriad of content in the book.

In this blog I aim to explore aspects and images of the book and it is also a timely introduction to an exploratory workshop to be held on Thursday 19 April where you will hear of the key elements and then explore the utility of the Vision and ideas that have been developed. Be sure to hover your mouse over each of the images and click so you can expand and see all the detail provided.

Water Futures is  story built by a mix of people at a August 2016 five day workshop

Motivating the need for this Vision building was a flood event in January 2011 that saw Brisbane and many other parts of Queensland impacted.  And a Vision that we can use to guide approaches that make future impacts less.

In terms of the landscapes, creating a conceptual look is one way to describe what is possible – and here the landscapes depict models for the lands around Wivehoe Dam, Lockyer Creek and Bremer River rural locations

In each of these landscapes, there are a mix of measures that can be considered as both a design and/or management measure that enhances the landscape ability to reduce the impacts of flood and in some cases lessen the build up of drought impacts

Maps of the catchments showing the various flows are a reminder of the cumulative impacts that build up as we move down the catchment and creek systems

As we move into the Brisbane area, a nice concept was developed on how different parts of the City have different functions and all are critical to a healthy livability for this community.

The final element of the Fluvial Transect is Moreton Bay and the way that this coastal zone can function is highly influenced from the level of cumulative benefits that accumulate and are passed on down from upper catchment stewardship

The Vision of Water Futures to depict the interconnected catchments of the Brisbane River as a Fluvial Transect.  This in turn provides the framework in which to appreciate the collective effort needed to apportion resilience across all the landscapes and communities in SEQ

The Flood Community of Practice will continue to promote and utilise Water Futures as a tool to foster broader discussion and deeper thinking on how SEQ is planned, designed and managed into the future.  Please be welcome to join in our activities.  If you would like to purchase a copy of the book click the button below or  email studio@jamesdavidsonarchitect.com.au.  with a request