Priorities
Water Sensitive SA reached major milestones for two priority projects in 2022-23:
WSUD standard drawings (Priority Project 9)
The WSUD standard drawings project engaged with practitioners to understand their priorities and best practice design techniques for ease of maintenance. A permeable paving detail and design chart, developed in collaboration with the Concrete Masonry Association of Australia (CMAA), will also be included.
Inspection & maintenance guidelines for WSUD assets (Priority Project 11)
A suite of final draft inspection and maintenance guidelines have been developed following onsite testing of the guidelines with our Council partners for:
- biofiltration systems
- infiltration systems
- swales & buffer strips
- wetlands
- detention basins
- rainwater tanks
- permeable paving
All guidelines have been converted to a spreadsheet format for our partners to easily integrate the electronic version of the asset condition assessment matrices and corresponding maintenance action list into their asset management system.
Input into research, state level strategy, policy and guidelines
Water Sensitive SA provided technical input into research and state government initiatives further water sensitive urban design (WSUD) in government policies and strategies including:
- Strategy – Member of the Technical Advisory Group for Resilient Water Futures project to develop an Urban Water Plan for Greater Adelaide, led by SA Water on behalf of state government agencies.
- Guidelines – Development of Stormwater Management (WSUD) guidelines for development applicants with Green Adelaide and Planning and Land Use Services.
- Research – Member of reference group for Goyder Institute for Water Research project Future urban water management options for a vibrant and resilient Adelaide.
Training
To maximise participation and ensure cross-disciplinary understanding and collaboration about WSUD design and implementation, we continued to provide in-house training for our Partners.
This year we focused on WSUD and urban greening: Compliance with the Planning and Design Code, and application of Water Sensitive SA’s Inspection and maintenance guidelines for WSUD assets.
We delivered a trial in-house lunchtime briefing to a consulting firm showcasing best practice WSUD and raising awareness of WSUD design resources available on our website.
Research
Water Sensitive SA has partnered with Water Sensitive Cities Australia to develop a WSUD assets lifecycle cost database. The project will support better understanding and estimation of costs at each stage of the asset lifecycle: Strategic plan; finance and approvals; design and procurement; construction and establishment; asset handover; asset management, operations and maintenance; and asset renewal/decommission.
Expenditure – 2022-23 (excl. GST)
Our partners
We gratefully acknowledge the support of our program and project partners during 2022-23.
