Celebrating 10 Years of Water Sensitive SA
In 2025, Water Sensitive SA marks a significant milestone—10 years of building South Australia’s capacity for water sensitive urban design (WSUD). At our celebration event on 28 May, we reflected on a decade of progress and acknowledged key achievements that have shaped the program’s legacy.
Highlights from Our Journey:
- Benefit–Cost Analysis Tool – A major contributor to the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities project, with representation on the National Stakeholder Advisory Group.
- Planning Policy Input – Delivered WSUD and green infrastructure policy review and technical advice to inform WSUD and green infrastructure policy in the Planning and Design Code.
- Insite Water Tool – A lot-scale stormwater assessment tool helping practitioners design smarter urban landscapes.
- Infill Typologies Catalogue – Chaired the national advisory group and trialled designs in Salisbury’s WSUD precinct, demonstrating how higher density can be achieved with enhanced liveability through thoughtful design.
- MUSIC Guidelines for SA – Localised guidance to support effective use of the MUSIC modelling tool.
- MUSIC Auditor Tool– Enables testing of design compliance with South Australian MUSIC Guidelines.
- WSUD Standard Drawings – Drafts completed; final versions coming soon.
- WSUD Inspection & Maintenance Resources – Guidelines and e-forms for assessing the condition and planning maintenance and rectification of a range of WSUD assets, including biofilters, wetlands, swales, and more.
- Targeted Online Content – Curated resources for stakeholder groups on our website, including pages for local government, community members, and developers.
- Training & Engagement – Delivered WSUD training and seminars to over 4,500 practitioners and community members, and presented at 82 industry events, reaching nearly 3,000 stakeholders.
Perhaps most importantly, we are proud to have supported a growing community of practice. Over the past decade, SA practitioners have evolved from piloting WSUD in isolated projects to embracing it as part of standard practice. We thank the early adopters who laid the groundwork and inspired others to follow.
The efforts of SA WSUD practitioners is captured in 180 featured WSUD projects on our interactive map and Image Gallery.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. Here’s to the next 10 years of water sensitive communities in South Australia.