Better urban water management
Integrated land and water planning
Integrated land and water planning is based on the principle of total water cycle management which holistically considers all aspects of water including drinking water, groundwater, stormwater run-off, wastewater, waterway health and water reuse. This informs sustainable urban planning and development decisions, and results in water sensitive urban design.
In recent years substantial progress has been achieved in integrating water planning and management with land use planning and development.
The Department of Water is a partner to the joint government agency framework Better urban water management (WAPC 2008) which guides integrated land and water planning.
Water resource information provided at each planning stage is used to inform subsequent stages to ensure there is a holistic approach to total water cycle management.
In this way, better urban water management is now being adopted as part of new urban design and development.
Guidance
The Department of Water have developed a range of supplementary guidelines, publications and tools to assist land developers and government agencies in the implementation of Better urban water management including a series of guidance notes.
- Guidance note 1: Overview
- Guidance note 2: Water management reports in the planning process
- Guidance note 3: Preparation and assessment of water management reports
- Guidance note 4: Resources and support provided by the Department of Water
- Guidance note 5: The role of local government
- Guidance note 6: Identifying and establishing waterways foreshore areas
- Guidance note 7: Managing the hydrology and hydrogeology of water dependent ecosystems in urban development