WATER SENSITIVE URBAN DESIGN

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister inform how the state government is encouraging water sensitive design solutions to be incorporated within developments across South Australia's towns and cities?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. As many members will know, I have frequently been known to speak about the need to find smarter and more sustainable ways of using water across our communities. While South Australia is already the national leader in stormwater harvesting and our irrigators in the Riverland are some of the nation's most efficient, it is important that we do not rest on our laurels in this regard.

I am therefore pleased to advise that today I have released the state government's water sensitive urban design policy, entitled 'Water sensitive urban design: creating more liveable and water-sensitive cities in South Australia'. How we plan and build and look after our urban areas is essential to ensure more liveable environments and a higher quality of life into the future.

Urbanisation has a significant impact on a region's hydrology, and we need to take every opportunity to maximise economic, social and environmental benefits by planning how our planning processes interact with the water cycle. Flooding, the provision of green open space, urban heat island effects, impacts of stormwater on coastal environments and maintaining stream ecology can all be managed through a stronger approach to water sensitive urban design. That is why this policy is designed to manage the process of urbanisation and its effects on the natural water cycle.

The water sensitive urban design policy promotes urban design principles that integrate the management of the water cycle into land use and developmental processes and will contribute to our efforts in making South Australia a water sensitive state, as outlined in our Water for Good policy. Some of these principles include encouraging best practice in the use and management of water to minimise reliance on imported water; promoting the safe, sustainable use of rainwater, recycled stormwater and wastewater; and mimicking more natural run-off regimes, such as rainfall run-off, to avoid potential for flooding.

This can be as simple as using more porous pavers for driveways or more efficient gutter systems to catch rainwater, or involve more complex projects such as stormwater harvesting projects that I have spoken about in this place before that are currently occurring right across state.

Members may recall that earlier this year I spoke in this place about recipients of the Australia Day Awards and made mention of Professor John Argue, an expert on stormwater and water sensitive urban design. Professor Argue received the Officer in the General Division Award for his work in this area. Some of the very first projects involving water sensitive urban design such as Parfitt Square at the new Brompton Estate were commissioned on his watch. Professor Argue also published the book Water Sensitive Design: Basic Procedures for 'Source Control' of Stormwater, A Handbook for Australian Practice and I am told this is often the go-to resource for those beginning their studies in water sensitive urban design.

These design principles, which use the best available science from the Goyder Institute of Water Research and which take the experiences of other jurisdictions and ultimately rely on our strength as a state when it comes to matters of water, thanks to the efforts of people such as Professor Argue, have great potential for reducing our impact on the water system of the state but also of using water more wisely. Water sensitive urban design is internationally accepted as delivering community benefits through providing more green spaces, reducing urban temperatures, maintaining gardens, and potentially offsetting the need for major water infrastructure upgrades.

Through the implementation of the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide, I am advised that developers have demonstrated a desire to adopt water sensitive design principles and objectives into their developments. Significant advances have already been achieved by state and local government and the private sector with the integration of land use design with the urban water cycle. However, until now, there has been no single guiding framework to assist in designing appropriate solutions.

The water sensitive urban design policy addresses that by providing a number of guiding principles for all development, and also provides a number of objectives for our state as a whole to meet in this regard. And, in a first for South Australia, the water sensitive urban design policy outlines specific targets for local water conservation, water pollution and flood management in new developments. The water sensitive urban design policy also sets out a number of performance principles and performance targets by which we can measure ourselves.

It also outlines actions the state government will pursue collaboratively with industry, local government, and others to encourage cost-effective water sensitive approaches in urban developments and redevelopments. Importantly, the water sensitive urban design policy will be implemented in full consultation with local government and with industry.

This policy will go a long way to ensuring new developments are both conscious of water and also responsible with water. In the short time I have served as Minister for Water and the River Murray I have been constantly reminded of how passionate South Australians are about water. And these are South Australians across the state, not just those who rely on water for their economic wealth or those who live near a major water resource like the River Murray. Perhaps this is part of the reason why our state is a national leader, and in some cases has been recognised as a world leader, when it comes to managing our water resources.