Sydney Water Engineering Panel

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Interaction of Catchment and Coastal Processes on Flooding and Inundation

The Water Panel is pleased to announce that the July presentation will be a joint presentation with the NSW Coastal, Ocean and Port Engineering Panel titled: Interaction of Catchment and Coastal Processes on Flooding and Inundation. The presentation will be given in two parts by Seth Westra (UNSW) and Dave Callaghan (UQ).

When: Monday 16th July 2012 – NOTE a different date for us.
Time: 5:30 for 6pm
Where: EA Chatswood

Online registration would be appreciated.

A full printable PDF flyer is to follow shortly.

ARR Update July 2012

Project Updates

Project 5 (Regional Flood Methods)

In Australia, there are many streams where there is little/no recorded streamflow data. In these ungauged and poorly gauged catchments, there is insufficient information/data to obtain design flood estimates which are needed to size hydraulic structures, plan and design other water infrastructure and undertake various environmental and ecological studies. Regional flood frequency analysis (RFFA) is the most commonly adopted technique to derive design flood estimates on the ungauged catchments. A RFFA method attempts to transfer flood characteristics information from a group of gauged catchments to an ungauged catchment of interest. The RFFA methods recommended in the Australian Rainfall and Runoff (ARR) in 1987 need updating to reflect the advancements in RFFA methods and new additional streamflow data. find out more here

Project 10 and 15 (People Safety and Flow around buildings)

The final seminar on Flow around buildings and People Safety will be held at the 19th Queensland Water Symposium on 27-28 Sep in Brisbane. A large number of the profession have attended seminars held in Hobart, Perth, Melbourne, Newcastle, Darwin, and Sydney earlier this year.

Report Review Process

The Revision team is committed to producing a quality project for industry. As part of the revision process has been developed where reports are reviewed by the Technical Committee as well as Australian and International reviewers. The following reports are undergoing the detailed review process prior to release to the industry for comment and are expected to be released soon.

Project 4 Continuous rainfall sequences at a Point

Stage 2 report

Project 11 – Blockage of Hydraulic Structures

Stage 2 Report

General Updates

Call for Reviewers

Those interested in reviewing projects should email arr_admin@arr.org.au briefly describing which projects they are interested in reviewing and what qualifications/experience they have in those practice areas.

HWRS 2012

Registration is now open for the Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium. HWRS 2012 is Australia’s largest event devoted to hydrology, water engineering and related areas in water resources management. The Symposium has a long history as Australia’s pre-eminent conference in hydrological research and provides a forum to discuss emergent and innovative approaches for practicing engineers and scientists. HWRS 2012 takes place from 19 – 22 November 2012 at Dockside, Sydney NSW.

HWRS 2012 will bring together a large audience of academics, government officials and industry practitioners. Symposium highlights will include presentations from various researchers working on the 21 Australian Rainfall and Runoff Revision Projects, and keynote speeches from some of the world’s leading experts in hydrology and water resources. Dr Rob Vertessy, of the Bureau of Meterology has been confirmed to give the Munro Oration. Register Here for HWRS 2012!

Australian Rainfall and Runoff has joined LinkedIn. Join the group for discussions and updates on the revision of Australian Rainfall and Runoff.

August Seminar: Real-Time Weather Forecasting – Where are we? Where Are We Heading?

The August 2012 presentation has just been confirmed for:

Title: Real-Time Quantitative Rainfall Forecasting. Where are We and Where Are We Heading?
Date: August 28th 2012
Time: 5:30pm for 6pm start.
Venue: EA Auditorium, Chatswood

Abstract

Weather prediction and specifically forecasting rainfall in the near term has made significant strides in the last decade. This has largely been due to advances in science and computer power, with several agencies commanding supercomputers in the top 50 in the world. However, rainfall still remains one of the most difficult parameters to forecast even out to 12 hours. The intrinsic problems with forecasting rainfall over other such parameters such as temperature and winds, is its often very chaotic nature both temporally and geographically. Even with global supercomputers modelling at greater resolutions, few are capable of providing the pinpoint accuracy often required by rainfall sensitive industries and projects.

The aim of this talk is to provide an industry-wide overview on current science and forecasting techniques with regard to rainfall, with a special focus on the very latest techniques for trying to improve and correct forecast data provided by the global computer models. The example of the Chatswood Integrated Flood Control and Stormwater Reuse Scheme shall be used as a case study of how such techniques may be applied to vastly enhance rainfall forecasting accuracy. In addition, the talk will touch on how these forecast techniques can be used across the industry as a whole, as well as a quick look into expected future developments.

Murrumbidgee River Flooding

The Water Panel is pleased to announce the next presentation will be held Tuesday 26th June and discuss the March 2012 Murrumbidgee floods.

Abstract

The March 2012 Murrumbidgee River flood caused inundation of properties from Jugiong to Darlington Point. Wagga and Hay, two major towns protected by levees required evacuation, and in other towns levee upgrade works occurred as the flood wave routed downstream. This presentation explores the situation prior to the flood, looks at flooding consequences and also at the complex operational decisions required to be made by the SES during the event.

Speakers

Mark Babister – WMAwater
Peter Cinque – Regional Controller SES
Steve Gray – WMAwater

Details

Time: 5:30pm for 6:00pm
Drinks & nibbles from 5:30pm.
Venue: Engineers Australia Auditorium, Ground Floor 8 Thomas St, Chatswood NSW 2067
Enquiries: Mark Babister, babister@wmawater.com.au

Printable Flyer

ARR Update – June 2012

Project Updates

A number of ARR projects will be presenting papers on project outcomes at the upcoming Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium (Sydney 19-22nd Nov). For more information visit www.hwrs2012.org.au

Project 10 and 15 (People Safety and Flow around buildings)

Project 18 (Interaction of Coastal and Riverine flooding)

Flooding in the lower reaches of many coastal catchments can result from runoff generated by an extreme precipitation event occurring over the catchment, and/or elevated tail water levels attributable to a combination of high astronomical tide and storm surge. In many cases these flood-producing processes are the result of common meteorological conditions, with elevated storm surges being more likely to occur on days with extreme inland precipitation than on other days. This issue, referred to as joint dependence, can result in higher flood levels compared to the case where these processes are independent. The stage 2 report for Project 18 (Interaction of Coastal and Riverine Flooding) has been released for industry comment and is now available on the ARR webpage. http://www.arr.org.au/Website_links/ARR_Project18_Stage2_Report_Final.pdf

This report presents the outcomes of a pilot study into the application of statistical joint probability methods on extreme rainfall and storm surge in the coastal zone, with a view to providing guidance on the degree of interaction between these two physical process, as well as describing how this information should be applied for the estimation of flood risk along the Australian coastline. As part of this study, three separate areas of work were conducted: (1) the compilation of a large dataset of historical storm tide records at a number of locations along the Australian coastline, which when combined with the existing records of daily and sub-daily rainfall, can form the basis of an empirical study on the joint dependence between these variables; (2) a review of the statistical extreme value modelling literature with the objective of developing a model that can identify the strength of dependence between these variables; and (3) the identification of a methodology by which information on dependence between extreme rainfall and storm surge can be translated to a flood variable (such as a flood level or flow rate) at any location along the Australian coastline.

Report Review Process

Project 4 – Continuous rainfall sequences at a Point -Stage 2 report – Expected to be released June/July
Project 5 – Regional Flood Methods Stage 2 Report – Expected to be released June/July
Project 11 – Blockage of Hydraulic Structures – Stage 2 Report

General Updates

Climate Change

Engineers Australia with the Assistance of BoM and CSIRO have developed their climate change research plan which outlines research necessary to define the impact of climate change on design rainfall, losses, temporal patterns for incorporation into the next edition of ARR and beyond.

Call for Reviewers

Australian Rainfall and Runoff has joined LinkedIn. Join the group for discussions and updates on the revision of Australian Rainfall and Runoff.

Presentation at the Manly Environment Centre: Nanotechnology and Ground Water-‘Small’ Solutions to Big Problems

Although not organised by the Panel the presentation came to our attention and may be of interest to our members.

Nanotechnology and Ground Water-‘Small’ Solutions to Big Problems

Presenter: Dr. Denis O’Carroll,

Associate Professor University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Tuesday 5 June at 7pm to celebrate World Environment Day.

Populations in significant parts of Canada and Australia consume groundwater as their domestic water so protection of this resource is essential to their health and well-being. Historically, the subsurface was thought to act as a natural filter of wastes injected into the ground. The potential for these wastes to persist in the subsurface for decades, potentially contaminating drinking water sources was ignored. Non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs), such as perchlorethlyene and dichloroethane, are one class of waste liquids that were subject to improper disposal practices. These liquids are extremely difficult to remove from subsurface aquifers and are the focus of this work. Nanometals are one promising innovative groundwater remediation technology that convert these contaminants into less toxic or nontoxic materials. They are particularly useful because of their size – a single human hair is 500 to 5,000 times as wide. At that scale, they can move through microscopic flow channels in soil and rock, reaching and destroying groundwater pollutants that larger particles cannot. In this study reactive nanometals were developed to degrade subsurface contaminants. Nanometals that were developed in our laboratory were injected at two contaminated site in Ontario, Canada. One of these field trials was part of a The Nature of Things with David Suzuki television special focusing on environmental nanotechnology. Significant contaminant degradation has been observed at both of these test sites.

Dr. O’Carroll is an Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Western Ontario and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. Upon completion of his Ph.D. Dr. O’Carroll completed one postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan and was awarded a NSERC postdoctoral award to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. He was awarded the Province of Ontario 2007 Early Researcher Award and more recently the University of Western Ontario Green Award and the R. Mohan Mathur Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is an Associate Editor for the Vadose Zone Journal and Special Guest Editor for the Journal of Contaminant Hydrology’s special issue: Manufactured Nanomaterials in Subsurface Systems. He has ongoing research projects developing nanometals for contaminated site remediation, investigating the fate of carbon based nanoparticles in the environment, improving our understanding of the fate of waste liquids in the subsurface as well as green roof performance.

Free event at Manly.

Bookings essential.

Contact: Manly Environment Centre 9976 2842.

Hydrology and Society Conference Annoucement

The organisers have just posted an announcement for the 4th EGU Leonardo Conference on the Hydrological Cycle, which is reporoduced below.

Dr Katherine Daniell Confirmed for May Presentation

Date: 22nd May 2012
Location: EA Auditorium, Chatswood
Time: 5:30pm for 6pm start

Drinks and nibbles will be available.

Title: Collaborative approaches to multi-level governance in the water sector

Speaker Bio:
Dr Katherine Daniell, BEng(Civil)(Hons)/BA (Adel.), PhD (ANU/AgroParisTech) MIEAust, is a Research Fellow at The Australian National University Centre for Policy Innovation. Her current research focuses on resolving the challenges associated with implementing multi-level participatory processes to bring about coordinated policy, adaptation strategies and local action for sustainable development. In this field, she has recently worked in France, Australia and Bulgaria on projects related to water governance, risk management and climate change adaptation. Her other research interests include public policy innovation processes, developing decision-aiding theory for multi-accountable groups and encouraging effective inter-organisational collaborations. Katherine is currently a member of the guest editorial team for a special feature in the Journal Ecology and Society on Implementing participatory water management: recent advances in theory, practice and evaluation, a compilation of papers that brings together policy, management and research lessons from the European Unions AquaStress and NeWater Integrated Projects. She is also a corresponding member on the Engineers Australia National Committee of Water Engineering.

Abstract:
This presentation explores this issue through the analysis of two recently implemented multi-level participatory planning processes in Australia and Bulgaria. The Australian process was designed to aid the development of an estuarine risk management plan for a peri-urban region to Sydneys north and the Bulgarian process was developed to aid capacity building for coping with flood and drought risks in the Sofia region. The evaluation results of both multi-level participatory modelling processes and their organisation are used to provide insights into the factors that facilitate the development and implementation of successful processes. It is suggested that careful management of both the participatory modelling process and the participatory organization process are vital if positive on-the-ground outcomes are to be achieved, and that there are bodies of theory and decision-aiding methods available to aid the development of successful multi-level participatory modelling processes. From the analyses and insights, an agenda of further work required to better understand these processes and to drive sustainable and integrated management is developed.

ONLY 2 WEEKS TO GO: “Water and Climate: Policy Implementation Challenges” PRCC conference – Register Now!

The following is a cross post of a conference announcement that may be of interest to our subscribers.

Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference, 1-3 May, Canberra, Australia

Registrations are now open for the ‘Practical Responses to Climate Change’ conference which will be held in Canberra, Australia, at the National Convention Centre from 1 to 3 May 2012. The theme for 2012 is ‘Water and Climate: Policy Implementation Challenges’.

The conference will provide a forum for presenting strategies for managing a variable and changing climate, with a particular focus on the water sector. It will be an opportunity for policy makers, engineers, business leaders, planners and researchers from a range of disciplines to present, listen to and debate the latest research and practice on water and climate policy implementation challenges in urban, catchment and coastal environments. High profile national and international speakers will be brought together with delegates from around Australia and the world for a series of plenary lectures and contributed papers that will ensure a vibrant and interesting program. Discussion panel sessions at the end of each day will be included to allow a forum for debate of key issues and also presentation and discussion of the most recent thinking.

Just some of the speakers include:

James Cameron – CEO, National Water Commission
Wendy Craik AM – Commissioner of the Barriers to Climate Change Adaption Inquiry, Productivity Commission
Phil Cummins – Deputy Commissioner, Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry
Rhondda Dickson – CEO, Murray Darling Basin Authority
Leo Dobes – Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU
Rowan Douglas – CEO Global Analytics, Willis Group & Chairman, WillisRe Research Network
Alistair Driver – National Conservation Manager, UK Environment Agency
Barbara Norman – Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Canberra
Mike Rothery – First Assistant Secretary, National Security Resilience Policy Division, Attorney-General’s Department
Harinder Sidhu – First Assistant Secretary – Adaptation, Science and Communication Division Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
Caroline Sullivan – Assoc Prof Environment, Economics and Policy, Southern Cross University
Rob Vertessy – Acting Director of Meteorology, Bureau of Meteorology

The full program can be downloaded.

The conference is run by Engineers Australia in partnership with the HC Coombs Policy Forum at the Australian National University. Further information on the conference and registrations (including reduced prices for students) can be found at: www.climatechange2012.org

WSRG: Stormwater Managment In Western Sydney

This is a cross post from the EA Western Sydney Regional Group. RSVP is required and please see the PDF flyer for full details.

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