Bruce L Simmons

Living on the Edge: A Complexity-Informed Exploration of the Human–Water Relationship

Humanity and water represent an intersection of two natural cycles: the human economy and the earths hydrological system. Although water is vital for human survival and growth, the point where human endeavor intersects is the most variable and uncertain in the hydrological system. Significant spatial and temporal variation of evaporation and rainfall has led to a number of responses aimed at increasing certainty of access to water. However, many of the worlds civilizations can attest that the very act of reducing water uncertainty by technical means (capture, storage, and irrigation) has ultimately led to greater uncertainty and civilization failure. This article explores the concept of living with water as a complex entity, inseparably connected with all three levels of existential complexity—individual, social, and ecological—rather than as a commodity, which has led to our current uncertain status.

Role and Complexity of Integrated Water-Resources Management for Periurban Landscapes in Australia

Water is vital to life, agriculture, commerce, industry, energy, and virtually all processes in nature. Living beings, the environment, and ecosystems, for the most part, are water. It is no surprise that many societies in the world regard water as a gift from God and worship it. The same applies to the carriers of water—rivers. For example, the Ganges in India is revered, and its waters are used to perform all religious ceremonies. It is therefore essential that this vital resource is properly used and managed. Although water is a renewable resource, its availability is finite, and more important, it is not always available where it is needed and when it is needed. This means that the water available for consumption is limited in most places and most of the time. Compounding the problem of limited water availability is the degrading water quality. Looking at the global picture, nearly two-thirds of the global population resides in water-stressed areas. The scarcity of water is being further exacerbated by a growing population, rising standard of living, changing land use, urbanization, increasing economic activity, current lifestyles, and climate change. Unless water is used efficiently, recycled, reused, treated, and managed properly, it is doubtful that there will be enough water for everybody in the decades ahead. Fortunately, water is receiving a lot of attention from all quarters these days. At the center of this attention is the concept of integrated water-resources management (IWRM). IWRM has been discussed for nearly half a century and is not a new concept. However, what is new in the IWRM paradigm these days is getting a renewed emphasis on bringing the varied stakeholders (domestic users, farmers, policymakers, planners, managers, and others) together and gaining a greater appreciation of local peculiarities. In other words, there is no such thing as one IWRM model fits all. IWRM is increasingly emerging as an accepted alternative to the largely failed sector-by-sector and topdown management style of water-resource management of the past. IWRM involves management through a participatory process. Fundamental to this process is the sound understanding of a region’s water resources and bringing stakeholders together to develop ways to meet the region’s long-term water needs while maintaining essential ecological services and economic benefits. The key tasks in IWRM may include developing an integrated view of water resources at the regional level; assessing different water supplies for best possible uses and least environmental impacts; managing demand through strategic policies and innovative technologies; providing equitable access to water resources through participatory and transparent governance and management; establishing improved and integrated policy, regulatory, and institutional frameworks; and water authorities and stakeholders working together in decision-making processes. The objective of this article is to discuss the issues and challenges faced when undertaking IWRM for a periurban landscape such as the Western Sydney region in New South Wales, Australia.

Sustaining public open spaces through water recycling for irrigation : developing decision support tools and framework

Sydneys water consumption is at critical levels. Severe drought and population increases have placed pressures on existing water sources resulting in restrictions that affect the community. Whilst there is significant environmental, social and economic value associated with public open space, maintenance of these areas have been severely affected by water restrictions, and in some cases, local government has reduced the use of such areas. Replacing traditional potable water supplies with alternative sources is an option, yet there are several issues and liabilities that need to be considered. In this paper, we examine different issues that impact the use and sustainability of water use for public open spaces in the context of the Sydney Metropolitan Area (SMA). We then review the need for an appropriate decision support tool and discuss the potential benefits of developing a decision framework to support the use of alternative water sources for public open space irrigation.

Encouraging Environmentally and Socially Responsible Practices Through Well-designed Certification: A Case Study of the Camping and Caravan Industry, Australia

The tourism industry has developed a range of voluntary initiatives such as certification programmes as a means to improving environmental performance. The plethora of programmes and their criteria, benchmarks, monitoring and assessment methods raise questions of credibility. A WTO study conducted in 2001 revealed over 7,000 certified products worldwide. Of 500 voluntary initiatives examined, only 59 certification/ecolabel programmes had the basic requirements of a credible programme. This study produced a series of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of these initiatives. This article highlights how a major certification initiative for the New South Wales Camping and Caravan Industry Association (CCIA), Australia uses the critical elements from UNEP, WTO publications, the Mohonk Agreement, certification programmes, practitioners and tourism operators worldwide to produce a programme that is more effective, efficient and credible. It specifically focuses on how the new ‘Gumnut Award’ has tailored the programme to the needs of the industry, and that the fundamental process of stakeholder involvement is crucial to the success of any quality assurance programme. Engagement with stakeholders provides a greater understanding of their needs, attitudes and barriers to implementation and their willingness to participate, resulting in a more effective mode of delivery. CCIA NSW acknowledged the significant social, cultural, ecological and economic impacts on local communities. With an exceptionally high uptake by the industry to date, this paper benchmarks this programme against current best practice.

Development of Future Management Options for the Hawkesbury River

The Hawkesbury River is a valuable community asset. In the last 200 years there have been continuous and significant changes which have resulted in declining river health and impacts on community values. Management processes which purport to arrest this decline and provide protection or improvements to the quality of the Hawkesbury River were reviewed in light of community concerns and available water quality analysis data. Clear responses in waterway condition can be linked to catchment activities and some management processes to improve river health. It appears however, many such management practices have not been assessed or are not capable of assessment. The development of a framework to assess future management proposals for protection and remediation of the Hawkesbury River is proposed.

System Harmonisation of Land and Water Resources in Peri-urban Regions: Lessons from Western Sydney, Australia

In this study, Western Sydney region was used as the ‘laboratory’ for understanding issues and options to harmonise rapidly changing peri-urban landscapes and identifying options for regional water security and land use planning. The main focus of the study was to engage and work with a range of stakeholder and government agencies to identify issues that impact on the use of potable water, stormwater, effluent and groundwater. The study involved transdisciplinary research and system harmonisation approach to understand the role of water in primary production, identifying opportunities and constraints as influenced by water quantity and quality, analysing market options and mechanisms to improve water productivity and environmental outcomes, review water policies, institutional barriers and community aspirations and identifying changes needed to improve water security. In this chapter, we discuss how the system harmonisation approach was applied to a peri-urban catchment in the Western Sydney region and a number of lessons that emerged from this study and the relevance of this approach to engaging stakeholders and government agencies and carrying out transdisciplinary research in peri-urban landscapes.

Wastewater Management Journey – From Indus Valley Civilisation to the Twenty-First Century

A comprehensive review of the past and present urban wastewater management is presented in this chapter, including shortcomings of our conventional centralised management systems. A ‘soft path’ for wastewater management is presented as a sustainable alternative. Such an approach emphasises on small-scale management systems, incorporates fit-for-purpose water reuse and recommends the use of diverse, locally appropriate and commonly decentralised infrastructures.

Fostering Responsible Tourism Business Practices Through Collaborative Capacity-Building

This chapter reviews two collaborative research and development projects in Australia, both focused on improved sustainability outcomes by small businesses. Each was funded by the NSW State Government, and built on established partnerships between university researchers and a local government body (Manly Council, New South Wales), and the researchers and a tourism industry association (Caravan & Camping Industry Association NSW). A theoretical model of engagement and state government policy on sustainable development underpins the approach used to analyze the case studies. Both the local government area and the caravan and camping industry have benefited from a number of financial incentives. Industry champions have been highly influential, while an extension model of capacity building and training has also contributed to the successful strategies. The common barriers to adoption of environmental management systems by industry operators who chose not to participate have been concerns about time, expertise, cost and bureaucracy. These case studies demonstrate the importance of collaborative partnerships; of context-specific strategies and approaches; and of adaptive management models to include the evaluation of both success and failure of process.

Integrating alternative water sources in urbanised environments.

The need to use alternative sources of water for irrigation has arisen from the current shortages of potable water within Australia. As a result local governments are investigating alternative water sources (treated effluent, stormwater and groundwater) for irrigating urban playing fields and open spaces to cope with times of water shortages. In this paper, using Manly Local Government as a case study, the quality of treated effluent, stormwater, groundwater and the receiving water was analysed, to determine the potential impacts of capturing and using these alternative sources on the local environment. Systems analysis was used to identify the connectivity between the various water sources. It was observed that the injection of stormwater and effluent into the local water cycle could potentially pose a risk to the environmental, including ground and surface waters which are estuarine influenced systems. Stormwater was found to be of a variable quality and therefore requires constant monitoring to ensure no contamination events (such as road spill) enter the system. Groundwater salinity levels also required constant monitoring to prevent ingress of saline estuarine water. It also appears that as long as appropriate safeguards are put in place, the use of alternative water sources could help improve the local water cycle processes of urbanised catchments.