Roger Attwater

The challenges to urban agriculture in the Sydney basin and lower Blue Mountains region of Australia

The western edge of the Sydney basin in Australia has been one of the major sources of fruit and vegetables for the Sydney markets. A rapid expansion of urban development in this region has caused a significant reduction in the number of small farms and market gardens. Urban and peri-urban agriculture in the region also provides an important buffer between urban development and the neighbouring Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The decline in urban agriculture can be attributed to various causes including urban expansion and economies of scale. This paper presents an overview of a four-year project that explored options for supporting these vulnerable farming communities both in terms of the regulatory factors and economic and environmental sustainability. The role of agri-industries as landscape buffers to the neighbouring World Heritage Area was investigated in relation to resilience, communities of practice, and ecosystem services. The study developed tools, in conjunction with targeted representative landholders, that can assist in enhancing the economic and environmental resilience of these agri-industries. These tools included an integrated bio-system approach to waste using organic waste conversion, and the use of landscape function analysis to monitor across farms to help address erosion, loss of nutrients and inefficient water management.

Engaging communities of practice for risk communication in the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme

Sustainable conceptions of urban water management include the recycling of treated effluent and urban stormwater as valued resources. The future acceptability and confidence in these initiatives depends upon pluralist approaches for communicating and managing associated risks. The case study described here focuses on risk communication and management associated with the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme near Sydney, Australia. Action research strategies with communities of practice have contributed to the co-construction of effective risk management strategies. These strategies are both informed by differentiated perspectives and practices, and supported by a network of coordinated information. The focus on communities of practice is discussed in relation to pragmatic approaches to action research and systemic inquiry, along with the implications for the role of universities in engaging with the complex issues of sustainability.

Regrowth of enterococci indicator in an open recycled-water impoundment.

The purpose of the research was to assess the potential for enterococci faecal-indicator to regrow in recycled water while under environmentally-open storage. Regrowth would result in false-positive indicator results with possible downgrading, rejection or over-chlorination of recycled water. The research setting was the main 93-megalitre storage impoundment of the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme in Sydneys North West, receiving tertiary treated (chlorinated) effluent from the Richmond sewage treatment plant. The water is used to irrigate horticultural food crops, pasture for dairy cattle, sheep, deer and horses, and for the maintenance of lawns and sports fields. Highly significant positive relationships were noted in multivariate analysis between indicator counts and the growth factors atmospheric temperature and UV254 unfiltered as proxy for total organic carbon (p=0.001 and 0.003 respectively). Nitrate and phosphate did not show significant relationships suggesting that these nutrients may not be growth-limiting at levels found in recycled water. Rainfall and wild duck presence did not appear to have an impact on enterococcal growth in the study. The overall predictive power of the regression model was shown to be highly significant (p=0.001). These findings will assist in recycled water monitoring and the revision of guidelines, with potential for the reduction of the chlorination by-product burden on the environment. A formula derived for the relationship between the indicator and atmospheric temperature could be used in food-production and climate-change modelling.

Opportunities for stormwater and wastewater investment in the Hawkesbury-Nepean

This article reports the outcomes of a pilot socioeconomic study commissioned by the former Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Trust to investigate the question of investment in stormwater and wastewater management in the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, western Sydney. A systemic approach was taken in this pilot study through combining: a broad review of institutional trends; preliminary analyses of the comparative cost-effectiveness of a range of management practices; and focus groups with stakeholder representatives. Preliminary results included the identification of a complementary suite of institutional and socio-economic opportunities. Opportunities discussed include: the cost-effectiveness of integrated stormwater treatments close to the source in urban catchments; offset arrangements between point and diffuse sources as a vehicle for sustainable investment; economic as against financial instruments in relation to rates and levies; and the need for regional coordination and brokerage grounded upon ownership by local government.

Measuring the Environment: The Availability and Use of Environmental Statistics in Australia

This article reports the results of a study of the availability and use of environmental statistics in Australia. It is based on an extensive survey of users. The results show that people working in the areas of biodiversity, mining, coastal waters and urbanisation are the most frequent users of environmental statistics, and that public servants and private consultants are particularly dependent on them. While a majority of users are reasonably satisfied with the availability and usefulness of environmental statistics, 30 per cent believe that their needs are met poorly or very poorly. More than a third of users would like to be able to consult a single on-line web site to answer their questions about the availability of environmental statistics.

Property Entitlements and Land Reform in Upland Thai Catchments

Issues involved in processes of land reform in degraded upland catchment areas in Thailand include property entitlements over local resource complexes, and the roles of local communities, State agencies and commercial stakeholders. An inquiry into collaborative action between stakeholders in an upland Thai catchment has been used as an example of the process of defining property entitlements to the bundles of opportunities for management. A processual view of property is used, in which interests are expressed as claims and ultimately translated into entitlements which specify rights to streams of benefits, and associated duties, in relation to particular resource complexes. This is developed in terms of the bundles of opportunities for collective and collaborative management in upland catchments, particularly in relation to common-pool resources. Soft systems methodology was used as a guide for a process aimed at identifying mutually beneficial improvements in management between village, agency and commercial stakeholders. The collaborative actions which have developed are all cases whereby particular bundles of property entitlements and related duties have been defined through a process of the expression of claims and identification of mutually beneficial arrangements. These have included: local collective management of a water supply; partnerships relating to elements of conservation and production within the local agroecosystems; and socially legitimate patronage to support formal protocols of land reform. This process is discussed in terms of the expression of interests and translation into entitlements through partnerships supported by multiple lines of social and bureaucratic legitimation.