Alexandrina Council is committed to implementing water sensitive development and enhancement across the region. A water sensitive community:
- creates places that are resilient, liveable, productive, and sustainable
- provides the water security essential for economic prosperity by efficiently using the diversity of available water resources
- enhances and protects the health of urban waterways and wetlands
- mitigates against flood risk and damage
- creates public spaces that harvest clean and recycle water
- has water management strategies and systems that contribute to biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and the reduction of urban heat island effects
- manages water with regard to its rural origins, coastal destinations, and spiritual significance.
Some of our achievements regarding sustainable water management are:
- The Urban Greening Project of the Strathalbyn Pocket Park, incorporating climate change adaptations though adopting Water sensitive urban design (WSUD) principles, resulted in:
- reduction of urban run-offs to drains hereby reducing Council’s average annual flood damage and costs
- reduction of the microclimate within Strathalbyn microclimate – modelling carried out for Strathalbyn Pocket Park shows that the application of WSUD reduces urban heat at the park significantly by over 20° Celsius
- increased urban green spaces: providing an attractive respite for pedestrians and visitors
- providing a pedestrian-friendly connection between main street precincts: making the city centre shopping more liveable and walkable
- increasing neighbourhood character and residential property values: providing indirect monetary benefits to the residents.
- Strathalbyn Library includes best practice WSUD features: localised stormwater capture provides water for landscaping and a 130,000l underground rainwater tank provides water for toilet flushing.
- Construction and expansion of stormwater storage, cleansing wetlands and redistribution/ re-usage networks within Goolwa, Strathalbyn, Port Elliot, and Mount Compass.
- All major parks and gardens within the Goolwa Township are irrigated using recycled stormwater or wastewater. Mains Water Saving = approx. 45ML per year.
- We maintain a total of 31 gross pollutant traps which remove pollutants from stormwater before it enters the region’s waterway.
Above : Strathalbyn Pocket Park: From a bare, hot area to a green and much cooler park adopting Water Sensitive Urban Design.