Posts by Urbaqua
Take your dog to work day – 24 June 2022
Otis is our resident puppy and he brings a smile to everyone’s face that enters the office. If you can’t find him at first, just follow his trail. His favourite playthings are cat toys and paper. Otis is very happy about his work arrangement. He enjoys a daily commute and gets to spend time under…
Read MoreHappy Earth Day 22 April 2022 from Urbaqua
Earth Day is here and the theme for 2022 is Invest in Our Planet. Why? Because a green future is a prosperous future. What each of us does today, and how we do it, has a ripple effect on our ecosystems. So, what is happening around the world this week – https://www.earthday.org/ Lets look at…
Read MoreWorld Water Day 2022
World Water Day is held on the 22nd of March every year and is an annual United Nations Observance, started in 1993, that focuses on the importance of water. This year the theme is: Groundwater – Making the Invisible Visible When we talk about water, especially in urban environments we usually focus on surface water…
Read MoreBlue-Banded Bees
Our field scientists were lucky enough to find blue bees buzzing around a couple sites recently, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to share some information about these lesser-known native Australian species. Blue-banded bees (Amegilla species) were spotted at locations in Lancelin and Byford, two very different sites geographically and geologically. The…
Read MoreThe Hottest Summer On Record
As Perth swelters through another heat wave and power bills soar from excessive air conditioner use it’s worth reflecting on just how hot this summer has been and what it means for urban life in this oven of a city. January was hot. Officially the warmest January on record, with a mean maximum temperature of…
Read MoreIts World Wetlands Day – 2 February 2022
(and what a cool date!!) We thought you might like a few little stories about wetlands around us to help spend some time thinking about the topic of the day, so….. Find out what is happening around the world – Value|Manage|Restore|Love|Wetlands Closer to home, ever wondered what Perth was like before it was a City?…
Read MorePERTH’S WILD WEATHER
So far, winter in Perth has felt freezing for most, and we’ve been battered and washed away with a series of storms throughout July and the beginning of August. So, being curious creatures here at Urbaqua, we wanted to investigate! Has this weather been out of the ordinary for Perth? It’s definitely felt a lot…
Read MoreThe pawfect new addition to the team
Urbaqua has welcomed a new pup to the office! 3 month old Bonnie the Pomeranian has started her role under the supervision of the more experienced and significantly larger Mika. Bonnie’s new to the urban water scene but brings a whole heap of energy to the office in a tiny package! Her favourite activities include…
Read More#40under40WA
The WA 40under40 Awards is Western Australia’s pre-eminent program for recognising and celebrating the state’s leading entrepreneurs, innovators, and future business leaders under the age of 40. The awards recognise not only personal determination, commercial drive and business success, but also acknowledges philanthropic and community contributions. This year’s awards also marked the 20th anniversary of…
Read MoreHow do you design a good monitoring program?
One of Urbaqua‘s resident Environmental Engineers, Halinka Lamparski, had the opportunity to present her ideas on just how to do this IN PERSON at the 2021 WA Inland Water Symposium held a couple of weeks ago (17th February 2021 @ Burswood on Swan). The event was organised in partnership by the AWA, ECA and EIANZ…
Read MoreThe great Urbaqua/Coterra water conjunction
Urbaqua has officially expanded its ranks by welcoming in the Coterra water team, headed by Principal Environmental Engineer Rebecca Epworth. Rebecca will also be joining the Urbaqua board as Director. She will also be joined by her now official office dog and talisman, Mika. The Coterra water team brings with them a wealth of experience…
Read MoreWorld Wetlands Day – happy 50th anniversary!
Next Tuesday (2 February 2021) is officially the 50th anniversary of World Wetlands Day – celebrating the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Since 1997, World Wetlands Day has been used to raise public awareness of wetland values…
Read MoreA new start: Happy 2021!
Urbaqua is back in the office and welcomes one and all to 2021! It would be easy to be cynical after one of the most painful years in recent memory, and obviously all our problems are by no means going to magically disappear just because of the change of a digit. However, let us make…
Read MoreA low carbon future for WA
The long-awaited Western Australian Climate Policy was released earlier this week; it sets out the State Government’s plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and a climate-resilient, prosperous low-carbon future. It focuses on six key areas: Clean manufacturing (creating jobs) and future industries; Transforming energy generation and use; Storing carbon and caring…
Read MoreTurtle Island
Turtle Island is a place 1,900 km way up north of Perth in Cone Bay, and approximately 200 km north east of Broome. It is a beautiful little island that has also been operating as a work base for pearling and finfish aquaculture since 1988. The island itself includes offices, accommodation and facilities for staff…
Read MoreHydropolis 2020
Stormwater WA‘s annual showpiece, the Hydropolis conference (10-11 November 2020), was finally held (in person!) after a number of COVID and other-related delays. The conference’s theme ‘Water Sensitive Stormwater is Business As Usual– what is next for Perth?’ was reflected by a diverse range of presentations, speakers, projects, and research. The conference was appropriately opened…
Read MoreKaya! It’s NAIDOC week
Kaya (hello)! – how many words do you know of the Aboriginal language group from your part of Australia? If you happen to live in the southwest of Australia you should definitely have a look at the South West Aboriginal Land & Sea Council (SWALSC) Noongar word list or the Noongar Boodjar Language Cultural Aboriginal…
Read MoreDry: free from moisture or liquid; not wet or moist (see Perth).
As the mercury in our thermometers here in spring-y Perth start to expand, and the almost-summer warm air starts to drift into town, the (sort of) rains of our winter are a distant memory. While it’s a delightful reason to relax in our parks and beaches whenever we want (sorry Melbourne), something many of us…
Read MoreHotham-Williams all wRAPped up
Urbaqua has had the opportunity to work closely with the Peel Harvey Catchment Council (PHCC) this last year on a number of partnership projects monitoring and assessing the health of major rivers in the Peel-Harvey catchment. One of the projects that finished up recently was the Hotham-Williams Rivers Action Plan (RAP). The Hotham and Williams…
Read MoreWorld Rivers Day!
World Rivers Day is a global celebration of our waterways that occurs on the fourth Sunday of September every year. This year it was on 29 September 2020 (we missed it by a day!). However, it is still worth taking a moment to reflect on the many values our rivers provide us, and our responsibility…
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