Urbaqua – One Year On

As the year reaches a close and Urbaqua celebrates its’ first birthday, now is a great time to reflect on the year that has passed.

2017 was a big year at Urbaqua

We welcomed new people to our team:

Alex Towler – Environmental Engineer

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Afshin Nikrouh – Senior Hydrologist

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We moved office:

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Swanky new pad in one of Perth’s most thriving inner-city suburbs

 

And we made huge progress on our not-for-profit partnership projects:

Forrestdale Lake Replenishment
Click on the picture to learn about our investigation into replenishing the Ramsar listed Forrestdale Lake!

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WSUD in the Hills
We hosted a workshop with a range of local governments and other stakeholders to look at how WSUD can be better implemented in new development in the Perth hills. The discussion of applying principles of “waterways not wetlands” was very lively! So watch this space for some outcomes in the new year.

Water Quality and POS
We have also been out on site to look at areas of public open space which may have been compromised by water quality treatment areas. We will use this info to inform our technical review of the integration of land use and water quality treatment efficacy in at-source and end-of-pipe water quality systems.

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Land Use and Water Quality
We worked with the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) to review the national and international frameworks for delivery of stormwater quality objectives with the intention of developing recommended water quality targets for different land uses in Western Australia.

Groundwater Steering Group
We provided secretariat support throughout the year to the Land Development in Groundwater Constrained Landscapes Steering Group, participating in workshops and providing recommendations. It is great that we are all working together to trial the Specification: Separation distances for groundwater controlled urban development which has the support of multiple agencies including the Institute of Public Works Engineers, DPLH, DWER and the Western Australian Local Government Association.

And if that isnt’enough, we did a whole lot of other hard work including a sneaky TV appearance from one of our directors!

Happy new year from everyone here at Urbaqua and we look forward to all that 2018 will bring!

chrissy