Use of low quality water: an integrated approach to urban stormwater management (USM) in the Greater Metropolitan Region of Sydney (GMRS)

Abstract

Cities, governments and communities worldwide must now confront the issue of urban stormwater management (USM). This paper discusses USM in regard to the Greater Metropolitan Region of Sydney (GMRS), State of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. In order to a) improve the water supply in the region and b) mitigate the impact of urban stormwater on Sydney’s coastal areas, there must be devised a regional urban stormwater management strategy. This will integrate urban development, coastal pollution control and water conservation. Government policy, water pricing reform, and public commitment are core components of the strategy. The paper reviews relevant practices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Adelaide, and Shanghai which could be of use to the GMRS.

Keywords:

• Urban stormwater management
• Integrated approach
• The Greater Metropolitan Region of Sydney

Acknowledgements

I greatly appreciate the constructive and clear comments made by Dr Michael Brett‐Crowther, Professor John Sandeman, and other editors and referees on this paper. Also, I would like to express my thanks to Professor John Connell, Professor Andy Short and Ms Rowena Butland, School of the Geosciences, the University of Sydney; Dr Estelle Dryland, Department of Anthropology, Macquarie University; Dr Vladimir Strezov, Graduate School of the Environment, Macquarie University; Ms Merran Butler, of the Australian Bureau of Statistics; Ms Marie Egerrup and Mr Matthew Dasey, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation; Mr Scott Machar, Manly Council, NSW; and Professor Bernhart Owen, Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University for their valuable encouragement, comments and information.