Technical Reports

Role of Irrigation in Urban Water Conservation: Opportunities and Challenges

Proceedings of the National Workshop, 28-29 October 2004, Sydney. Basant Maheshwari and Geoff Connellan (Editors). CRC Irrigation Future Technical Report No. 01/05.

This workshop was one of the first major national forums to address urban irrigation issues at a range of levels. The participants in the workshop were drawn from the science, research, government, water utility, university, industry communities.

The main aim of the workshop was to review the national context of urban irrigation addressing national policy, local government/water utility policies and practices, demand management, drought and climate change issues, use and impact of outdoor water use restrictions and impacts of changing urban irrigation scenarios on business and industry. The workshop also aimed to bring together diverse interests and stakeholders to develop collaborative strategies that address achievable sustainable outdoor water use for urban environments. The workshop focussed on domestic, commercial and municipal outdoor water use for irrigation.

The workshop was designed around an experiential learning cycle, asking the following questions in each of the four phases of the cycle:
• Diverging - What is there?
• Assimilating - What does it mean?
• Converging - What might we do?
• Accommodating - How will we do it?

Day one of the workshop dealt with the first two stages, diverging and assimilating, in what might collectively be called finding out (presentations by different stakeholders). Day two then dealt with the second two stages, converging and accommodating, collectively called taking action (group work).

There were a number of presentations to provide a broad overview on how urban irrigation fits in with ‘whole-of-the cycle’ water management and how it affects the sustainability of urban irrigation and businesses connected with it. In particular, the areas covered during the presentations included the context of the National Water Initiative (NWI), how water authorities are managing urban irrigation, the role of technology to improve urban irrigation practices and successes and limitations of some of the water conservation measures and strategies in different urban centres. Some key points highlighted during the presentations and discussions that followed included:

• Diversity of urban irrigation stakeholders and the need for greater collaboration to influence policy, undertake research, provide relevant and effective education and training and effect behaviour change.
• Acknowledgement of lessons and innovations in sustainable irrigation in the rural sector and the potential to adapt many of these to the urban sector.
• Local government/water utility long-term use of outdoor water restrictions as a key tool in the demand management/water conservation tool box. This has had a very negative impact on irrigation equipment manufacturers, businesses involved in the supply and sales irrigation products, the nursery and garden industry and turf and horticultural industries – all major contributors to the Australian economy. The water restriction approach has also impacted negatively on the amenity of cities, regional centres and towns in aspects as diverse as tourism, sport and recreation.
• Impact of long-term drought and acknowledgement of climate change and reduction in water sources and resources by local government and water utilities.
• National Water Initiative has identified urban irrigation to be an important element for water resources management in Australia, and the NWI is a potential source of funding for collaborative research, education and training activity.

Twenty key issues of importance to urban irrigation were identified by the forum. Out of these issues, four were examined in detail for developing action plans by considering goals for situation improvement, barriers, responsibility, resources required, and performance measurement. These four issues were:

(i) There are no reliable data available on water requirements of different plants suitable for urban landscapes under a range of climatic situations in Australia.
(ii) We need a national approach that facilitates integration and transferability of credible expertise, standards and recognition by all players in the urban irrigation sector.
(iii) We need a national approach to urban irrigation issues for providing better resources to support consistent, strategic and long-term R&D leading to a critical mass of expertise and data collection.
(iv) We know we can deliver much better technology in irrigation management, but there is a need to bring all the science (engineering, agronomy and social) together and change value perceptions amongst urban irrigators to achieve more efficient water use.

Key outcomes and consensus achieved through the workshop include:

• A national perspective on urban irrigation issues and challenges was achieved, particularly related to water conservation strategies being implemented in different capital cities and the impacts of drought on irrigators and industries associated with urban landscapes.
• There is a need to establish appropriate technical, social and economic indices that will define irrigation efficiency in the urban context, since the efficiency indices used in agricultural irrigation are often not very meaningful in urban contexts.
• There is a lack of comprehensive and reliable information on urban irrigation practice and technology, particularly on how much water is used for outdoor irrigation, how effective are different irrigation methods and products and the factors that impact on irrigation water use.
• The forum recognised that solutions for urban irrigation issues need to be developed not only in a technical context but also in social, economic and political contexts.
• Partnerships and relationships were created for collaboration among urban water authorities, research organizations, industry associations and irrigation manufacturers to tackle key issues identified during the workshop. The participants in the forum also agreed on priorities and action plans developed during the workshops and committed to work together to facilitate urban irrigation research and development at the national level. The CRC IF has an important role in providing leadership in the science required to develop sustainable solutions in urban irrigation.
• A number of possible technical strategies and solutions that have potential to improve urban irrigation efficiency and reduce irrigation water use up to 30% have been identified for further action.
• Key research areas for sustainable urban irrigation, particularly to develop irrigation systems and practices that are cost effective and based on sound scientific principles have been identified.
• A working group/committee was formed to assist in the development of a collaborative organisation which will enable ongoing planning, research and development activities, education and training development, and policy input and development at the national level.
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UrbanWorkshopProcOct2004(1).pdf ( 884kb )

Contacts:
Ass Prof Basant Maheshwari
Dr Richard Stirzaker
Mr Tim Waterhouse