Why and how councils might better integrate natural waterway assets into corporate asset management systems.
Links to guidance on managing and maintaining Water Sensitive Urban Design assets.
Managing Stormwater Assets: What role for local government?
Across Australia, local councils manage over $200 billion of land and infrastructure assets - from roads, footpaths, bridges and drains to parks, sporting and cultural facilities.1
Many local municipalities manage complex networks of water assets that deliver services across the urban water cycle, including stormwater conveyance or drainage.
In NSW alone, the calculated 'fair value' of local government drainage assets is over $9 billion2.
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Urban Water Assets include Infrastructure assets such as:
- Constructed stormwater drains, pipes, gutters, pits and channels.
- Canals, ponds, fountains and other water features.
- Stormwater “treatment” assets and Water Sensitive Urban Design devices - swales, constructed wetlands and raingardens.
In addition, Natural assets such as natural streams, wetlands and riparian open space can occur on council land.
Some councils in NSW are Local Water Utilties that manage drinking water and sewage assets. These are not the topic of this website - see the links page.
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Natural Waterway Asset Services
Natural waterways are often simply considered as the 'receiving environment' for stormwater. The role that natural waterways play to convey stormwater - and provide a drainage service - just like built drains - is often overlooked.
Natural waterways also provide less tangible services such as flood impact mitigation as well as social, cultural, recreational and environmental services.
This urban creek (left) conveys stormwater from upstream suburbs and into Lake Macquarie in NSW. The 'riparian zone' that runs along creeks such as this can offer recreational benefits if informal or formal walking tracks or or cycle paths are present. If the riparian corridor is in good ecological condition with remnant native vegetation it may offer visual amenity as well as wildlife and biodiversity benefits. Depending on its location, it may function as a biodiversity 'corridor' that links remnant pockets of urban bushland. Riparian lands can help buffer the negative impacts of development on downshigh value, iconic waterways |
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REFERENCES:
1: Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
2: NSW Department of Local Government.