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PART E – WATER SENSITIVE URBAN DESIGN

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21. OVERVIEW

Following identification of land broadly suitable for a development (Part D), the form ofthe development can be based on water (or environmentally) sensitive urban designprinciples. These principles are based on minimising the impacts of development on thetotal water cycle and maximising the multiple use benefits of a stormwater system.

The overall goals of water sensitive urban design are:• preservation of existing topographic and natural features, including watercourses and

wetlands;• protection of surface water and groundwater resources; and• integration of public open space with stormwater drainage corridors, maximising

public access, passive recreational activities and visual amenity.

The broad principles of water sensitive urban design include:• minimising impervious areas• minimising use of formal drainage systems (eg pipes)• encouraging infiltration (where appropriate)• encouraging stormwater reuse

Water sensitive urban design principles can be adopted at a range of development scales,including:• the overall extent of proposed development areas;• the road and block layout within a development; and• development forms on individual blocks.

Potential water sensitive design techniques include:• inclusion of natural habitats (eg watercourse) within the development area, primarily

within open space areas. This includes the provision of buffer zones adjacent towatercourses and other waterbodies;

• integration of major (above ground) stormwater systems as positive features within theurban design rather than purely functional elements to be ‘hidden’ (eg avoiding backfences adjacent to drainage reserves);

• adoption of water sensitive road development standards. These can included reducedpavement widths and the use of grass swales in place of kerb and gutter and pipedstormwater drains;

• use of compact development forms. For example, reducing individual block sizes andincreasing communal open space (and stormwater drainage) areas to achieve the samedensity as a standard residential development; and

• water sensitive car park design. This can include substitutes for impervious surfacessuch as pavers or reinforced grass, particularly in infrequently used parking areas.Runoff can also be managed by grass swales instead of kerb and gutter and pipeddrainage systems, and the infiltration of runoff can also be considered.

Further details on water sensitive design techniques can be found in:

• Better Drainage: Guidelines for the Multiple Use of Drainage Systems, Department ofPlanning.

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• Planning and Management Guidelines for Water Sensitive Urban (Residential) Design,Whelans, et al, Western Australia

• Sustainable Water: Best Practices, Hornsby Shire Council.

• Site Planning for Urban Stream Protection, Metropolitan Washington Council ofGovernments.

Additional resource material is noted in the Bibliography.

22. EXAMPLES

Figure 8 illustrates the contrast between the conventional treatment of a ‘drainage reserve’and the incorporation of a stormwater system within open space.

Other examples of water-sensitive urban design are presented in Figures 2 8. Thesefigures illustrate:• a technique for incorporating a ‘natural’ channel system in a residential area (Figure 9)• an approach for runoff management from a business park (Figure 10)• stormwater management techniques for urban bushland (Figure 11)• approaches to stormwater management from a district park and sports field (Figure 12

and Figure 13); and• an approach to stormwater management from a single residential dwelling (Figure

14).

Figure 8 -- Conventional and water-sensitive stormwater systems(after Whelans et al 1993)

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Figure 9 – Integration of a watercourse in a residential area

Figure 10 - Water-sensitive business park

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Figure 11 - Stormwater management of urban bushland

Figure 12 - Water-sensitive district park

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Figure 13 - Water-sensitive sports field

Figure 14 - Water-sensitive dwelling

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Camp Dresser & McKees, 1993. California Storm Water Best Management PracticeHandbooks: Municipal, prepared for California Stormwater Quality Task Force.

Department of Planning, 1992. Outdoor Recreation and Open Space: Planning Guidelines forLocal Government.

Department of Planning, 1993. Better Drainage, Guidelines for the Multiple Use of DrainageSystems.

Hornsby Shire Council, 1998. Sustainable Water: Best Practices.

Lawrence I and Reynolds C, 1995. ‘Integrated Urban Water Planning’, proceedings,Second International Conference on Urban Stormwater Management, Melbourne, IEAust NatConf Publn No 95/3.

Marshall Macklin Monaghan Ltd, 1994. Stormwater Management Practices Planning andDesign Manual, prepared for Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy, Canada.

McHarg IL, 1969. Design with Nature, Doubleday/Natural History Press, New York.

National Capital Planning Authority, 1993. Designing Subdivisions to Save and ManageWater, Building Better Cities Program Occasional Paper Series 1, Paper 3.

Schueler TR, 1997. Site Planning for Urban Stream Protection, Metropolitan WashingtonCouncil of Governments, Washington DC.

Tourbier JT and Westmacott R, 1981. Water Resources Protection Technology: A Handbook ofMeasures to Protect Water Resources in Land Development, Urban Land Institute,Washington, D.C.

Water Environment Federation and American Society of Civil Engineers, 1998. UrbanRunoff Quality Management.

Whelans, Halpern Glick Maunsell, Thompson Palmer and Murdoch University, 1994Planning and Management Guidelines for Water Sensitive Urban (Residential) Design, preparedfor the Department of Planning and Urban Development, Water Authority of WesternAustralia and the Environment Protection Authority.

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