Professor Tim Fletcher on 'Urban stormwater: Public nuisance or precious resource?
Date: Wednesday 21 September 2011 Download the lecture
Download the presentation Time: 5.30-6.30pm Venue: Room 127-Floor 1, Microbiology-Harold Woodruff Theatre (Building 184), Parkville Enquiries: Lyn Spokes
Urbanisation results in major disturbance to the water cycle, with infiltration and evapotranspiration greatly reduced and the volume and rate of runoff greatly increased. Resulting pollution and degradation of receiving waters is one of the major threats to waterways in Australia and around the world. At the same time, water shortages in cities have resulted in stormwater being considered seriously for the first time as an alternative water resource. This presentation will focus on a new approach, which aims to retain and use stormwater within the catchment, rehydrating urban landscapes, and protecting receiving waters from degradation. It will present as a case study the innovative long-term catchment-scale experiment – the Little Stringybark Creek Project – discussing social, economic and technical lessons for stormwater management.
Biography
Tim Fletcher is regarded internationally as an expert in the impacts of urbanisation on hydrology, water quality and receiving waters. He is highly published in the area and has been a leading contributor in many Australian research initiatives, including the Facility for Advancing Water Biofiltration and the CRC for Catchment Hydrology (and its successor eWater). Tim was also a key member of the team that developed the Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualisation (MUSIC), which is now the standard stormwater modelling tool used throughout Australia and across many countries.
In May 2011, Tim joined the University of Melbourne's School of Land and Environment as an ARC Future Fellow. Prior to this Tim worked at Monash University where in 2009 he was appointed to the highly prestigious Australian and South Pacific elected member on International Water Association / International Association of Hydraulic Research Joint Committee on Urban Drainage. From 2003 to 2007 Tim was the (invited) co-Chair of the UNESCO IHP-VI Project on “Data Requirements for Integrated Urban Water Management”.