The infrastructure costs, water quality and environmental concerns associated with continuing with the current urban water cycle paradigm are increasing to unsustainable levels. It is argued that a systems approach is required to understand and hence find optimum solutions for urban water cycle management that includes decentralized approaches used to supplement to current centralized management methods.
Dr Coombes has spent more than 30 years dedicated to the development of systems understanding of the urban, rural and natural water cycles with a view to finding optimum solutions for the sustainable use of ecosystem services, provision of infrastructure and urban planning.
Application of joint probability to respond to climate change and avoid cumulative extreme assumptions Presentation the Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium at the Hilton George Street Sydney by Professor Peter J Coombes at 12:20 pm on Wednesday 15 November 2023....
Urban flood risks, water law and insurance: The intersection of emerging science, practice and authority By Professor Peter J Coombes Published in Precedent issue 178 - September/October 2023, Journal of the Australian Lawyers Alliance This article discusses the...
Results from two decades of accumulated big data and systems analysis of Greater Melbourne and Sydney was investigated to develop insights into the resilience of each city. The key resilience parameters are distributed water sources and conservation in an urban water market, household welfare, government policy and regulation, pricing strategies, total dam storage and supply of desalinated water. These parameters have different levels of impact and significance across the two cities. Further studies are needed to better define the attributes and benefits of these parameters.