Alternative Water Plan for Sydney Peter J Coombes, Michael Smit and Michael Barry Sydney is the premier Australian city and it faces profound urban water challenges. Sydney must manage its infrastructure efficiently and sustainably to compete internationally as a Global city. Sydney has a strongly performing water services sector but has a traditional approach to […]

Systems Frameworks of Big Data: Averages, Economics and Policy Peter J Coombes at the GK Symposium 12 – 13 June 2019 at Noahs at Newcastle Beach Bottom up systems analysis highlights the illusion of averages and economic opportunities for development of government policy for water resources The question Urban areas are complex systems that involve […]

Making of the paper: Planning resilient water resources and communities: the need for a bottom up systems approach
Michael E Barry and Peter J Coombes. Impact of averages on water modelling.
This paper was awarded the GN Alexander Medal by the Engineers Australia National Committee on Water Engineering. This Medal is usually awarded every 18 months for the best paper in hydrology and/or water resources published in an Engineers Australia publication.
This article presents an overview of the processes leading to making this journal paper.

Peer reviewed publication and presentation by Dr Peter Coombes at Stormwater 2018 conference. Changing the way we think about stormwater management – linking impervious areas to stormwater tariffs. “However, consider the extra motivation this would provide – if we knew we were paying for concrete  – there’d be a real economic benefit to reducing impervious areas and increasing gardens and rainwater harvesting with all the obvious benefits. This is a real shift in our thinking”

This research project builds on previous publications by the author that utilised a Systems Framework of historical big data from government agencies and utilities to identify the water and stormwater benefits of property scale water conservation measures for Australian cities. Bottom up systems analysis is used  quantify the stormwater resources and economic value of  stormwater infrastructure for Greater Melbourne.

Supporting Policy Development – How to Land Policy Decisions in Water &The Environment
Workshop on Thursday 20 September 2018 at the World Water Congress at the Big Site Tokyo Japan. Chaired by Trevor Bishop from Ofwat and Rob Fuller from WaterAid International. Keynote speakers: Dr Peter Coombes from Urban Water Cycle Solutions on Translating Science to Policy, and MK Madhavan from WaterAid India on Translating Strategy to Policy