Coomera Waters
Coomera Waters is part of Gold Coast Water’s Pimpama Coomera Waterfutures Master Plan and incorporates best practice management of stormwater runoff, wastewater systems and household water supply through the use of grassed and vegetated swale bioretention systems, bioretention raingardens, a constructed wetland, smart sewers, dual reticulation systems, rainwater tanks and demand management measures. The constructed wetland and lake system has multiple benefits including flow retardation and flood management, water quality treatment and amenity and educational values. Household water supply sources include rainwater for bathrooms, laundries and hot water systems, recycled water for toilet flushing and outdoor uses, and potable water for kitchen uses and rainwater tank top-up. Coomera Waters is a multi-staged development implemented over several years, and continues to be developed. Monitoring and evaluation of the project has continued since 2003, with emphasis on water quanity and quality monitoring. Monitoring has shown that the WSUD systems are operating well and are capable of significantly reducing pollutant loads and providing a flood protection function.
- Shaun Leinster: design, Nat Parker: water quality and quantity monitoring
- 6 years of research and planning, commencing in 2002.
- Northern Gold Coast region, 40 minutes from Brisbane CBD and 15 minutes from Southport, 7km from the M1 motorway.
- Valued at over $570 million
- Coomera Waters Body Corporate, and some management by GCCC
- Austcorp
- This project has been delivered over several years and involves an extensive design team. Key designers include: Shaun Leinster, Tim Cross, Andrew O'Neill, Alan Hoban, Malcolm Eadie, Sally Boer, Ben Shoo, Aiden Cunningham, Steve Korn, Brad Jones, Andrew Cook, Peter Breen
- Gary Deane Constructions Pty Ltd
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1. Preserving the pre-devloped hydrologic and hydrogeological regime by recharging groundwater and minimising the hydrological change induced by the increased impervious surfaces created by the development.
2. Providing appropriate collection and conveyance systems to prevent nuisance flooding and flood ddamages to property.
3. Treating stormwater runoff to a standar that is suitable for discharge to receiving waters, based on known or perceived environmental, social and economic values associated with the receiving waters and re-use of treated stormwater on the site for: domestic uses using roofwater runoff; and irrigation of public open space areas using ground level treated stormwater runoff.
4. Incorporating the pathways for movement of stormwater into the urban design and landscape of the development as a means of promoting the resource and amenity value of urban stormwater. (SEE CONCEPT DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR WSUD P.105).
Additional general objectives: Due to the environmental setting (i.e. nearby Ramsar wetlands), prolonged drought, water shortages, predictions of rapid population growth, sustainability objectives, and requirements by council for the developer to initiate a development demonstrating no additional impacts to the environment and water in the area, Coomera Waters was designed with Best Practice urban planning and management in mind. In particular, Best Practice stormwater management, demand management, and a dual reticulation scheme for outdoor and some indoor uses, are features of the Coomera Waters development. - Construction of WSUD systems by subcontractors with little prior experience and/or understanding of the system delivery processes. To mitigate the risks associated with this issue, a 3 staged approach to construction and establishment was developed to ensure the timing of the WSUD system application complimented that of the construction phases. Additionally, some barriers were evident with regards to: policy, regulations and approvals; finance and costs; awareness and training; social demand and consumer affordability; technology and design; lack of incentives; risk management and assessment; political and senior management support; and peer cooperation (SEE DAVIS & FARRELLY P.24).
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Extensive baseline and feasability studies carried out by a multidisciplinary design team was beneficial in order to indicate what was required to protect natural systems, and resulted in the design of stormwater drainage and treatment solutions that include Best Practice WSUD Planning and Management principles.
Coomera Waters is part of the PCWFMP, and participants of both projects worked closely together during planning and development; Coomera Waters was often used to test the ideas put forward in the PCWFMP process, which were fed back into the strategy and this allowed for expansion of WSUD at Coomera Waters to include dual reticulation and smart sewer systems. Stakeholder involvement was a key focus and resulted in quite good outcomes.
Specific lessons learnt from this development are: filter media protection using filtercloth and turf was used at Coomer Waters and has been a successful approach for protecting the filter media during construction; and bioretention swales can be successfully incorporated with driveways by providing local access shared driveways. This also reduced the risk of residents filling or changing the conveyance property of the swales. -
2002: named "Champion Project" by Queensland EPA/UDIA;
2005 & 2006: UDIA Awards Excellence - Consultants Excellence 2005 (Cardno and PMM), 2006 (V2i Pty Ltd);
2006: Stormwater Industry Association Qld Stormwater Excellence Awards 2006 - Stormwater Management Projects (>$1 million) Category (Ecological Engineering/Cardno MBK and DBI Design).
Also has Category 5 accreditation with UDIA EnviroDevelopment program in the areas of Ecosystems, Waste, Energy, Water and Community. -
Produced environmental, economic and social benefits to the community and broader region (triple bottom line approach that was successful); stakeholder involvement and passionate, visionary individuals; community consultation and engagement (est of Advisory Committee); the Project Team Alliance which undertook the technical design and planning.
In particular, a multidisciplinary approach and extensive stakeholder consultation at the concept design phase of the project accessed leading-edge WSUD expertise and integrated WSUD principles at every level of the planning process. Best Planning Practices employed include: WSUD on steep and undulating sites; integration of WSUD in multiple use public open spaces; street layout and streetscapes; and waterscapes as public art. One of the important outcomes of the planning and design of Commera Waters was the inclusion and successful collaboration with GCCC throughout.
The Coomera Waters development also successfully and innovatively incorporates the following Best Management Practices: demand management; roofwater (rainwater) harvesting; wastewater treatment for re-use; grass and vegetated swales; bioretention systems; and constructed wetlands. - Coomera Waters set a precedent for Coombabah and Merrimac Water Future projects; and as a component of the PCWFMP helped to expeand the Gold Coast Waterfuture Strategy which was adopted in 2005. Additionally, the inclusive collaboration approach with GCCC has attracted much attention from the industry, and will certainly be replicated or built upon by other projects in Queensland.
