News
World Water Day 2022
March 22, 2022
On World Water Day 2022, we celebrate a united appreciation for water with our global colleagues, customers and partners. We also call attention to the personal responsibility of each person to conserve water and protect water quality, especially as we experience varied threats to the sustainability of water supplies.
Individual yet intentional actions can have a powerful impact on quality of life for all of us.
The following projects showcase the dedication of local water management professionals with whom we closely work to address difficult challenges in efficient as well as creative ways:
- AUSTRALIA | After extensive wild fires in 2019 & 2020, the Victoria Dept. of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) expanded water quality monitoring efforts in the most heavily affected areas in greater Melbourne, Australia to determine impacts and runoff risks. In addition, scientific and research stakeholders who help the state agency to evaluate wildfire impacts on regional water quality can now easily access water quality, fire, and climate data from specific sites, catchments or basins.
- CANADA | In the absence of a national flood forecasting system, grassroots efforts by conservation authorities in southern Ontario are known for implementing innovative concepts for hydrological prediction systems. Building on individual hydromet networks and peer-to-peer data sharing, Grand River Conservation Authority, Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, and Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) are automating integration of nowcast and forecast data from public and private sources into flow forecast models. Environmental scientists at ERCA are further considering impacts of storm events and runoff on water quality.
- ENGLAND | In the heart of Manchester, England, atop the 16-story Lowry House, commercial real estate developers Bruntwood Works collaborated with environmental design consultants STRI Group, drainage solutions manufacturer Polypipe Civils and Green Urbanisation and KISTERS to implement the Polysync sustainable urban drainage system (SuDs) that adapts to increases in rainfall intensify and promotes biodiversity.The intelligent blue-green roof stores water and then slowly releases it, either irrigating rooftop gardens or gradually discharging it into the sewage network. The stormwater attenuation system prevents surges in inflow and infiltration (I&I) that challenge the local utility’s wastewater infrastructure and may pose flood risks. In addition to more efficient, real-time water management, the Polysync innovation ingests weather forecast data to prepare for storm events. Ahead of a foreseen storm, precise amounts of water from more compact, space efficient rainwater tanks can be released and efficiently recharged during the anticipated storm.
- US | Based in the Tampa Bay region, South West Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) relies on near-real-time distributed data to maintain resilience to hydroclimatic variability. As the agency has modernized its permitting system to support economic development and population growth, it also sought to modernize its complementary hydrology system and integrate once-disparate datasets on water quality and ecology. Today SWFWMD processes strengthen confidence in the quality of the data utilized for resource evaluation, modelling, watershed management and structure operations. And the district more easily shares information with external collaborators such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service, USGS and consultants.