A modelling tool to inform city scale integrated water cycle management plans Shiroma Maheepala1, Ashis Dey2 and Fareed Mirza1 1CSIRO, 37 Graham Road, Highett, Victoria 3190, Australia;
[email protected];
[email protected] 2eWater, Innovation Centre, University Drive, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia;
[email protected] Abstract Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) is an alternative approach for the traditional management of urban water systems. In recent times, there has been an increased interest for incorporating IWCM principles into urban water systems planning. This is to maximise the productivity, liveability and resilience of urban areas. The first step of adopting IWCM principles is development of an IWCM Plan. However, development of an IWCM plan for a town or a city is a complex task. It requires identifying urban water management options that have the potential to contribute towards achieving IWCM principles, understanding their hydrological, water quality, economic, social and environmental implications, and evaluating them to identify the most effective options that have the potential to maximise IWCM objectives. There are multiple objectives to satisfy. Therefore, there can be many different ways to provide water services, but not all solutions can best meet the objectives. Identifying the most efficient options that can best meet a given set of objectives cannot be done manually. A modelling tool is essential to evaluate the options and identify trade-offs between them. The focus of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of Source, a modelling tool specifically developed to address Integrated Water Resource Management in river basins, to inform the development of IWCM Plans in cities.