Smarter Cleaner Sydney Harbour

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Stormwater pollution is a significant problem for coastal waterways and the wider marine estate.  Pollutants such as litter and sediment are washed off urban areas during rainfall and conveyed via the stormwater drainage network to receiving waterways.  This pollution is not only unsightly but a threat to marine life and public health.

Trapped litter in Duck Creek, Granville (Source: SCCG)

A community survey conducted as part of the development of the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy identified stormwater as the greatest threat to the marine estate.  Similarly, stormwater pollution was identified as the highest priority threat to Sydney Harbour as part of the scoping of the Greater Sydney Harbour Coastal Management Program.

This problem has long been acknowledged.  In response, local councils and other stormwater managers have for many decades installed gross pollutant traps (GPTs) on the stormwater network to trap pollutants before they reach the waterways.  There are several thousand GPTs now in operation across Sydney and more continue to be installed.

Trash rack style GPT (Source: Stormwater NSW (2020), Guidelines for the maintenance of stormwater treatment measures)

Stormwater treatment technology has evolved considerably in this time.  GPT maintenance practices, however, continue to rely on physical inspections and fixed schedules that determine when GPTs are cleaned, irrespective of how full the GPT actually is.  That is, cleaning may occur before the unit is full, leading to higher maintenance costs, or may occur after the unit is full, meaning pollution may have bypassed the GPT.

Cleaning of a below-ground GPT (Source: Stormwater NSW (2020), Guidelines for the maintenance of stormwater treatment measures)

Improving GPT maintenance practice through smart technology

Sydney Coastal Councils Group (SCCG) and Parramatta River Catchment Group (PRCG) in partnership with CSIRO and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA), recently completed an innovative trial of self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology (SMART) to improve how GPTs are deployed and managed. This trial involved:

Waterway cameras: Outdoor trail cameras were installed over waterways to take video footage of floating litter. This footage was subsequently analysed using artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning technology to provide data on litter types, quantities, and sources.

GPT sensors: Low cost, low power networked sensors were installed in GPTs to report on the quantity of pollutants collected.

Decision support tool: A tool comprising a computational model, user interface and message notification system, was developed to analyse input data such as flow, GPT capacity and resource availability to help stormwater managers determine the optimum time and resources to clean a GPT.

Five councils are involved in this trial: Northern Beaches, Woollahra, Blacktown, City of Parramatta and Canterbury-Bankstown. Channel 7 recently featured the Smarter Cleaner Sydney Harbour. Watch it here!

The project was supported by the NSW Smart Places Acceleration Program with a $545,000 grant from the NSW Digital Restart Fund.  SOPA acted as the NSW state agency project co-partner given Sydney Olympic Park has one of the highest concentrations of GPTs in Sydney.

Some 36 battery operated cameras were installed by SCCG and council staff across five local government areas and Sydney Olympic Park between July and October 2023. Approximately 12 terabytes of video data were collected over five to six months and subsequently analysed using an AI machine learning model. The model was trained to recognised 24 categories of floating litter and 10 material types. Plastic packaging and polystyrene was the dominant litter type however only 1% of images analysis contained litter. However, these data need to be correlated with rain events during which litter captured in the catchments is released. This would determine how representative the data are regarding the relatively cleanliness of urban waterways around Sydney Harbour.

Some 21 low-power sensors utilising long range, wide area network (LoRaWAN) technology were installed in GPTs across four LGAs and Sydney Olympic Park, together with 10 network gateways. Unfortunately issues arose with the connection between the LoRaWAN sensors and network gateways preventing collection of any meaningful data. Some 16 additional sensors using 4G mobile phone technology were subsequently installed with collected data showing GPTs increasing in fullness.

Finally, a decision support tool was developed that sought to analyseis and optimise factors such as flow predictions, initial GPT fullness, resource availability and budget to predict the optimum time to clean a GPT.

The project has successfully concluded. CSIRO is now looking for opportunities to undertake a larger trial at other locations across Australia.

Examples of installed waterway cameras (left) and GPT sensors (right)

Regional Implementation Strategy for Water Quality / Environmental Monitoring

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http://www.monitor2manage.com.au/

A web-based toolkit and guide to water quality monitoring developed by SCCG.

Monitoring, Evaluating and Reporting Climate Change Adaptation in Local Government

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Aim and Objectives

The research is based on the ‘Systems Approach in Metropolises’ project and aims to explore opportunities for mainstreaming adaptation through monitoring, evaluation and reporting. The ‘Systems Approach in Metropolises’ project conducted by the SCCG in collaboration with the CSIRO and the University of the Sunshine Coast has shown that adaptation activities in SCCG Member Councils are currently not being systematically evaluated. Yet doing so could provide an opportunity for mutual learning and help spreading best practices. It would also assist stock taking by the state government as well as providing a helpful tool for community reporting. Thus following the recommendations of the ‘Systems Approach’ project this research will explore ways in collaboration with Councils to monitor, evaluate and report on adaptation progress.

The major benefits of this Masters research include:

  • Better understanding of how Councils approach monitoring & reporting of adaptation measures;
  • Opportunities for learning among the SCCG Member Councils and from Councils of other jurisdictions;
  • Identification of best practises in mainstreaming adaptation; and
  • Providing a provision of research so to enable development of a climate change adaptation monitoring framework for local government and others.

For more information contact Timo Leiter, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of NSW: Timo.Leiter@gmx.de

Prioritising Coastal Adaptation and Development Options for Local Government Project

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Managing the risks posed by climate change to coastal communities is a challenge faced internationally. Sydney is particularly vulnerable, with more than 7,000 properties at risk from coastal hazards. While much of the literature relevant to coastal adaptation has focused on assessing the vulnerability of coastal communities, there is limited guidance for Local Government on the appraisal of specific adaptation options.

Prioritising Coastal Adaptation Development Options for Local Government addresses this need for guidance, via a participatory, multi-criteria analysis (MCA) of coastal adaptation options for Local Government.

The project is now complete and was launched on 27 March 2014 (see below for further details of the launch).

Download the Project Fact Sheet here.

Overview of the project

The project explores prioritisation of adaption options in response to coastal inundation and erosion. It brings together information on exposure and risk, feasible adaptation strategies and the multiple values that influence Local Government decision-making, including governance, economic, social and environmental. It also develops a broad range of criteria by which the performance of adaptation strategies can be evaluated.

The project provides a basis for future development of practical decision support tools. It involved the following key components:

  1. A Literature Review was undertaken to identify feasible adaptation responses to coastal inundation and erosion. The Review highlighted 15 options categorised under four categories – protection, accommodation, retreat and cross-cutting.
  2. Local Government staff across three case study regions (Bega Valley, Sunshine Coast and coastal Sydney) were surveyed for their views on these options. Multi-criteria analyses enabled assessment against multiple governance, economic, social and environmental criteria, across various time horizons.
  3. A Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) was developed, enabling the integration of the survey results with spatially explicit information regarding coastal hazards and assets.
  4. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to display outputs from the BBN, so that information on hazards, assets, and the utility of different adaptation options could be visualised for any property in each of the three study regions.

In addition, a Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating Coastal Adaptation has been developed, to assist Local Government in tracking progress towards adaptation goals and identifying best practice adaptation. The Guide is currently being road-tested with five Councils (Bega Valley, Leichhardt, Rockdale, Sunshine Coast and Sutherland), to consider opportunities for improvement and additional support materials. Outcomes from this process will be available in the coming months.

Project Outputs

The key outputs from the project are:

Monitoring and Evaluating Coastal Adaptation

One of the findings to emerge from the project was that, although adaptation efforts are widespread in Local Government, there is limited evidence of appropriate monitoring and evaluation. When it comes to monitoring and evaluation, the focus is typically on measuring the outcomes of particular actions. However, outcomes are very much influenced by the planning processes behind those actions and the resources and capital (capacity) used to execute them. Without an understanding of the way these factors are influencing outcomes, it is hard to fully appreciate how effective or ineffective those actions are.

To address this issue we have developed A Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating Coastal Adaptation. The Guide provides a framework for monitoring and evaluating the climate change adaptation strategies and practices of Local Government in coastal areas, focusing on three key areas – best practice planning, adaptive capacity and monitoring outcomes.

Overview:

The Guide begins with a brief overview of different adaptation strategies, based on the ‘protect-accommodate-retreat’ framework. It then proceeds into more focused consideration of the three key areas of planning, capacity and outcomes, drawing on best practice principles and standards.

A series of templates and case studies take users through an evaluation of their own adaptation plans against these best practice principles and standards. The templates contained in the Guide present a number of best practice principles for adaptation planning, adaptive capacity and monitoring outcomes. They are intentionally pitched at a high level, so that they can be applied across a range of contexts.

Although the Guide is focused on climate change adaptation, the principles and tools contained therein can be applied to planning processes generally. Indeed, climate change adaptation cuts across all functional areas of Local Government and should ultimately be embedded in all planning processes.

Downloads:

A Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating Coastal Adaptation (2nd edition)

Editable versions of templates:

Background

The Guide is based on a literature review of relevant publications, as well as an online survey and workshops with the 15 Member Councils of the Sydney Coastal Councils Group, the Sunshine Coast Council, and Bega Valley Shire Council.

The original Guide, published in 2012, has been further refined based on outcomes from a Pilot Workshop Series with Council representatives from Bega Valley Shire Council, Leichhardt City Council, Rockdale City Council, Sunshine Coast Council and Sutherland Shire Council in early 2014.

Project Launch

On 27 March 2014, we launched the outcomes from the project. Fifty-two individuals attended the launch, representing 28 different organisations. The launch featured presentations from the principal researcher, Dr Ben Preston of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA), as well as the Coastal & Marine Unit of the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage and the SCCG. Presentations examined three key elements to coastal adaptation – exposure assessments, decision-making tools and monitoring & evaluation. This was followed by a panel discussion and workshop, which provided an opportunity for participants to explore issues further.

The Launch Outcomes Report provides an overview of the day’s proceedings and outcomes. Click here to download the report.

The following presentation slides are available for download:

Overview of SCCG Coastal Adaptation Pathway Project
Geoff Withycombe, Executive Officer, Sydney Coastal Councils Group

Prioritising Coastal Adaptation Options for Local Government: A Multi-Criteria Analysis for Local Government
Dr Ben Preston, Senior Research Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Monitoring and Evaluation for Adaptation
Emma Norrie, Coastal Projects Officer, Sydney Coastal Councils Group

A Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating Coastal Adaptation

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One of the findings to emerge from our 2013 project Prioritising Coastal Adaptation and Development Options for Local Government Project, was that although adaptation efforts are widespread in Local Government, there is limited evidence of appropriate monitoring and evaluation. When it comes to monitoring and evaluation, the focus is typically on measuring the outcomes of particular actions. However, outcomes are very much influenced by the planning processes behind those actions and the resources and capital (capacity) used to execute them. Without an understanding of the way these factors are influencing outcomes, it is hard to fully appreciate how effective or ineffective those actions are.

To address this issue we have developed A Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating Coastal Adaptation. The Guide provides a framework for monitoring and evaluating the climate change adaptation strategies and practices of Local Government in coastal areas, focusing on three key areas – best practice planning, adaptive capacity and monitoring outcomes.

Overview

The Guide begins with a brief overview of different adaptation strategies, based on the ‘protect-accommodate-retreat’ framework. It then proceeds into more focused consideration of the three key areas of planning, capacity and outcomes, drawing on best practice principles and standards.

A series of templates and case studies take users through an evaluation of their own adaptation plans against these best practice principles and standards. The templates contained in the Guide present a number of best practice principles for adaptation planning, adaptive capacity and monitoring outcomes. They are intentionally pitched at a high level, so that they can be applied across a range of contexts. However users are encouraged to adapt the templates to incorporate specific considerations relevant to their Council.

Although the Guide is focused on climate change adaptation, the principles and tools contained therein can be applied to planning processes generally. Indeed, climate change adaptation cuts across all functional areas of Local Government and should ultimately be embedded in all planning processes.

Downloads

A Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating Coastal Adaptation (2nd edition)

Editable versions of templates:

Background

The Guide is based on a literature review of relevant publications, as well as an online survey and workshops with the 15 Member Councils of the Sydney Coastal Councils Group, the Sunshine Coast Council, and Bega Valley Shire Council.

The original Guide, published in 2012, has been further refined based on outcomes from a Pilot Workshop Series with Council representatives from Bega Valley Shire Council, Leichhardt City Council, Rockdale City Council, Sunshine Coast Council and Sutherland Shire Council in early 2014.