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)

Sand Management Working Group

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The Sand Management Working Group was established in November 2019.

The group’s purpose is to ensure a collaborative approach and peer-to-peer learning in tackling sand management issues faced by councils in Sydney such as beach erosion and accretion on coastal and estuarine beaches. The group comprises member councils with an interest in sand management including Sutherland Shire, Bayside and Northern Beaches councils and Woollahra Municipal Council. It also includes key representatives from Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) as well as industry and academic representatives. Meetings are held quarterly and include expert presentations and project presentations and updates from member councils.

Sand Management, in particular beach nourishment, has been recognised as a potential adaptive option to offset the adverse impacts of seal level rise and increasing storm intensity on coastal assets including the retention of public beaches. (Gordon, 2009 ‘The Potential for Offshore Sand Sources to Offset Climate Change Impacts on Sydney’s Beaches’). The potential devastating impacts are evident from the 2016 ‘D Day Storm’ which moved 410,000m3 of sand from the Collaroy-Narrabeen beach alone during this time. Several other councils are also experiencing beach erosion and, in some areas, unwanted beach accretion which also has an impact on private and public assets. Short term and long term impacts are considered in both local and regional contexts and opportunities for broad scale regional beach nourishment programs are explored.

To date, presentations have been provided by representatives from DPIE, NPWS, University of New South Wales, Geological Survey of NSW, MidCoast Council, Hunter & Central Coast Development Corporation and all participating councils on the Sand Management Working Group. All presentations have been recorded and are available for members in the ‘Members Area’ of the SCCG website.

A copy of the Terms of Reference is also available for members in the ‘Members Area’.

Greater Sydney Harbour Coastal Management Program

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Watch our education video to find out more about the Greater Sydney Harbour Coastal Management Program (GSHCMP) and how it can help improve catchment and waterway health for our iconic Harbour.

 

Project Summary and Progress 

Twenty councils within the Greater Sydney Harbour catchment are collaborating with state agencies to develop a whole-of-system Coastal Management Program for Greater Sydney Harbour. The SCCG is project managing the delivery of this CMP.

Greater Sydney Harbour Coastal Management Program Stage 1 Scoping Study identified urban stormwater discharge and coastal inundation with sea level rise as high priority threats. The Sydney Harbour Water Quality Improvement Plan has also been completed and provides a strong base for the development of the GSHCMP.

To assess threats posed by stormwater and coastal inundation, a Stage 2 investigation was recently completed to determine risks across all catchments feeding the Harbour and steps needed to mitigate those risks. The aim is to provide for coordinated action by councils, in partnership with state agencies and the community, to facilitate integrated waterway health management for the entire Greater Sydney Harbour system.

The Stage 2 investigation comprised of the delivery of the following inter-related studies and reports:

  • Study 1 investigated the effectiveness of stormwater management practice and climate change planning across 20 councils in the Greater Sydney Harbour
  • Study 2 identified council needs and management options for addressing stormwater discharge, waterway health and coastal inundation
  • Study 3 reviewed options for establishing a governance and sustainable funding structure that would ensure the long-term sustainable health of the catchment
  • Delivery of a series of workshops with technical experts and councils on the topic of water quality, climate change and catchment initiatives. A copy of the technical report is available on request.

The next stage, Stage 3, involves the development and evaluation of potential management options that can address those issues identified in Stage 2 in an integrated and strategic manner.

This project is supported by the NSW Government’s Coastal and Estuary Grant Program – Planning Stream.

Picture of Prof. Bruce Thom (Chair) actively engaging with stakeholders and experts in Sydney (Photo credit: Sydney Water).

 

Purpose of a Coastal Management Program  

Under the Coastal Management Act 2016 (CM Act) councils may prepare Coastal Management Programs (CMPs) which set out the long-term strategy for the coordinated management of the coast, with a focus on achieving the objects and objectives of the CM Act.

CMPs identify coastal management issues in the area, the actions required to address these issues, and how and when those actions will be implemented. They detail costs and proposed cost-sharing arrangements and other viable funding mechanisms.

The CM Act (and other relevant legislation) establishes specific roles and responsibilities for relevant Ministers, the NSW Coastal Council, public authorities and local councils, as well as providing opportunities for communities to participate when preparing and implementing a CMP.

You can find out more detailed information about Catchment Management Programs here.

 

The importance of the Greater Sydney Harbour 

Greater Sydney Harbour is one of the world’s greatest harbours and as such is a state, national and global asset. It stretches from its upper tidal limits on the Parramatta River downstream to the ocean entrance between North and South Head. Its catchments are the home of 3.07 million people (projected to go to 4.35 million by 2041) and the region is responsible for around 25% of the nation’s GDP[1].

Greater Sydney Harbour is a magnet for tourists the world over and a source of great ecological diversity. Its waters are threatened by possible adverse impacts of population growth and development and potential impacts of climate change including sea-level rise and high magnitude catchment runoff.

Key features of the Greater Sydney Harbour catchment

At the centre of Australia’s largest city, the harbour is subject to intense human activity which presents coastal managers with many challenges. Understandably, developing and delivering a whole-of-catchment CMP will be a complex task with the project team currently working with 33 stakeholders to plan and deliver the GSHCMP. Buy-in and participation by all levels of government and the community is imperative to achieving a strategic and coordinated management framework for the Harbour.

The Sydney Coastal Councils Group is the project manager for the GSHCMP. It will be whole-of-catchment and encompass Sydney Harbour tidal waterways and its catchment lands.

 

Conceptual Model of Wet and Dry Weather Conditions 

 

To download, click here.

These conceptual models show the impacts of stormwater discharge into Greater Sydney Harbour under both wet and dry weather conditions. The models were developed by Sydney Water in partnership with the SCCG, PRCG and DPE project team.

 

The importance of working together

A single, whole-of-system Coastal Management Program is needed to facilitate coordinated and integrated management of Australia’s most iconic and important waterway.

Local councils have a central role in managing the coast. The Sydney Coastal Councils Group promotes collaboration between member councils on environmental issues relating to the urban coastal and estuarine environment. We represent nearly 1.3 million Sydneysiders with six councils adjacent to Sydney marine and estuarine environments and associated waterways.

There are a host of benefits to working together in a holistic and integrated way as part of the Sydney Coastal Councils Group – improved environmental outcomes, improved capacity to address strategic and harbour-wide issues and interest, better communication, advocacy and promotion and efficiency savings to name a few.

Please contact SCCG if you’d like to join the many benefits of being a member council.

 

GSH CMP Communiques

See the latest communiques circulated to partners

[1] https://www.sgsep.com.au/publications/insights/gdp-report-economic-performance-of-australias-cities-and-regions

Sydney Harbour, Courtesy of Department of Planning and Environment

Summerama: Summer Activities Program

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Summerama is a community activities program run every year during January, designed to enhance community awareness and increase the community’s interaction and connection with Sydney’s coast through fun, family orientated coastal activities.

http://www.sydneycoastalcouncils.com.au/summerama/

Underwater Sydney

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Underwater Sydney

This website brings Sydney’s underwater world alive providing images and information on the marine species that live in Sydney. Go to the website and search for your local government area.