Connect 5 - A Water Sensitive city, is that even a thing?

“A water sensitive city creates communities where people’s connections with water enhance their quality of life. It is a vibrant community with a thriving local economy and enjoys a lasting natural environment, because the water cycle is understood and embraced.”

Water affects all of us and all of us affect water! Family, businesses and the environment too. A water sensitive city is a vibrant city that supports the local economy, encourages the smart use of scarce resources and protects and enhances our natural environment. In a water sensitive city, all water (stormwater, groundwater, wastewater and drinking water) is managed in a sustainable way that benefits the community and helps us to be resilience to climate change. By valuing all water and considering water up front and every day, we can create communities where people’s connections with water enhance their quality of life.

In a water sensitive community or city, the community has the knowledge, desire and ability to demonstrate positive choices and behaviours across all aspects of the water cycle*. For example:

• making sure we have enough water and that this comes from a diverse range of water sources;
• improving and protecting the health of waterways and wetlands, the river basins that surround them, and the coast and bays;
• reducing flood risk and damage;
• supporting trees and vegetation to decrease urban heat and provide great places for people to recreate and stay healthy;
• creating attractive public spaces that collect, clean, and recycle water.

* The urban water cycle includes potable water, wastewater, stormwater and groundwater that is transported, stored, treated, used and/or recycled in a city.