Implications of Climate Change Dominate

Opening the River Symposium, Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, succinctly summarised the global challenge:

"We are all of us - whether in Australia or elsewhere - facing a future of serious challenges and what we know is that the penalties for inaction, or for inappropriate 'quick fixes', will be severe.

"The challenge is to manage water in our shared interests for the long term. We need long-term solutions for the communities in which live in, for our uniquely valuable rivers and wetlands, and for our way of life and prosperity."

Also addressing the River Symposium, World Water Council Director-General, Ger Bergkamp, described Australia as the ‘metaphorical canary down the coalmine', a reference to Australia's lead position in terms of experiencing the extremes of weather generated by changes in the global climate. The attendance of delegates from across the world suggests that the broader industry recognises the pivotal role of Australia in helping other nations to consider the policy and practical implications of climate change.

Tyrone Parkinson, InfoWorks RS Sales Manager, brought Wallingford Software's considerable global experience of flood forecasting and management to the River Symposium in a conference paper on the use of FloodWorks in Belgium by Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij (VMM). VMM is a division of the Environment Ministry of the Flanders Regional Government, and the agency responsible for integrated water policy and systems for the region.

The 11th International Conference on Urban Drainage in Edinburgh attracted an international audience of around 500 urban drainage professionals, designers, practitioners and researchers, the conference and exposition sought to inform practitioners of the latest advances, concepts, design and best practice across all technical, environmental, social and economic aspects of urban drainage. Representatives of Wallingford Software made important contributions to the conference sessions in addition to presenting InfoWorks and InfoNet at their exhibition booth.

This year, session topics focused on Urban Flood Modelling, which was broken down into a number of specific themes. Amongst the presentations featured a paper jointly written between HR Wallingford and Wallingford Software. Juan Gutierrez Andres of HR Wallingford presented "1D modelling of the interactions between heavy rainfall-runoff in urban area and flooding flows from sewer network and river 2D flooding analysis in Scotland".  Focusing on the use of InfoWorks 2D, the well received presentation demonstrated that models developed in the commercial world can produce highly beneficial results in a clear and concise manner.

Reflecting on the event Andrew Walker believes that one message came across particularly strongly: Integrated Urban Drainage modeling is not straightforward.  "However, the presentations also showed that there are many excellent tools available for anyone wishing to undertake such a study.  Many presentation noted that an inappropriate choice can lead to devastating consequences, highlighting the need to consider all aspects of the study from data input to simulation methodology and results output.  Juan's presentation showed that while the physical processes are well known, good software would provide confidence in model results."

For those attendees from England and Wales, David Fortune believes that the Pitt Review was a major talking point. "One of the key findings of the Science and Engineering Panel chaired by Stephen Huntington of HR Wallingford, was that suitable flood analysis tools exist and are available right now. This was a point that was emphasized by David Bamforth of MWH (member of the panel) and illustrated by Tony Bamford of MWH in his presentation: "Understanding the complexities of urban flooding through integrated modelling".

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