Smart Technology for Stormwater Management - Afternoon session
Description
Gain insights into the practical application of smart stormwater technologies and hear directly from researchers and practitioners delivering innovative projects across Victoria through this free in-person event.
Event Overview
Real-time control (RTC) and other smart technologies are transforming the way stormwater assets are designed, operated and maintained. Join Clearwater and industry experts for this in-person interactive session exploring how smart technology can improve flood mitigation, water security, waterway health and the performance of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) assets.
Through presentations, case studies, discussion and a guided site visit, participants will gain insights into the practical application of smart stormwater technologies and hear directly from researchers and practitioners delivering innovative projects across Victoria.
*The event will be run twice on the day. You can book in either for the morning or the afternoon session - both sessions are advertised separately.
Audience
This event is ideal for:
WSUD designers
Stormwater engineers
Integrated Water Management (IWM) practitioners
Local government staff
Water authority staff
Consultants
Asset planners and managers
Professionals involved in stormwater harvesting, infiltration and water quality improvement projects
Format
Presentation, Q&A and walking site tour (optional).
Learning Outcomes
Understand how real-time control (RTC) technology can significantly improve stormwater management outcomes, particularly where available treatment space is limited.
Explore a range of smart technology applications, including rainwater tanks, wetlands and integrated catchment-scale systems.
Gain an appreciation of how smart systems can support water savings, environmental flows, flood mitigation and improved water quality outcomes.
Learn about key design, construction and maintenance considerations for RTC systems, including control algorithms, valve operation, safety requirements and optimisation-based and rule-based approaches.
Event Highlights
This event will use three case studies to explore the potential application of real-time control (smart) technologies for stormwater management, with a site visit to one of those case studies sites, the Monbulk Creek Smart Water Network (MCSWN).
Monbulk Creek Smart Water Network
This collaborative research project is exploring the potential of real-time control technology to deliver environmental flows to protect urban streams. The project team is working with the community to install rainwater tanks operated using real-time control, along with “smart” operation of larger water storages in the catchment. In combination, these systems will work to deliver flows that enhance the health of Monbulk Creek, particularly during the periods known to be vital for the breeding of platypus. Benefits for localised flood protection, reduction of stormwater impacts on waterway health and augmentation of non-potable water supply are also an important motivation for the network. The project is being delivered in a partnership between the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Water, Yarra Ranges Council and South East Water, with support from Victorian (DEECA) and Australian (DCCEEW) Governments.
Smart Rainwater Tanks in Activity Centres
This project involves modelling of the performance and economics of smart-tanks [BN1] as part of new buildings constructed in Melbourne’s proposed Activity Centres and Priority Precincts. The models include water supply performance, pollution reduction performance, flow reduction, contribution to baseflow, reduction in flood risk (and Annual Average Damage cost). Importantly, the assessment also includes analysis of costs (construction, operation, maintenance) and benefits (water supply, nitrogen-offset value, reduction in Annual Average Damage). The work will be presented, focussing on both the methods of assessment, and the important lessons for setting standards for future buildings in Melbourne and Victoria.
Smart Stormwater Treatment Wetlands
Designing and maintaining stormwater treatment wetlands to achieve reliable, long-term removal of pollutants has long been a challenge. In particular, there is a negative relationship between increasing long-term ponding depth (above nominal water level) and vegetation cover. In turn, the loss of vegetation cover results in lower pollutant removal efficiency. Real-time control offers the ability to optimise the relationship between detention time, vegetation cover and nitrogen treatment. There are also potential benefits for flood protection and environmental water. This project is developing the algorithms to run this optimisation, using a combination of pilot-scale wetlands and one of Melbourne Water’s operational wetlands – Troups Creek West.
Site Visit (Optional)
Walk down to the Birdsland Reserve Lakes (10 minutes walk), which form part of the Monbulk Creek Smart Water Network. During the guided tour, attendees will see smart stormwater infrastructure and discuss key lessons from the design, retrofit and management of these innovative systems. A Yarra Ranges Council representative will present to discuss community and stakeholder engagement considerations and provide insights on managing the relationships throughout project delivery.
Registrations end on Friday 6th November 2026.
Morning tea and light refreshments will be provided.
Lineup
Dr Chris Szota, University of Melbourne
Chris is a researcher interested in all aspects of blue-green infrastructure in cities, especially design, plant selection and maintenance. Chris aims to produce high-quality data on the real-world performance of blue-green systems to demonstrate their potential and continually improve design. He’s currently working on designing streetscapes which irrigate the urban forest with stormwater as well as real-time monitoring and control of constructed stormwater wetlands.
Dr Darren Bos, University of Melbourne
As a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne (School of Agriculture, Food & Ecosystem Sciences), Darren’s work has focussed on the application of whole-of-catchment management of stormwater, applying his experience with community engagement and market-based incentives. Additionally, in his role as Knowledge Broker, Darren supports the delivery and adoption of the Melbourne Waterway Research-Practice Partnership’s research program. Recently, Darren has enjoyed a return to his roots in mammal ecology, co-supervising PhD students investigating Platypus behaviour in Monbulk Creek.
Prof Tim Fletcher, University of Melbourne
Tim has expertise in stormwater quality, treatment and impacts, having written over 250 publications on the topic. His research focus has included modelling stormwater flows, quality and the performance of novel stormwater treatment and harvesting systems. He was the Technology Project Leader in the Facility for Advancing Water Biofiltration (FAWB) and formerly Director of the Institute for Sustainable Water Resources at Monash University. He was also an invited professor at the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon (France). Tim was one of the leaders of the team that developed the Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualisation (MUSIC) and co-leads, with Assoc. Prof. Chris Walsh the Little Stringybark Creek project - a world-first attempt at catchment-scale retrofit of WSUD (with the aim of restoring the ecological health of the creek). Tim has also been involved in the design and monitoring of several large-scale pilot green infrastructure projects in both Australia and France. From May 2011, Tim has been an ARC Future Fellow and Professor of Urban Ecohydrology, based at the University of Melbourne.
Jess Lazarus, Yarra Ranges Council
Jess is the Smart Water Network Facilitator at Yarra Ranges Council, where she works with research, water sector and community partners to support innovative approaches to stormwater management and waterway health. With a background in environmental education and community engagement, Jess has extensive experience connecting stakeholders, building community understanding, and fostering collaborative environmental outcomes. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between technical innovation and community values to support more sustainable and resilient water management practices.
Rhys Coleman, Melbourne Water
For the past 28 years Rhys has worked at Melbourne Water with a focus on waterways research and strategic management planning. Early roles involved the coordination of waterways environmental monitoring and investigations programs, as well as waterway restoration planning and strategy development. In his current role, Rhys is the Waterways and Wetlands Research Manager which involves the facilitation and co-ordination of waterway research programs and participation in several collaborative research projects with universities and government agencies, including Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage projects, Cooperative Research Centres, and is the co-research coordinator for two major research initiatives with the University of Melbourne – Melbourne Waterways Research-Practice Partnership and RMIT University – Aquatic Pollution Prevention Partnership (A3P).
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