Fishermans Bend Water Sensitive Drainage and Flood Strategy

The Water Sensitive Drainage and Flood Strategy for the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area in downtown Melbourne, Australia explored the potential to use distributed flood storages in streetscapes and open spaces (i.e. a green infrastructure approach) as an alternative to the 'baseline' drainage infrastructure plan (i.e. conventional drainage pipelines and pump stations). The resulting strategy is a hybrid approach, that utilizes rainwater tanks, to store and detain roofwater runoff from all buildings; distributed storages designed into streetscapes and open spaces; as well as conventional approaches in certain locations where surface storage was not technically feasible. The strategy provides a high level approach for managing flooding at Fishermans Bend that aligns with and supports the vision and goals of the Fishermans Bend Framework. It is one of the first examples in Australia of using green infrastructure and urban design to manage flooding in a significant development or urban renewal context. It provides numerous learnings relating to flood modelling methodologies, integrating water planning and urban design and planning processes, collaborative strategy development and decision-making arrangements, and balancing innovation against existing risk management and regulatory processes.