Context

The East Bank Flood Resilience Program consists of several projects that aim to collectively and individually reduce flood risks to critical bulk water infrastructure at the historic EastBank Pump Station site in Mt Crosby.  The East Bank Raw Water Pump Station and the East Bank Water Treatment Plant are two of Seqwater’s most critical assets in the water supply network, and they typically supply up to one third of South East Queensland’s needs.

The challenge

Inundation vulnerability had already been identified in these critical assets during previous flood events, but the 2011 floods highlighted an elevated flood risk associated with the pump station. As a result, Seqwater was under new pressure to upgrade its water infrastructure and demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and climate resilience to its stakeholders and communities.

Seqwater approached Circulr seeking advice on subjecting the upgraded water infrastructure to a sustainability assessment to promote and reward good sustainability performance outcomes.

Seqwater proposed using the framework of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council's IS rating tool for the sustainability assessment.

However, Seqwater needed to undertake and submit a thorough review of its sustainability planning and achievements to-date to decide if this was the most appropriate and strategically advantageous pathway for a formalised assessment of the project.

The solution

We evaluated the suitability and effectiveness of the Project’s sustainability performance for assessment under the ISCA framework.

We assisted Seqwater in achieving every performance requirement for the Project.

We helped Seqwater develop high-level documentation for the Project, including a Preliminary Climate Change Risk Assessment, weightings assessment and self-assessment.

We outlined a strategic approach to guide Seqwater in achieving a sustainability rating for the project following its completion.

Outcomes

Seqwater was pleased with the deliverables and support we provided. All discussions were held on a collaborative basis, with our team having frequent workshops and meetings with various Seqwater staff depending on their interest and expertise.