Comments on: Harvesting rainwater to green our streets

By: Russell Grant

Russell Grant — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:25:40 +0000

Marino Evangalisti was invited to Alice Springs as an expert in Water Senitive Urban Design and there is a write-up in the Alice Springs News 13 December 2000. Water sensitive urban design is now well accepted as an alternative approach to urban stormwater in larger urban centres.

By: Mike Gillam

Mike Gillam — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 08:59:05 +0000

Rod, I think I went to the same seminar – there is a recurring problem here with civic memory and these lessons are lost as bureaucrats are replaced. I can’t think of an active public streetscape within the town centre where water is intercepted for planting, and only the surplus is channeled into the stormwater system – there must be some public examples, surely. Harvesting of run-off from car-parking zones and some access roads is increasingly common eg. at the airport, desert park, Araluen and within the hospital precinct where rainfall is directed into verge plantings. Obviously there should be much much more and certainly much much less bare concrete dominating the roundabouts and verges in the town center of this innovative desert community.

By: Rod Cramer

Rod Cramer — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 02:30:02 +0000

When are we ever going to learn? I went to a seminar on this topic here in Alice Springs about 15 years ago, the details of which are currently not to hand. An expert was flown in from WA to present it to town planners, Council and anyone interested. No doubt there had been others similar previously. Is there one public example of this happening yet?