Smart Water Fund and South East Water recently hosted a knowledge transfer session for the project "Sustainable Water Options for Sports Fields" for over 30 participants from 13 local councils. This project was undertaken by Victoria University, and was ultimately designed to help address the impact of water shortage and restrictions on sports fields, as well as help decision makers look to alternatives with regards to irrigation with the development of easy-to-use software.
The project was developed during the period of water restrictions in Melbourne and was completed in September 2011. It had three main aims:
- Identifying the socioeconomic impacts of water restrictions on sports fields, with a focus towards identifying a social value for sports fields.
- Providing a detailed information package to guide decision makers in the water industry and local government with respect to changes to fields and their irrigation that could improve their sustainability and ensure their continued use in periods of water shortage.
- Developing a model, packaged in a piece of software that can be used to identify water and nutrient demand and how these may change with irrigation using alternative water sources.
The project has resulted in the development of three reports and the software. The council session was focused on introducing the software to the local council members, and was attended by open space coordinators, sportsground coordinators, parks officers and community liaison officers, just to name a few. The session included a presentation and demonstration of the Sustainable Options for Sports Fields Irrigation Software by Dr. Nicholas Milne (Research Fellow, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation, Victoria University), who designed and developed the software. Dr. Milne demonstrated to the participants that the software was developed with the aim to assist local councils and sportsground managers to identify suitable water reduction options and potable water replacements for sports fields.
The software has a user-friendly interface, and utilises calculations that account for turf type, soil type, field area, climatic data, water quality, as well as the volume of water available (including access to potable, rain, recycled, stormwater, sewage, ground, brackish and sea water), providing guidance on sustainable water options for sports fields, and is now readily accessible via the Smart Water Fund Knowledge Hub.
In addition to the development of the software, Dr. Milne undertook a socioeconomic impact study and contingent valuation which ultimately found:
- Restrictions placed greater demands on local government, sporting clubs and volunteer groups.
- The redistribution of sporting allocations triggered by water restrictions systematically excluded less competitive individuals and less advantaged segments of the community.
- Restrictions compromised the capacity of clubs to contribute to building stronger communities
- The community supports sporting grounds as a core community asset and oppose their closure. A large number of people would be willing to pay a small levy to ensure that sports fields are maintained, but many would prefer that grounds be maintained with existing resources.
It is important that the results of this project continue to be promoted to ensure long-term uptake and continued future use, and Smart Water Fund are continuing conversations with local councils to implement the software into their business for day-to-day use. We have had a positive response so far to the session, as well as the use of the software.
The software can be downloaded directly from the Smart Water Fund Knowledge Hub www.smartwater.com.au, and if you would like to receive a copy of the final report on "Sustainable Water Options for Sports Fields" (quote project number 516 - 002), please contact Dr. Sarah Gray, Knowledge Transfer Manager, on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (03) 9552 3171.