Stormwater

Stormwater communications and education

Stormwater communications and education

Ink spillage into stormwater

• improve public, political and stakeholder understanding of the environmental impact of stormwater pollution and the stormwater management solutions needed to address the problem
• develop education programmes to build awareness and encourage behaviour change
• facilitate communication and information sharing within the Auckland Regional Council, Territorial Authorities, other stakeholders and the wider public.

Stormwater newsletter

The ARC stormwater update.

Stormwater is a quarterly newsletter. It aims to keep local council, industry and other stakeholders informed and up-to-date on water quality and quantity issues, in the Auckland region and beyond.

Education Project 

Geographic Information System (GIS) Project - Botany Downs College
As part of the Stormwater Action Team's education programme, two geographic information system (GIS) and curriculum specialists developed a unit of work, "What's Up in My Stream?" to be piloted in a secondary school in April 2007.

The aim of the project was to create a unit of work, directly linked to the 2007 curriculum, to educate teenagers about the issue of stormwater in the urban environment.

This education project is unique as it uses a wide range of IT resources and ARCView 3.2 GIS. It was developed by Sarah Wakeford and Tony Batistich for 90 Year 10 social studies students at Botany Downs College.

Botany Downs College was selected to trial the project because it is within the Pakuranga catchment which has been identified as a catchment at risk and needing attention.

The students were given a quiz before they began the unit and again the same quiz when they finished it. The average score before the unit was 8 out of 15. After the unit it was 13 out of 15.

Sarah and Tony are in the process of developing a plan to assess options for wider implementation in the Auckland region.

More on the study:

The study is divided into eight GIS projects.

Project 1: What's Up In Your Part of the Catchment?
Pupils are introduced to the study catchment through aerial imagery, GIS data layers and are asked to consider the differences between the Natural and Cultural Landscapes

Project 2: Getting into Shape
This project introduces the way in which GIS systems can represent the shape of a catchment by using data layers such as contour lines, generated Triangular Irregular Networks (what we used to refer to as ‘Relief') . Pupils are introduced to contour lines and terrain shape. They then use the tools of the GIS to identify elevation along cross sections and check their findings against cross profiles. The concept of a catchment is developed.

Project 3: Going with Flow
Students must conceptualise where stream flow occurred before humans modified the landscape.

Pupils explore the spatial nature of catchments and the relationship of their local catchment with the surrounding catchments in the area.

Project 4:How's Our Catchment Changed?
This project introduces the human modification concept. There is a range of aerial imagery from the 1940's to 2006. Pupils are provided with visual evidence of the change within the catchment and asked to interpret and make judgments about this change.

Students themselves digitize areas of development and using GIS tools create numerical statistics to show the levels of change in hectares from 1980 to 2006.

Project 5:Merging Maps
This project is based on students collaboratively editing polygons on a GIS map. Using aerial photography students analyse the local catchment and identify the different levels of imperviousness in the land cover.

Categorising these and making polygons of each, brings students closer to understanding the impact of development on the catchment - especially in terms of natural processes. The maps are then merged into one layer and evaluated by the group

Project 6: Going Underground
Students are now exposed to the solution to the problem of impervious surfaces in our built environment - the stormwater system. Patterns and relationships of stormwater infrastructure such as pipes, outflows and catchpits are uncovered. Outflows linking directly with the stream network are identified and an understanding that streams have disappeared and are now ‘underground' is gained.

Project 7: Waste Deep In Water
This project develops an understanding of the consequences of urban development on water quality. Photographic images are used to show different pollutants within the catchment. Data provided by Manukau City Council is used to show specific stormwater pollution events in 2005/06.

Project 8: Making Networks
Here students use GIS to identify the stormwater networks that are connected to the outlets that feed into the Botany Stream which borders their school. They do this using Arcview Network Analyst and produce a set of residential ‘catchments' in which they will conduct surveys, promote good water quality practice with their local community. The classes decide on the form that the social action will take. Getting residents to wash their cars on pervious surfaces allowing the natural filtering system to work or taking cars to a local car wash may be one of their choices.