Water

The environment in which our communities live and work is rapidly changing due to a myriad of factors ranging from population growth and urbanisation, climate change, variations to our weather systems, technological innovations and societal shifts. This is putting significant pressure on how we manage our precious water resources and how we protect communities from emerging risks such as flooding.

As industry leaders, we provide a broad spectrum of service offerings within the water sector, including Urban Stormwater, Integrated Water Cycle Management, Water Sensitive Urban Design, Stormwater (Environmental) Design, Water Resource Management, Water Quality, Floodplain Management and Flood Emergency Management. Embedded in our strategic approach is an innovative outlook, which leverages digital opportunities and technological advances, working with partners across academia, government and private industry and sectors to deliver solutions for the most complex water challenges to our clients.

Our team of experts are passionate about delivering tangible outcomes for communities to deliver solutions ranging from integrated water management plans to stormwater designs, to floodplain management studies. We pride ourselves on our technical knowledge and our delivery of innovative solutions.

Cardno employee working in shallow river

Water Services

Environmental Design

Cardno employee conducting assessment on environment factors including reptiles

We understand the complexity and are highly experienced in building large-scale projects, which include the combination of engineering, landscape architecture and urban and regional planning in our designs. We also recognise the importance of including environmental elements in the design to enrich the physical, social, cultural and/or natural environments of our projects.

Our environmental team work with our clients to design developments based on the right level of environmental assessment for the project’s development phase. Cardno’s documentation is presented in a format that is acceptable to regulators and presents the best likelihood of a timely and successful outcome. Cardno can assist with applications and permits under Commonwealth, State and local legislation, as well as with the preparation of environmental management plans to achieve conditions of approval.

Flood Emergency Management

Our team makes a conceivable effort to build long-term resilience into our strategic frameworks and respond more pragmatically to our ever-changing world. At Cardno, we understand the key to resilience is to adapt and mitigate risk where possible. The drive to support flood resilience communities through practical solutions that align with community expectations and priorities is central to Cardno’s approach to Flood Emergency Management.

We have developed a suite of interactive flood tools to support community resilience by empowering communities to be informed about risks to life and property impact. We also have extensive experience working with emergency services, local and state government authorities and specialist groups to support the development and delivery of flood emergency plans, flood warning services and guidelines for improved flood services.

Our team of experts are proud to be part of a Technical Services Panel with Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES), deployed to Incident Control Centres to support the State’s response to a number of flood emergencies, and provide services to Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) funded restoration works across Queensland for Flood Restoration and Damage council projects.

Floodplain Management

Since Cardno’s formation in 1945, many communities and their environments have changed. As industry leaders in Floodplain Management, we’ve implemented an integrated approach to deliver solutions of varying sizes and complexity at both a regional and local level. We strive to deliver tangible outcomes to communities to reduce and manage flood risks and avoid future risks.

We support enhanced levels of awareness and preparedness for future floods and we work together with our partners in a collaborative effort to prepare, plan, respond and recover from floods.

We have adopted a flood risk management framework that offers sustainable and collaborative solutions to our people, our communities and our clients. We understand the importance of a risk-based approach to ensure the right solutions are implemented to achieve maximum benefit and optimal outcomes for communities at risk. From flood information and intelligence, flood mapping, flood warning systems, interactive web portals, land use planning and planning for climate change-related impacts, to stormwater designs, levee designs and coastal flood protection – our flood plain management solutions provide multiple benefits and achieve a high level of value and impact on our communities.

Groundwater/Hydrogeology

Cardno has led some of the most comprehensive hydrogeological investigations throughout the Asia Pacific. Our hydrogeologists have extensive experience in groundwater resource investigation and management, and assessment of contamination and environmental impacts. They’ve worked closely with clients to support water resilience strategies, empower project owners to make critical groundwater decisions, and protect communities from contamination risks.

Image of a Investigatory bore looking for ground water

Whether it’s a long-term project, or an emergency response, Cardno’s hydrogeology team has the expertise and innovative thinking to overcome project challenges including water quality monitoring and assessments, groundwater resource investigations, aquifer recharge and dewatering, and depressurisation solutions.

We also manage site selection and design to minimise environmental impacts, and design cost-effective monitoring programs.

Integrated Water Cycle Management

Aerial image of Logan Water Alliance water tank

An integrated approach to water cycle management is built around the concept of providing a fit for purpose water cycle solution that balances sustainability, resilience and water security for the community. At Cardno, our approach to a total water cycle solution reduces the need for potable water and provides resilience to climate change and annual usage patterns.

Holistic water cycle management considers both supply side-options, as well as demand-side options across key areas of base water management that apply to water supply, wastewater and stormwater management.

We consider the following supply-side options; water harvesting to promote the reuse of recycled water and retained stormwater, better integration in urban environments to reduce water consumption through reuse options such as leakage detection or wastewater infiltration network investigations, balancing built infrastructure needs at remote sites with the ability to support built infrastructure with temporary facilities, and planning new supplementary water sources such as rainwater capture systems.

The demand side options involve reducing demand through installations of water-efficient devices and pressure management, targeting high water use facilities to determine additional solutions and reducing water loss or leakage through undertaking reduction studies, responsive maintenance and asset renewals.

Urban Stormwater

The impact of stormwater emitting into lakes, rivers, estuaries and through other sensitive areas is of increasing importance to recreational users and the general public. Cardno is at the forefront of identifying impacts on receiving waters and analysing, designing and constructing innovative water pollution control structures to improve stormwater quality.

Our commitment to the development of computer models for rainfall/runoff processes, river dynamics and water pollution control, places us at the leading edge of these disciplines. We conduct numerous hydrologic and hydraulic investigations in planned urban catchments. Modelling of floods and the development, documentation and implementation of master plans and mitigation strategies is a key service offered to our clients.

Over the years, Cardno has received industry recognition in achieving stormwater excellence in Australia, including the Infrastructure Award for the ‘Flood Management of Warringah Mall Brookvale’ project in New South Wales in 2016. Our team in New South Wales demonstrated high-quality design through a multi-faceted scheme of measures, including hydraulic structure, stabilisation works, various flood walls, flood barriers and flood doors.

Water Quality

Water is a precious resource. Currently, multiple global challenges encompassing the delivery, accessibly and quality of water, as well as the effect of human activity, including deforestation, landscape changes and urban development. There is a need for multidisciplinary teams with broad, technical expertise to ensure a sustainable future for our waterways.

Cardno employee testing quality of water from river

Our team is well-equipped to engage with our partners to tackle emerging challenges and address the physical, chemical and biological factors of our surface water, groundwater, catchments and estuarine and marine water bodies. We understand how important it is to protect our waterways and ecosystems which depend on this resource, as well as the social and economic services, including irrigation, farming, domestic, commercial and recreational use water provides to our communities.

Acid sulphate soils, urban stormwater, bushfires and salinity are all defining issues which are affecting water quality. Our experienced Water Quality team provides water quality improvement plans including the development of catchment models, water allocation plans, water management plans and salinity management. Specifically, our water management plans incorporate water sensitive urban design principles to facilitate water-sensitive development projects.

Water Resource Management

At Cardno, we understand the importance of water security in our communities. Our water team has years of experience in managing the complexity of its relationship with agriculture, our economies, ecosystems and recreational use, as well as water-related risks such as drought, floods and contamination throughout different parts of the globe. The unpredictable environments our world faces today set a more challenging task for our experts to manage water resources collectively and sustainably.

Our team appreciates the position of abiding by water resource management policies which are in place for any given region and delivering on a process or plan implemented by that policy effectively and efficiently. However, water policies are often influenced by other sector policies outside the water field including industrial, mining and construction. This is why we strive to work in unison between overlaying sectors to generate a more integrated approach to water resources management.

Cardno works collaboratively with councils, government authorities and private industry to develop and implement water resource management strategies.

Our water resource management capabilities include disciplines in hydrology and hydrogeology, surface and groundwater modelling, water quality modelling, irrigation and drainage, water sensitive urban design, stormwater management and natural resources management.

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