IRCSA and its 13th International Conference at Sydney, Australia

Engineers’ Australia and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in the Sydney Region hosted the 13^th International Conference last August 21-23 at the City of Sydney with support from the local government of Sydney and Melbourne and Australia’s Rainwater Harvesting Business Sector with a special sponsorship of Bluescope Water. The organizing of the conference was entrusted by IRCSA to Associate Professor Peter Coombes of the University of Newcastle with IRCSA’s Vice President Dr. Hari Krishna.

Integrating with the business sector is one way of advancing the usefulness of rainwater harvesting technologies and of popularizing them for the sake of the environment.

To balance the urban and business focus of the conference with the water concerns of the developing world, the conference keynote included topics on ‘Health and Environment’ (chaired by John Dalenburg) and ‘Human Behavior and Environmental Management’ (chaired by Hari Krishna) in addition to the discussion of local Australian scenario chaired by Prof. Peter Coombes and the international situation chaired by Dr. Jessica Salas. There are 13 concurrent topics as well discussing various themes such as: Climate Change and Water Conservation, Sustainable Water Management, Rain Gardens, Infiltration and Bio-retention, Water Demand and Conservation, Rainwater Harvesting and Sustainable Water Management, Storm water Harvesting and Management, Institution and Social Capacity, Planning for Water Sustainability in Urban Designs, and Modeling and Urban Water Management. Papers under these topics maybe accessed at www.ircsa.org. Some abstracts are included in this issue of Raindrop.

IRCSA’s celebration of its 25^th Anniversary highlighted the speech of a representative of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in the person of Ms. Elizabeth Khaka, of the UNEP Policy Division at the UN Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Ms. Khaka lauded the amazing technological applications of rainwater harvesting which is now turning into a sunrise industry in the highly industrialized countries. She then posed a challenge not only to the Rainwater Harvesting Industry but also to the responsive nations of the plight of billions of families and children without adequate water for drinking and sanitation. Rainwater Harvesting could play an important role, she said, as she cited live examples from Africa showcasing the significant benefit from rainwater harvesting. A difference is made when the millennium development goals of countries are achieved, she added. Ms. Khaka ended her message with a call for peace and security, saying such could only happen when there is water for everyone.