Water Sensitive Urban Design

The NSW Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) Guide promotes a consistent water sensitive approach to urban design across the state. The guide explains the need for improved water management, outlines desired outcomes, and sets out a flexible, place based process that can be followed at multiple scales and in diverse contexts. It is intended for use by government, industry and the community.

Taking a water sensitive approach to urban design can achieve a range of outcomes that are influenced by the local context and see flow-on benefits elsewhere. For example, taking action to improve stormwater quality and achieve a healthy waterway and aquatic ecosystem may also enhance biodiversity and help cool urban areas. 

The guide and outcomes table explores 12 outcomes, grouped into categories: 

• Integrated Water Cycle Management outcomes – sustainable water and resource management, water security and drought resilience, and resilient infrastructure and urban systems
• Urban design outcomes –  blue–green infrastructure and public domain, urban heat mitigation and thermal comfort, aesthetic quality and place identity, and flood risk management and resilience
• Urban ecology outcomes – biodiversity and habitat enhancement, healthy waterways and aquatic ecosystems, and resilient ecosystems and blue-green networks
• Culture and community - Connecting with Country and community water literacy and stewardship.

Urban development significantly disrupts the natural water cycle. It alters flows, degrades water quality, and increases reliance on imported supplies. Taking a WSUD approach helps to restore a more natural water balance, improve urban resilience, and protect the health of waterways and communities.

Find more information about the impacts of urbanisation and how WSUD can assist in the WSUD Guide. 
 

These projects provide best practice examples of how to apply the guide: 

• Stormwater in Joynton Park and Victoria Park, Zetland
• Rain gardens and diverse plants in Discovery Point, Wolli Creek
• Orange stormwater harvesting scheme  
• WSUD at Fairwater Estate, Blacktown
• Connecting with Country in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis

Stormwater in Joynton Park and Victoria Park, Zetland

A defining feature of the precinct is the integration of stormwater management into public open spaces. Parks that serve as valued community spaces during dry weather, like Joynton Park, are designed to function temporarily as detention basins during major storm events. They fill with water to slow flows and reduce downstream flood risk.

In addition, the street network was designed to safely convey overland flows in events in excess of the 1-in-20-year average recurrence interval. This ensures floodwaters can move through the precinct without placing people or property at risk.

Rain gardens and diverse plants in Discovery Point, Wolli Creek

Discovery Point is a major redevelopment in Wolli Creek, adjacent to the Cooks River in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Industrial development formerly dominated the site, which is now mixed-use and home to about 3,500 residents.

A WSUD approach was incorporated in the precinct’s landscape design. Streetscapes, plazas, and parks display planter beds designed as rain gardens. These features not only manage stormwater but also support diverse planting.

Each rain garden contains a diverse mix of shrubs, grasses, and groundcovers, enhancing habitat and biodiversity while contributing to attractive and resilient public spaces. 

Orange stormwater harvesting scheme  

Orange’s water supply includes 2 water storage dams that capture runoff from rural catchments. While Orange has a high annual rainfall compared to surrounding areas, its position at the top of the catchment limits the harvestable volume of water. 

During the drought of 2007-10, runoff was insufficient to replenish storage levels, which fell to critically low levels. Tightening water restrictions to level 5 placed significant pressure on the community and local economy. 

Urban catchments were generating runoff; however, this was flowing into waterways downstream of the 2 storage dams. Recognising this opportunity, Orange City Council and government agencies have worked together to develop one of the first large-scale urban stormwater harvesting schemes in Australia. It comprises the Blackmans Swamp Creek and the Ploughmans Creek schemes.

• Blackmans Swamp Creek Stormwater Harvesting Scheme captures and treats the stormwater runoff from more than half of Orange’s urban area, which drains to the creek. The scheme treats runoff from the catchment before transferring it to a holding dam. The process then treats the water in batch ponds to meet target water quality criteria before piping it into the existing Suma Park Dam for potable supply.
• Ploughmans Creek Stormwater Harvesting Scheme collects stormwater from the remaining portion of Orange’s urban area. Four stormwater treatment wetlands capture and treat runoff from separate sub-catchments. The process then transfers the water from these wetlands to the Suma Park Dam. 

Together, these systems can supply up to 25% of Orange’s annual unrestricted water demand, significantly improving drought resilience and reducing reliance on external catchments.

Council conducted detailed hydrological and water quality modelling, risk assessments, and monitoring programs to demonstrate the scheme could meet drinking water standards and operate safely within the broader supply system. Council worked closely with NSW Health to ensure it met drinking water standards and requirements.

Community engagement focused on the need for increased water security and education about the treatment technology. This pioneering project has since become a benchmark example of integrated water cycle management in regional NSW. It demonstrates the viability of harnessing urban stormwater as a valuable local resource.

Find more information about the scheme and its development in CRC for 'Water Sensitive Cities’ case study. 

Fairwater Estate, Blacktown

Fairwater is a master-planned residential community that Frasers Property Australia developed on the site of the former Ashlar Golf Course in Blacktown. The Green Building Council of Australia recognised it as a 6-star Green Star Community. It has also received multiple awards including the NSW Government’s Green Globe Award for the Built Environment (2016), an Urban Development Industry Association National Award for Excellence in Residential Development (2017), and the Property Council of Australia’s Best Master Planned Community (2021). 

A defining feature of Fairwater’s success is the integration of water features into the open space network. The community’s 2 major parklands centre on water bodies. A linear corridor links them along a tributary of Breakfast Creek, where a concrete channel was removed and the waterway naturalised. 

The design encourages residents to access and use these open spaces. Walking and cycling paths connect the waterway corridor to residential streets, while boardwalks, viewing platforms, and public art encourage engagement with the water features.

Beyond their recreational value, the water bodies and naturalised channel also deliver important functional benefits. They provide habitat, attenuate stormwater flows, improve water quality, and store water for reuse. 

Connecting with Country in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis

The Western Sydney Aerotropolis is a 10,000ha master‑planned region surrounding the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport. 

The Precinct Plan for the Western Sydney Aerotropolis provides the place-based objectives and requirements to guide development in a consistent and sustainable manner over time. To embed Connecting with Country principles, the plan formally recognises Aboriginal culture, heritage, and custodianship as foundational to land‑use planning. It includes a dedicated section, Aboriginal Culture and Heritage: Recognising Country, outlining that design and development of the Aerotropolis must respect the Traditional Custodians of the land and incorporate their cultural values into decision‑making processes. An emphasis on respectful, thoughtful collaboration with Aboriginal communities strengthens this commitment and ensures their social, cultural, and economic inclusion as development progresses. 

Planning controls that integrate Aboriginal perspectives into place‑making, landscape design, and environmental management further operationalise Connecting with Country. A blue‑green infrastructure framework supports the plan’s landscape‑led approach. Enhancing natural systems such as Wianamatta‑South Creek and emphasising water, vegetation, and ecological connectivity as cultural assets as well as environmental assets responds directly to Country. In doing so, the Aerotropolis positions Country not just as a heritage consideration but as a guiding principle that shapes the identity, sustainability, and long‑term resilience of the precinct.