Published Apr 20 2018

It's 2050: Melbourne has hit Day Zero and run out of water

Diego
Ramirez-Lovering
Professor of Architecture
Briony rogers
Associate Professor, Fire To Flourish; Director, MSDI Water, Monash Sustainable Development Institute
David mccarthy
Head of Water Engineering, Associate Professor in Water Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering

Cape Town in South Africa was earlier this year just weeks away from hitting Day Zero, when the city would officially be declared "dry". That crisis has been averted for now, but the magnitude of the situation, and the implications if the scenario were to be repeated in other major cities, is a terrifying prospect.

In Australia, the millennium drought, which parched the country for the first decade of the new century, left cities such as Melbourne a year away from running out of water. But suppose the rains hadn’t come and Melbourne experienced its very own Day Zero? What would that look like, what were the mistakes that would have led us there, and how would we reset and respond? 

Monash experts Professor Diego Ramirez, Dr Briony Rogers and Dr David McCarthy take up the conversation …

About the Authors

  • Diego ramirez-lovering

    Professor of Architecture

    Diego is an award-winning architect who has practiced in Australia, Italy and Mexico. His research in water-sensitive urban design in the developing city context takes into account local catchment issues including ecology, water quality, and flood risk along with climate.

  • Briony rogers

    Associate Professor, Fire To Flourish; Director, MSDI Water, Monash Sustainable Development Institute

    Briony is motivated by a mission to drive societal transformations so we can thrive in the face of sustainability challenges such as climate change, population growth and urban intensification. Her research focus is on interdisciplinary solutions that have real-world impact for water, climate and cities. She’s particularly interested in the dynamics and governance of sustainability transformations, with emphasis on collaborative processes and diagnostic tools that support change in policy and practice. She’s worked with cities across Australia and internationally in action research settings to develop strategic guidance for cities pursuing visions of a water-sensitive future. As the Director of MSDI Water with the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Briony leads cross-faculty research and enterprise initiatives, bringing together Monash’s water expertise to support progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

  • David mccarthy

    Helping Melbourne keep its urban river and water systems healthy underpins David’s research. Population growth and climate change are expected to place pressure on existing water supplies – stormwater provides an alternative source of supply, provided it can be effectively treated to remove pollutants. David has two project areas: one is identifying the pollutants that accumulate in stormwater; the other is improving stormwater harvesting and reuse by developing sustainable, low-cost, low-energy treatment systems to remove those pollutants.

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