Water Scarcity and Urban Forests: Science and Public Policy Lessons from a Decade of Drought in Adelaide, Australia

Abstract

Drawing on the experience of greater metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, the paper points to the links and gaps between science and public policy. The paper explores urban stormwater management lessons emerging from a ten-year, prolonged dry period that impacted the integrity of urban forests in the City of Adelaide. Among the questions addressed: will stormwater remain, as its historic and institutional settings suggest, a liability or can it become an asset? Who owns stormwater resources and to whom is its management vested? The paper examines these issues with consideration to the dangers of continuing to use urban forestry management practices that are not informed by science. The study concludes that a more integrated approach to urban water management can maintain the integrity of urban forests in ways that potentially enhance social amenities and economic efficiency.

Identifying principles for the design of robust impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based solutions in cities

“…Since nature-based solutions imitate and enhance natural processes and mechanisms, they contribute to dealing with environmental problems such as air pollution, ecosystem degradation (Goddard et al, 2010), and produce multiple ecosystem services such as the regulation of extreme climate events like floods and heat waves or soil protection and restoration (Keesstra et al, 2018). Overall, nature-based solutions aim to "positively exploit the ecosystem services for climate mitigation and adaptation as well as resource efficiency" (Fink, 2016, p. 2;Brindal and Stringer, 2013) and to reach desired social and climate objectives simultaneously (Mayrhofer and Gupta, 2016). Examples include microscale interventions, such as pocket parks, medium-scale, such as naturebased sustainable urban drainage systems and green roofs, and largescale projects such as green corridors or urban parks.…”