Designed for Stockland Development, the innovative scheme employed Humes’ ‘RainVault’ technology and careful conceptual and detailed design to capture and reuse some 21ML of stormwater annually for landscape irrigation whilst meeting treatment objectives.

In receiving the award, G&S Principal Engineer Allan Genn thanked Stockland Development and its project design team including Mortons Urban Solutions (Civil Engineers) and Cardno SPLAT (Landscape Architects).

Allan Genn’s refereed paper on the award-winning Riverstone Crossing stormwater harvesting scheme appeared in the Australian Water Association’s ‘Water’ journal in March 2009. Download a copy of the article here.

Source: ‘Water – the Journal of the Australian Water Association’ (Vol 36 No 2, March 2009). Article reproduced with permission.

In early 2010, G&S opened an office at 43-47 Village Lane, Cairns.

The firm’s three existing offices service Brisbane, the Gold Coast (Robina) and Sunshine Coast (Kawana).

As an industry professional, G&S Principal Agricultural & Environmental Scientist Neil Sutherland was invited to present a component of the course, which is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of environmental managers and environmental practitioners.

Neil’s presentation used G&S projects as case studies to demonstrate the broad challenges associated with field investigation of ASS and to detail the practices and measures that may be employed to avoid potentially costly pitfalls.

SCU GeoScience’s professional ASS short courses are led by Professor Leigh Sullivan, one of Australia’s leading acid sulfate soil scientists and are presented with the assistance of ‘Caring for our Country’. Initially piloted in northern NSW and Queensland, the course will run at least once in every state and territory by June 2011.

For more information visit: http://www.scu.edu.au/geoscience/

Neil told the seminar that the assumptions underpinning TSPP No.1/2010, ‘Protecting Wetlands of High Ecological Significance in Great Barrier Reef Catchments’ needed further scrutiny and greater stakeholder consultation. He said in some instances, conflict could arise due to the ‘wetland’ definitions used and the default buffer requirements specified. TSPP 1/10 will restrict or ban major agricultural earthworks adjacent to or upstream of wetlands, effectively limiting cropping choices for the first time.

Neil is a former Chairman of the Queensland Acid Sulfate Soils Committee (including the Technical Committee), which helped frame State Planning Policy 2/2002 ‘Planning and Managing Development Involving Acid Sulfate Soils’ and its supporting guideline. He was also the Independent Chair of the Gold Coast WaterFuture Committee that facilitated the development of the Gold Coast WaterFuture Strategy.

‘It’s vitally important to consult widely before introducing such policies,’ Sutherland said. ‘It wouldn’t help anyone if the temporary policy has the effect of engendering conflict on a local level.’

Based in our Brisbane Office, Owen has recently completed lengthy secondments within the Department of Environment and Resource Management and the Queensland Water Commission where he was responsible for large-scale water resource modelling, impact assessment and supply planning.

A Director of Gilbert & Sutherland, he will lead a team of five engineers experienced in hydraulic and hydrological modelling, water supply planning and mine water management. Owen’s first disciplines are hydraulics and hydrology and he has given expert evidence to mining and planning commissions over the last fifteen years.

Co-authored by Principal Agricultural & Environmental Scientist Neil Sutherland and Principal Agricultural Scientist Dr Phil Matthew, Foster’s paper reported the findings of a direct assessment of As phytotoxicity and soil availability in a Ferosol using a quick growing, common residential garden vegetable.

The results of this study may be used to inform a review of the adequacy of the current phytotoxicity investigation level (PIL) of 20mg Total As/kg soil. The phytotoxicity trial growing long scarlet radish (Raphanus sativus) revealed no significant difference in root elongation in soils contaminated with 10, 86, 169, 244, 315 and 656mg As/kg. The current PIL of 20mg/kg is excessive in this Ferrosol and remediation to the health investigation level (HIL) of 100mg kg-1 would be sufficient. The PIL should be specific to the remediation site and based on plant availability of As.

Click here to view soil paper

Read Owen’s open letter here…

Read The Australian’s article: