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Aquifer Permeable layers of underground rock, or sand that hold or transmit ground water below
the water table.
Depression storage Proportion of water that collects in minor depressions on the catchment surface during the
initial stages of stormwater runoff.
Drainage catchment The area of land contributing stormwater runoff to the point under consideration.
Erosion Wearing away of the lands by running water, glaciers, wind, and waves.
Evaporation rate The quantity of water, expressed in terms of depth of liquid water, which is evaporated
from a given surface per unit of time. It is usually expressed in millimetres per day, month,
or year.
Evapotranspiration Combination of evaporation from free water surfaces and transpiration of water from plant
surfaces to the atmosphere.
Field capacity The soil condition that results when macropores are empty of water and micropores are
full of water. This state usually occurs 24 to 48 hours after rain or irrigation. Sand holds
very little water at field capacity because it has few micropores. Clays and organic soils
hold significantly greater quantities of water because they have more micropores.
Hydrologic cycle The natural pathway water follows as it changes between liquid, solid, and gaseous states.
Hydrology The science of studying rainfall and the distribution of water over the land.
Hydro-zone Areas within a site of differing soil moisture, evaporation rate and exposure to the local
weather conditions.
Infiltration Movement of water through the soil surface into the soil.
Infiltration rate The rate at which infiltration takes place expressed in depth of water per unit time, usually
in millimetres per hour.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Interception The process by which precipitation is caught and held by foliage, twigs, and branches of
trees, shrubs, and other vegetation, and lost by evaporation, never reaching the surface of
the ground. Interception equals the precipitation on the vegetation minus streamflow and
through fall.
Irrigation The controlled application of water to plant roots to supply water requirements not
satisfied by rainfall.
Irrigation efficiency The percentage of water applied that can be accounted for in soil moisture increase for
consumptive use.
Losses The temporary retention of rainwater through interception, surface storage and infiltration.
Macropore Larger soil pores, generally having a minimum diameter between 30 and 100 micrometers,
from which water drains readily by gravity.
Micropore Relatively small soil pore, generally found within structural aggregates and having a
diameter less than 30 micrometers. Micropores hold most of the water that can be used
by plants.
Percolation The movement of water, under pressure, through the gaps in rock or soil. It does not
include movement through large openings such as caves.
Pores The gaps that exist between soil particles. They include macropores and micropores.
Precipitation Precipitation is the discharge of water out of the atmosphere onto a land or water surface.
It is the common process by which atmospheric water becomes surface, or subsurface
water. Precipitation includes rainfall, snow, hail, and sleet, and is therefore a more general
term than rainfall.
Rhizobia Bacteria of the genus Rhizobium capable of forming nitrogen fixing nodules on the roots
of leguminous plants.
Runoff Portion of rainfall, melted snow or irrigation water that flows across the ground surface
and is eventually returned to streams. Runoff can pick up pollutants from air or land and
carry them to receiving waters.
Sheet flow Flow that occurs overland in places where there are no defined channels, the floodwater
spreads out over a large area at a uniform depth. This is also referred to as overland
flow.
Soil aggregate Unit of soil structure generally less than 10mm in diameter and formed by natural forces
and substances derived from root exudates and microbial products that cement smaller
particles into larger units.
Swale A wide shallow depression in the ground to form a channel for storm water drainage.
Top soil The upper part of the soil profile that is relatively rich in humus, which is technically known
as the A-horizon of the soil profile.
Water logging The soil condition that results when all of the pores have been filled with water.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Wilting point The soil condition that results when the soil dries out to the point where plants can not
extract any remaining water. Soil holds onto water via capillary forces; as more water
is removed, these forces become larger, making it increasingly difficult for plants to extract
water. Plant leaves and stems wilt when the plant can no longer extract water.
Worm casts Excreted masses of mineral soil often mixed with smaller bits of digested plant residues.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Bibliography
BCC 2004a, Water for today and tomorrow – a proposed integrated water management strategy for Brisbane, prepared by
Brisbane Water, Brisbane City Council, Brisbane
BCC 2004b, Water Sensitive Urban Design Engineering Guidelines, prepared by Water Resources Branch, Brisbane City
Council, Brisbane
Bluescope Steel Ltd (undated), Bluescope Water – Rainwater Tanks – Queensland Product Catalogue, accessed 13.03.2006,
http://www.bluescopewater.com.au/qldpricecl.htm
Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) 2004, Climate Averages for Australian Sites, accessed 06.05.2004, http://www.
bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_040223.shtml
Cunliffe, DA 1998, Guidance on the use of rainwater tanks, National Environmental Health Forum: Adelaide, accessed
06.03.2006, http://www.eng.warwick.ac.uk/ircsa/factsheets/Cunliffe.pdf
Gold Coast Water 2002, Your Garden Guide, Gold Coast City Council Publications Unit, Nerang
Handreck, K and Black, N 1989, Growing media for ornamental plants and turf, revised edition, NSW University Press,
Kensington
Harris, R, Clark, J and Matheny N 2004, Arboriculture: Integrated Management of Landscape Trees, Shrubs and Vines,
Prentice Hall, New Jersey
Lines-Kelly, R and North Coast Soil Management Working Party 2000, Soil sense: Soil management for NSW north coast
farmers, 2nd edition, prepared by R Lines-Kelly and North Coast Soil Management Working Party for NSW Department of
Agriculture
Pacey, A and Cullis, A 1989, Rainwater harvesting: The collection of rainfall and run-off in rural areas, Intermediate Technology
Publications, London
Pilgrim, D (ed) 1987, Australian Rainfall and Runoff – A Guide to Flood Estimation, The Institution of Engineers, Australia
Rain Bird Corporation 2003, Irrigation for a growing world, accessed 13.05.2004, http://www.rainbird.com/pdf/iuow/iuow_
whitepapers.pdf
Ranade, R, Srinivasan, R and Suresh Babu, S 2003, A water harvesting manual for urban areas, Centre for Science and
Environment, New Delhi
Vickers A 2001, Handbook of water use and conservation, Water Plow Press, Massachusetts
WSUD Sydney 2003, The water sensitive planning guide for the Sydney region, accessed: 07.04.2004, http://www.wsud.org/
planning.htm
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Acceptable soil amelioration measures to improve infiltration of existing soils shall include,
where appropriate:
• using hand tools only, such as hoes and forks, within the critical root zones of existing trees
and other vegetation nominated for retention
• applications of gypsum, at the rates recommended by a soil test, to sodic clay topsoils and
subsoils
• installing a 50mm layer of lucerne hay between the topsoil and mulch layers
• incorporating soil wetters, crystals and wettable foams at the recommended rates.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
The hydro-zoning approach involves both observing the existing conditions and predicting the impacts of proposed buildings
and other items on the site’s microclimate(s). With this information, a plan of the site’s likely hydro-zones can be prepared and
suitable plant species matched to these zones. As a general guide, the following site factors should be considered:
4. Vegetation
Identify existing species and record their condition, exposure and soil moisture.
5. Wet areas
Evaluate the site for existing ground and surface water storages of a temporary or permanent nature. On large sites these
may include:
Table A2.1 provides an example of how hydro-zones are determined and may be used to assist designers in predicting
hydro-zone types.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Instructions:
Predicted Conditions
Dry conditions Damp conditions Wet conditions
Waterclogged
Strong, hot /
Cool, humid
Light, cool /
/ boggy soil
moist winds
Full shade
Damp soil
Humid air
Dappled
dry wind
No wind
Full sun
Dry soil
surface
surface
Dry air
shade
air
Wet season prediction (Dec-Feb)
Example only: Example only:
North-west Corner 3 3 3 Choose plants that
between Smith Dry season prediction (July to Oct) enjoy damp to wet
Road and building conditions.
3 3 3 3
SCORE: 1 SCORE: 3 SCORE: 4
Wet season prediction (Dec - Feb)
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Predicted Conditions
Dry conditions Damp conditions Wet conditions
Waterclogged
Cool, humid
Light, cool /
/ boggy soil
moist winds
Stron, hot /
Full shade
Damp soil
Humid air
Dappled
dry wind
No wind
Full sun
Dry soil
surface
surface
Dry air
shade
air
Wet season prediction (Dec-Feb)
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
REFERENCES Designers should refer to the following publications when determining plant water
requirements:
Handreck, K and Black, N 1989, Growing Media for Ornamental Plants and Turf, NSW
University Press, Sydney, Chapter 22
METHODS Understanding local rainfall and estimating water requirements are important factors in the
design approach to conserving water use in landscapes.
As identified in the design standards (Section 4), if direct rainfall infiltration to soils
provides 50% to 100% of the plants’ (including turf) water needs, designers can proceed
with irrigation design. If rainfall alone provides 100% of the plants’ (including turf) water
needs, irrigation design will not be required.
The following two steps outline the method for determining a landscape’s water
requirements. Step 1 shows how to estimate the plant and turf water volumes needed
(expressed as landscape evaporation, or (ETL ) . Step 2 outlines how to estimate rainfall
infiltration quantities.
1. Estimate the volumes of water required to maintain plants (including turf) at acceptable
levels of growth and appearance throughout the year.
2. Compare these values with the volume provided by direct rainfall infiltration.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Water use by vegetation, or landscape evapotranspiration rate (ETL ) , is estimated by multiplying a generalised or reference
evapotranspiration rate (ETo ) by the following three coefficients:
1. Species coefficient (KC ) – assesses the plant species used in terms of their water needs. Water loving plants will have high
KC values whereas drought tolerant species will have low KC values.
2. Hydro-zone coefficient (Kh ) – accounts for the site microclimate. Sites that are exposed to sun and wind with no shade
from buildings will have high Kh values. Low Kh values will be found in sheltered sites, for example, where walled gardens are
located between buildings. Average values Kh would be for sites in full sun.
3. Density coefficient (Kd ) – assesses the density of the leaf surface area in a landscape. High Kd values would be found in
mixed plantings of tall and/ or tiered foliage. Low Kd values are for less than 60% of the surface covered in vegetation.
ETL = ETo x Kc x Kh x Kd
Values for reference evapotranspiration rate (ETo ) are obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology evapotranspiration maps
using average areal actual data. Values for KC , Kh and Kd are shown in Table A3.1 below.
Trees 0.9 0.6 0.2 1.4 1.0 0.5 1.2 1.0 0.5
Shrubs 0.7 0.5 0.2 1.3 1.0 0.5 1.1 1.0 0.5
Ground covers 0.7 0.5 0.2 1.2 1.0 0.5 1.1 1.0 0.5
Mixed (trees, shrubs and 1.0 0.6 0.2 1.4 1.0 0.5 1.3 1.1 0.6
ground covers)
Turf 0.8 0.7 0.6 1.2 1.0 0.8 1.4 1.0 0.6
Source: page 324 of Harris, R, Clark, J and Matheny N 2004, Arboriculture: Integrated Management of Landscape Trees,
Shrubs and Vines, Prentice Hall, New Jersey
Note that the ETL values estimated will be expressed in millimetres. To obtain a volume, expressed in litres, the values
obtained are multiplied by the square metre area of the planted or turfed space.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
The volume of rainfall infiltration for a garden bed or turfed area can be estimated by multiplying the median monthly rainfall
(obtained from Table A3.2 below) by an ‘infiltration factor’ (obtained from Table A3.3 below) that accounts for soil type by
the area, measured in square metres. That is:
Rainwater
infiltration rate = Median monthly
rainfall
x Infiltration factor x Area
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Annual
Infiltration
Soil type
Factor
Pervious garden - Sand (0% impervious) 0.50
Semi-impervious garden - Loam
Upper limit infiltration (10-20% impervious) 0.42
Lower limit infiltration (35-50 % impervious) 0.35
Impervious garden - Clay (75-100% impervious) 0.15
Please note that the values in Table A3.3 are based on overseas tropical area research and have been applied to Brisbane
conditions. The values are conservative and factored to overestimate the infiltration volumes.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Rainfall data should be obtained from the pluviograph station(s) closest to the site. The data shown in Table A4.1 was
obtained from the BoM’s pluviograph station at the Brisbane Airport. For the purposes of this guideline, these values will be
suitable for all development within Brisbane City.
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Annual
The monthly median values provided by the BoM are used as they represent the most common value as opposed to the
mean which can be misleading due to the inclusion of lower/higher values.
Note that the values in Table A4.1 are based on the 1929 to 2000 observations and will be greater than the median values
over the last few years.
STEP 2 - ASSESS THE SITE FOR IMPERVIOUS AREAS THAT COULD ACT AS STORMWATER
HARVESTING SURFACES (TYPICALLY ROOF, DRIVEWAY PATHS, AND CAR PARKS)
Calculate the total area in square metres for each surface type. Unless pumps are incorporated, harvest surfaces levels should
be above the areas to be irrigated.
STEP 3 - DETERMINE THE VOLUMETRIC RUNOFF COEFFICIENT FOR EACH SURFACE TYPE
The 'volumetric' runoff coefficient is the factor that accounts for the fact that all the rainfall falling on a catchment cannot
be collected. Some rainfall will be lost from the catchment by evaporation and retention on the surface itself. Table A4.2
provides volumetric runoff coefficients for various surfaces (note: these are based on conditions in the UK, as no Australian
coefficients are available).
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
Source: Pacey, A and Cullis, A 1989, Rainwater Harvesting: The collection of rainfall and
run-off in rural areas, Intermediate Technology Publications, London, p. 55
= x x
Potential
Median rainfall Runoff
stormwater Harvest area
value coeffecient
harvest volume
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
The daily volume of water required can be calculated by dividing the annual volume calculated in Appendix 4 by 365 days
per year.
The total tank storage required can be determined by using the roof area and volume of water required per day to read off
the appropriate value shown in Table A5.1 below. For example, if 100 litres per day harvested from a roof area of 200sqm is
required, a storage capacity of 7000 litres will be needed.
100 2 7 7
200 34 23 19 16 14 14 14
400 - - - 47 39 34 31
Table adapted from Appendix A of Cunliffe, DA 1998, Guidance on the use of rainwater tanks, National Environmental
Health Forum, Adelaide. Tank sizes are based on an annual rainfall of 1200mm per year (Brisbane’s median rainfall -
1138.4mm per year).
The size and capacity of the tank or tanks can be determined using Tables A5.2 and A5.3 below. These tables have been
provided for initial guidance only and water tank suppliers should be contacted to provide more detail. The tables do not
provide information on below ground storage systems.
Following on from the example in step 2 above, to meet an overall storage capacity of 7000 litres, two 1200 diameter by
1850 high tanks (2100 litres each) and one 1530 diameter by 1850 high tank (3400 litres) could be selected.
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Landscape Design Guidelines for Water Conservation
38
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© Brisbane City Council 2007