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This paper describes the dynamic nature of leadership processes that are initiated and driven by emergent leaders known as ‘champions’. The research involved a multiple case study method to examine typical champion-driven leadership processes in six urban water management agencies. The analysis indicated that these leadership processes evolved through three distinct phases characterized by different forms of leadership, involved many leaders, and were strongly affected by context. The research produced a new, three-phase conceptual model of champion-driven leadership. This model is used to explain the way in which the transformational, distributed and complexity models of leadership are relevant to different dimensions of champion-driven leadership processes as they evolve. The model is also used to explain why some champions are more effective than others. The paper concludes by describing ways organizations can enable champion-driven leadership processes to overcome complex challenges, such as delivering more sustainable water services within modern cities.

This paper describes a customised, six-month, leadership development program (LDP) that was designed for emerging leaders in the Australian water industry who were promoting sustainable urban water management (SUWM). It also presents results from an evaluation of the program's benefits, costs and overall ‘return on investment’ (ROI). The program was designed to help build emergent leadership capacity in the water industry, given strong evidence that this form of leadership plays an important role in advancing SUWM. It involved ‘360-degree feedback’ processes, training, individual leadership development plans, and coaching sessions. Its design was informed by a review of the literature, and its content was informed by local empirical research involving effective SUWM leaders. The evaluation used a seven-tier assessment framework that examined different dimensions of the program's performance using source and methodological triangulation. The results indicate that such LDPs can produce a range of positive outcomes, such as promoting desired leadership behaviours and generating a positive ROI estimate. Specifically, the program's estimated ROI was approximately 190% after only one year. The primary conclusion is that evidence-based LDPs which are highly customised for specific types of leaders in the water industry represent a promising type of intervention to build forms of leadership capacity which are needed to successfully promote SUWM.

This paper highlights and discusses ten characteristic attributes of emergent leaders (also known as ‘champions’) who worked as influential change agents within publicly managed, Australian water agencies to encourage more sustainable forms of urban water management. These attributes relate to: the ‘openness to experience’ personality characteristic; career mobility and work history demographics; personal and position power; strategic social networks; the culture of their organisations; and five distinguishing leadership behaviours (e.g. persisting under adversity). Guided by the findings of an international literature review, the author conducted a multiple case study involving six water agencies. This research identified attributes of these leaders that were typically strong and/or distinguishing compared to relevant control groups, as well as influential contextual factors. While it is widely acknowledged that these leaders play a critical role in the delivery of sustainable urban water management, there has been a paucity of context-sensitive research involving them. The research project highlighted in this paper is a response to this situation and has led to the development of a suite of 39 practical, evidence-based strategies to build leadership capacity throughout water agencies. Such capacity is one of the elements needed to drive the transition to more ‘water sensitive cities’.

A monitoring and evaluation program was undertaken, involving six different styles of evaluation to determine whether a low-cost, eight month education campaign that operated within a small commercial district was successful at changing people's behavior and reducing stormwater litter loads. This project also tested newly developed guidelines for monitoring and evaluating all types of non-structural stormwater quality best management practices (BMPs). The project evaluated: the extent and quality of the campaign's implementation; the degree to which it changed the awareness, attitudes, self-reported behavior and actual behavior of merchants and the public; and the nature of changes in stormwater litter loads. Overall, the education campaign produced mixed results, with the net result being modestly positive. Specifically, it was: unsuccessful at significantly influencing the knowledge or attitudes of merchants or the public; modestly successful at influencing the behavior of merchants and the public; and modestly successful at reducing litter loads in stormwater. At a theoretical level, the project highlights how using different 'styles' of BMP evaluation can help to build a more complete picture of a BMP's performance. At a practical level, the project helped to improve the monitoring and evaluation guidelines and produced evidence-based design guidelines for future campaigns that aim to reduce littering in commercial areas.

This paper describes a life cycle costing module that has been developed as part of the Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualisation (MUSIC). MUSIC is a pollutant export computer model that is used by stormwater managers during the conceptual design stage of projects to determine appropriate treatment options. The life cycle costing module allows users to enter size-related details of a proposed treatment measure (eg. the area of a stormwater treatment pond) to estimate the measure’s approximate life cycle cost, as well as “cost elements” that make up this cost (eg. total acquisition cost, typical annual maintenance cost, etc.).

New guidelines have been developed and trialled in Australia to assist urban stormwater managers to assess options for projects that aim to improve urban waterway health. These guidelines help users to examine the financial, ecological and social dimensions of projects (i.e. the so-called “triple-bottom-line”). Features of the assessment process described in the guidelines include use of multi criteria analysis, input from technical experts as well as non-technical stakeholders, and provision of three alternative levels of assessment to suit stormwater managers with differing needs and resources. This paper firstly provides a background to the new guidelines and triple-bottom-line assessment. The assessment methodology promoted in the new guidelines is then briefly summarised. This methodology is compared and contrasted with European guidelines from the “SWARD” project that have been primarily developed for assessing the relative sustainability of options involving urban water supply and sewerage assets. Finally, the paper discusses how assessment methodologies that evaluate the financial, ecological and social dimensions of projects can, under some circumstances, be used to evaluate the relative progress of options for urban water management on a journey towards the widely pursued, but vaguely defined goal of “sustainable development”.

Decision-support frameworks that help users to consider financial, social and ecological costs and benefits (i.e., ‘triple-bottom-line’ decision frameworks) are increasingly being used by water managers. This paper describes the outcomes of a project that was undertaken to assist stormwater managers to complete triple-bottom-line assessments of proposed urban stormwater quality management measures. The primary outcomes have been: a set of guidelines that clearly define a twelve step assessment process; and the results of a trial that was used to test and refine the guidelines in Brisbane, Australia. A brief overview of the twelve step assessment process is provided. The strengths and weaknesses of typical triple-bottom-line assessment processes are highlighted through the trial, where seven alternative stormwater treatment and reuse options for new, medium density, residential estates were assessed and ranked to help inform broad policy and local design decisions. For managers of urban stormwater quality,...

This paper presents the results of a study from Brisbane, Australia, where the relative merit of seven stormwater management design options that could be applied in typical, greenfield, medium density residential areas were assessed using a triple-bottom-line assessment framework. This framework involved assessing the financial, ecological and social dimensions of each option in consultation with stakeholders. The assessment process included the use of multicriteria analysis, a multidisciplinary expert panel, a local social survey of residents who lived adjacent to alternative design options, two workshops involving typical citizens of Brisbane, consultation with traditional stakeholder groups, pollutant export modelling, and water reuse modelling. The scope of issues investigated during the process was very broad. In addition, the information obtained from the community survey and public workshops is likely to be indicative of commonly held views of residents in cities similar to Brisbane. The multicriteria analysis stage of the assessment highlighted both large and small constructed wetlands as having the greatest overall net value compared to other options in the Brisbane region. However, the expert panel's preferred design option at the end of the process was bioretention systems located within the median strip of roads. Reasons for this discrepancy are explored.

This article summarizes a research project that investigated the use, performance, cost, and evaluation of nonstructural measures to improve urban stormwater quality. A survey of urban stormwater managers from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States revealed a widespread trend of increasing use of nonstructural measures among leading stormwater management agencies, with at least 76% of 41 types of nonstructural measures being found to be increasing in use. Data gathered from the survey, an international literature review, and a multicriteria analysis highlighted four nonstructural measures of greatest potential value: mandatory town planning controls that promote the adoption of low-impact development principles and techniques; development of strategic urban stormwater management plans for a city, shire, or catchment; stormwater management measures and programs for construction/building sites; and stormwater management activities related to municipal maintenance operations such as maintenance of the stormwater drainage network and manual litter collections. Knowledge gained on the use and performance of nonstructural measures from the survey, literature review, and three trial evaluation projects was used to develop tailored monitoring and evaluation guidelines for these types of measure. These guidelines incorporate a new evaluation framework based on seven alternative styles of evaluation that range from simply monitoring whether a nonstructural measure has been fully implemented to monitoring its impact on waterway health. This research helps to build the stormwater management industry’s knowledge base concerning nonstructural measures and provides a practical tool to address common impediments associated with monitoring and evaluating the performance and cost of these measures.