Thank You

On behalf of the Stormwater NSW Conference Organising Committee, we would like to thank you in participating at the 2019 Stormwater NSW Conference. For this year’s Conference we were excited to travel to Coffs Harbour.  The Conference was held at the Pacific Bay Resort from Tuesday, 27^th to Friday, 30^th August, 2019.

The Conference comprised of:

• Welcome Reception on Tuesday, 27^th August.
• Two days of Conference presentations on Wednesday, 28^th and Thursday, 29^th August.
  
• Conference Dinner on Wednesday, 28^th August.
  
• Optional Technical Tour and Additional Activities on Friday, 30^th August.

We were excited to be travelling back to Coffs Harbour, 22 years after the first regional SIA NSW conference was held there. Once a thriving hub of the banana industry, Coffs Harbour is now better known as a highly coveted tourist destination.  Girt by sea, its beaches, marine park and surrounding national parks draw in tens of thousands of tourists each year.  Attractions include coral reefs, whale watching, surfing, snorkelling and diving, fishing, hiking and, of course, the iconic Big Banana.  With a long history of flooding events due to the proximity of the Great Dividing Range and so many natural assets to protect from urban runoff, Coffs Harbour was an ideal place to hold the 2019 Stormwater Conference, offering conference participants a picturesque and contextual relevant location.    

The theme for the 2019 Conference was “Failure to thrive: are sustainable stormwater practices really catching on?". This theme aims to explore sustainable stormwater practices and if they are becoming the new normal, or if they are at risk of sliding backwards as the excitement of innovation and implementation begins to shift toward the less glamorous yet crucially important long-term management and maintenance.  As with any innovation, whether it be digital, physical or philosophical, this transitional period can often make or break innovation.  But with so much at stake for centres like Coffs Harbour, and our waterways and oceans at large, can we afford to allow sustainable water practices to fade?  Now is the time to confront this issue head on.

So this year we sought all of our partners to share their experience in stormwater and related fields, so we could teach and learn from each other and learn about our failures in order to thrive together!

The Conference Organising Committee, Sponsors and Trade Exhibitors loved seeing you in Coffs Harbour in August!