An adaptive systems toolkit for managing the Hawkesbury water recycling scheme

To achieve effective, sustainable and acceptable water recycling, the need for integrated and multidisciplinary management is now well recognised. The complexity of interacting technical, socio-cultural and environmental factors requires approaches which are responsible, robust and adaptable. This paper describes the toolkit which is being developed for managing the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme. A management plan based upon the logic of environmental management systems provides the basic structure of the toolkit, with supporting systems including those relating to organisational support, decision support, monitoring and research, communication, and an external interface. Lessons learned to date suggest that this form of management approach can assist in operationalising principles of sustainability and adaptive management in relation to water recycling.