Macnamara Pond is engineered to improve Ginninderry’s water quality, reduce environmental impacts, enhance liveability through water-cycle management, and be easy on the eyes. Image: Ginninderry.
Among its creators, it’s known as Pond B10 — an unremarkable name for a significant feat of engineering and a key part of the Water Sensitive Urban Design strategy behind the Capital region’s first six-star Green Star community.
Constructed to support Ginninderry’s environmental and community wellbeing ambitions, Macnamara Pond, as it’s more colloquially known, will help improve the development’s water quality, reduce environmental impacts and enhance liveability through water cycle management.
Placed at the natural low point of the catchment, Macnamara Pond is positioned to capture all stormwater runoff from the surrounding development, minimising the risk of downstream issues and helping protect the Murrumbidgee River.
A team of civil design consultants with dam experience and geotech engineers completed extensive modelling and testing of the ground conditions to inform their final design.
The system comprises a network of pipelines and two bioretention basins, all discharging into the main pond, according to Huon Contractors project manager Edward Habel.
“The pipe network conveys flows into the bioretention basins, where pollutants from the upstream built environment are removed through an engineered filtration process of sand and aggregate layers before the water is discharged into the main pond,” he says.
The system has been designed to accommodate the ultimate catchment runoff, collecting water at Pond B10 before releasing it toward the Murrumbidgee River via a primary spillway for everyday flows and a secondary spillway to allow controlled discharge during major rainfall events.
Edward adds that Macnamara Pond itself is a substantial engineering achievement.
“The project team has overcome a series of challenges related to the surrounding topography, variable weather patterns and complex geotechnical ground conditions to harmonise the natural environment with the upstream built environment, creating a solution that will serve the community for generations to come.”
There are other ways Macnamara Pond differs from the standard bio basin makeup.
For starters, while the function is of utmost importance, it doesn’t come at the cost of aesthetics.
“We didn’t want to create an environmental structure that would take away from the beauty of the surroundings,” Ginninderry Project Operations Director Imran Khan says.
“We had lots of input from landscape architects to soften the look of the pond.
“The brief was to treat the pond as not just an engineering structure but something to celebrate and be part of the experience and landscape of Ginninderry.”
Far from a functional but unsightly water management body often tucked away from sight, Macnamara Pond will form part of Ginninderry’s accessible space network, which offers passive walking and nature appreciation opportunities.
To that end, the pond will be seamlessly integrated with the footpath, with a walkway skirting the edge of the pond, with benches for repose and reflection.
The pond itself is located on an urban-edge path that runs along the edge of the Ginninderry Conservation Corridor from the future Macnamara Nature Park, past Macnamara Pond and Lookout, and all the way to Strathnairn School.
“As part of the urban-edge path, you arrive at an aesthetically pleasing water feature that you can walk around,” Imran says.
“It’s designed as a multifunctional green space that brings value to residents.”
The design phase doesn’t end when construction begins — experts have been brought in continuously to update the plans.
“It’s one thing to form a plan to build something, and a whole other thing to build it,” Imran points out.
“We have design consultants involved throughout the construction phase because of the complexity of the terrain, to ensure we achieve the best outcomes in terms of function and design whilst fitting into the landscape.
“Ultimately, this pond demonstrates how engineering, urban planning and environmental stewardship come together to deliver benefits for both the community and the natural environment.”
