Why We Chose Cary and Brisbane for our Project

==> Click here to see our printable Cary Brisbane Quick-Fact Comparison Sheet

Why did the Microbots choose to study Cary, NC, USA?

Cary, North Carolina is the Microbots' hometown community. In 2008, Cary faced the 2nd severe drought in just 6 years. Severe drought is still a fairly unprecedented weather event in the history of this water rich region of North Carolina.

Cary citizens already have a decade long history of cutting back water usage voluntarily via simple water conservation methods like alternate day watering. In 1996, Cary established a water conservation program to more efficiently manage Cary’s water resources. Cary proudly says that “Water conservation in Cary is more than a "feel good" endeavor.” Regardless of drought severity, Cary’s comprehensive program provides permanent solutions for maximizing use of water, a natural resource that Cary considers to be crucial.

Water has become an important topic at many levels in the Cary area:

• This year, our NC Governor Michael Easley asked all North Carolina residents to increase conservation measures due to severe statewide drought conditions.
• We met with Dr Ryan Boyles at the State Climate Offices. He told us that the future of water was NC’s major “climate change related problem for the 21 century."
• On September 19, 2008, the Microbots met with Marie Cefalo, Water Conservation Coordinator for the Town of Cary. She told us that the future of water was critically important to Cary.
• In March 2008, the Cary Town Council ordered more comprehensive new water conservation incentives and rebates to address the increasing need for water supply and demand management.
• Though the drought eased in the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009, the Town of Cary drafted a new Water Shortage Response Plan that the Microbots got to check out at the Open House on April 29, 2009.

In the future, Cary will face growing regional pressure on all the Town’s water resources, including increased water for irrigation by newer homes and rapidly expanding population growth

Why did the Microbots choose to study Brisbane, Australia?

Our research coach, Dr. Linda Whipker has a brother living in Brisbane, Australia. Throughout 2008, the Microbots heard formidable tales of the severe drought situation in Brisbane. When the FLL challenge was released, we immediately thought of Brisbane as both a compelling and inspiring community for us to analyze.

An interesting common feature between Brisbane and Cary is that Brisbane is the fastest growing community in Australia, while Cary is the fastest growing community in North Carolina (5th fastest in USA). Both regions expect similar population growth within the next 50 years, with Brisbane growing possibly to a whopping 6 million residents!

While drought is still somewhat new to Cary, historically, Brisbane faces drought in 3 out of every 10 years. Brisbane has “severe” drought every 18 years. In fact, the continent of Australia is the world’s largest desert. If Brisbane does not plan to secure water for the future, their resources could run “dry” by 2020! But Brisbane is preparing for the worst. Brisbane’s "Water Today for Tomorrow" policy calls for a very proactive approach to secure the region’s future water supply. Brisbane’s strategy focuses on improved measurement techniques by individuals as well as creating and securing climate resilient supplies.

Brisbane’s vision for the future is called the “Water today for Tomorrow “program. The major feature of this program is a dramatic move away from the current reliance on dams and weirs (from 95% down to 40%) to a much diversified new position.

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