30 August 2006

EVENTS IN AUGUST 2006

The Water Directorate is a voluntary association of councils and county councils that operate water and/or sewer businesses in regional NSW. Our monthly newsletter seeks to inform member councils and all sectors of the NSW Local Government Water Industry of the developments that have taken place regarding technical issues and networking during August 2006 and of coming events. This newsletter is sent to General Managers and to Water and Sewer Managers in 105 regional councils in NSW and also to approximately 125 contacts in government departments and private industry across Australia . We hope you enjoy this newsletter.

MEMBERSHIP FEES DUE

As mentioned last month, membership fees are due for 2006/07 and invoices were sent out in July. Thanks to the 76 member councils that have promptly renewed their membership. Your membership renewal will ensure that relevant and practical management tools will continue to be published for the NSW local government water industry such as the Water Loss Management Program Awareness and Education Guidelines mentioned in the following news item.

WATER LOSS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AWARENESS AND EDUCATION GUIDELINES

The Water Loss Management Program Awareness and Education Guidelines publication was mailed out in early August to GMs of all NSW local water utilities and was launched at the LGSA Water Management Conference at Broken Hill in two introductory sessions. The guidelines explain the process of water loss determination and also assist the Water Directorate and participating local water utilities in delivering the Water Loss Management Program by determining data required for individual council water loss funding submissions. The Water Loss Management Program is a joint initiative of the Water Directorate and the LGSA and has been successful in securing funding of $7.387 million from the Australian Government’s Water Smart Australia programme that will be used to assist up to 33 local water utilities implement water loss and leakage reduction projects. A training workshop will be held later in the year to provide training to all interested councils in water loss assessment. In the meantime it is recommended that NSW local water utilities interested in applying for grant funding should browse and trial the software that accompanies the guidelines to get a feel for the order of magnitude of their water loss and Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI) - a prerequisite for all councils applying for funding from the Water Loss Management Program.

FEEDBACK FROM THE 2006 LGSA LOCAL GOVERNMENT WATER MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

The big event in August was the Local Government Water Management Conference. Congratulations to the LGSA, to hosts Broken Hill City Council and to generous sponsors Department of Environment and Conservation and Country Water for holding a memorable and successful conference. Congratulations and well done to Chair Clr Robert Bell , Snr Policy Officer Renee Barbaro , Broken Hill Mayor Ron Page, General Manager of Country Water Brian Steffen and all those involved at DEC. Much of the success is owed to the efforts, enthusiasm and attention to detail from the Broken Hill staff and volunteers proudly showcasing their living desert. The Water Directorate thanks the LGSA for inviting us to organise the Water Managers’ Forum for the fourth year. We were very pleased with the 60 attendees at this forum given that it is in competition with the site tours and thanks to those delegates who generated the forum discussion. Thanks particularly to Adrian Wells, Manager Upper Murray, Murray Darling Association for capably facilitating the forum again. Thanks also to the five current and former Executive Committee members who made up the panel - Stewart McLeod, Carmel Krogh , Carl Peterson, Greg McDonald and Daryl McGregor . The Executive Committee hope you enjoyed the Water Managers’ Forum and the value it added to the conference. Notes generated on these issues will be available shortly at www.waterdirectorate.asn.au

DROUGHT AND LIFE IN THE LIVING DESERT

It was fascinating to see Broken Hill’s supply piped from the oasis-like Menindee Lakes located over 100 kilometres south-east of the dry historical mining city. Menindee Lakes are a massive shallow lake system covering 45,000 hectares with a catchment area of 6.3 million hectares! The lakes can hold 2 million megalitres or three and a half times more water than Sydney Harbour and can cover seven and a half times its area. Water loss to evaporation is high and current storage is just 16%. The Barrier Miner local paper reported on 18 August that there is 18 months supply left in the lakes system which is fed from Darling River overflows and managed by the Murray Darling Basin Commission. Of grave concern is the fact that the last inflow to the lakes was in 2000 and the current drought has provided the longest nil inflow for 100 years. Lake Menindee itself is now dry in comparison to the late 1990s when newspapers showed it full and teeming with thousands of waterbirds but I can report that Lake Pamamaroo currently supports black swans, ducks and pelicans.

UPDATE ON NSW DROUGHT CONDITIONS

In August the NSW Department of Primary Industries published that 92.8% of NSW is declared drought affected which is a very slight improvement over the July figure of 93.9%. However the area of NSW classified as marginal has increased from 3.2% to 5.2% and therefore unfortunately the area of NSW classified as satisfactory has decreased from 2.9% to only 2%.

ADAPTING TO A WARMER WORLD

Rising sea levels can be monitored however coastal councils should be aware of warnings such as the Sunday Telegraph’s item on 20 August that, according to the journal Science , the colossal Greenland ice sheet is melting 3 times faster than previously thought. The sheet is about the size of Mexico and contains about 10% of the world’s fresh water. If it melts, global sea levels will rise by 6m and flood most the world’s coastal cities, displacing millions, if not billions of people. In Australia , 700,000 homes within 3 km of the coast would be flooded, 60% of them in NSW and Queensland . Scientists disagree, however, on how fast the ice sheet is melting, whether it is caused by global warming and whether it can be slowed. Researchers using satellites found that Greenland ’s ice sheet lost about 237.5 cubic km in 2005 and about 100 cubic km in 1996.

AWA NSW BRANCH LIQUID TRADE WASTE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP WORKSHOP, GRIFFITH, 6 - 7 SEPT 2006

Short notice but for more information on this two day event supported by the Water Directorate please contact Errin Dryden on 02 9495 9908 or edryden@awa.asn.au

2006 ENERGY AND WATER GREEN GLOBE AWARDS – CLOSES 9 OCTOBER 2006

The Energy and Water Green Globe Awards are the NSW Government’s leading energy and water efficiency awards scheme. Nominations are now open and close Monday, 9 October 2006 at 5.00pm . The Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability’s eighth annual Green Globe Awards honour achievers in the sustainable use of water and energy in NSW. Has your council set a new benchmark in water efficiency? Does your council have a sustainable approach to water use? Do you know someone who has tirelessly championed the cause? Now is the time to gain public recognition for your initiative! The Water Champion Awards include Individual, Business and Government categories; the Leadership Awards include Water Recycling and Conservation as well as Best Performing Water Utilities categories; the Excellence Awards include Water Savings as well as Research, Education and Awareness and also Sustainability categories. Within NSW there are many initiatives and projects that are taking place that are making a difference today and more importantly ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come. The Energy and Water Green Globe Awards help to raise the profile of energy and water sustainability issues and recognise those whose initiatives are an inspiration and example for others to follow. The Green Globe Awards will culminate with a Gala Event at NSW Parliament House where the Ministers for Energy and for Water Utilities will announce the 2006 Winners. For all enquiries contact Alex Fraser on 02 8281 7777 or event@deus.nsw.gov.au

WATER SAVING INNOVATORS CALLED TO ENTER AWARDS – CLOSES 18 OCTOBER 2006

For the first time in its five-year history, the prestigious savewater! awards® are open to entrants outside of Victoria through the ‘product innovations’ category. Those who think they have developed the country’s next iconic invention in the area of water conservation are encouraged to enter the savewater! awards® with their commercially produced and marketed water saving product. Manufacturers, product developers, engineers, architects and research and developers are just some of the groups encouraged to enter the awards at www.savewater.com.au The savewater!® awards recognise and reward outstanding achievement in water conservation and are an initiative of the savewater!® Alliance Inc., an alliance of metropolitan and regional water businesses from Victoria and NSW. It is Australia ’s leading resource for water conservation information and solutions. The savewater! awards® provide a great platform for water saving stars to inspire, educate and motivate the broader community on how to use our water resources in the most sustainable way possible. Nominations for this year’s awards close on 18 October 2006 during National Water Week. Winners will be announced at a gala event in Melbourne on 23 March 2007 , the day after World Water Day. Category information and entry forms are available now from savewater.com.au – click on 2006 savewater! awards® under ‘savewater! news’.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Future Executive Committee meetings in 2006 will be held on 7 September and 9 November. For information about membership or any water related issue, please contact gmitchell@waterdirectorate.asn.au

For more information contact: