Australian Water and Wastewater Association.
In mid June I met with the NSW Branch Committee of the AWWA to promote the Water Directorate and explore opportunities for networking which will benefit members of both associations. One such benefit is the use of each other's newsletters to reach a wider audience and I thank the committee for placing an article about the Water Directorate in their July Newsdrop. Please note that the AWWA Operators 1999 Conference call for papers closes on 16 July 1999 ( phone 9413 1288 & PTO) and also that the AWWA Annual Award for Best Practice Water Cycle Management closes on 23 July 1999.

Department of Land and Water Conservation
Charles Essery - Director Urban Water Management, Mary Mikulandra - Manager Water Industry Reform and Planning, and Mike Partlin - Project Manager, Small Towns Sewerage attended the last Executive Committee meeting. I thank Charles, Mary and Mike for their time and for discussion of various issues , some of which are included below.

DLWC Financial Planning Model.
The Executive Committee was pleased that its suggestion of conducting regional workshops has been successfully adopted. Any comments on the workshops are welcome and I will feedback your support, criticisms, improvements etc to the DLWC.

DLWC Small Towns Sewerage - Storm Allowance
The Water Directorate had previously expressed its concern regarding the proposed reduction of the storm allowance for Small Towns Sewerage reticulation and transfer systems. The Executive Committee was not convinced that a storm allowance reduction from 0.058 L/s/ET to 0.02 L/s/ET was practical and is pleased to advise that the allowance has been revised and reduced to only 0.03 to 0.04 L/s/ET depending on the location.

DLWC Small Towns Sewerage - Design and Construct Contracts
DLWC advises that D&C procurement is negotiable between DLWC and council regarding split contracts using a combination of pre-qualified tenderers and/or other contractors.

Easements.
In the April Newsletter I wrote that the Water Directorate is concerned about the legality of easements and the rights of councils to enter property under the current act. The Water Directorate is pursuing reinstatement of the powers of the 1919 Act in the current Act with the assistance of the LGSA. Further member concern was expressed at the latest meeting and subsequently the LGSA and DLWC have advised that the matter has been referred to their legal departments.

Water Directorate Action Plan
Please note that one of the high priority actions listed in the May newsletter titled 'Examine the continuation of the Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Subsidy Program', has been amended to 'Ensure the continuation of the Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Subsidy Program' in order to reflect the true intent of the action.

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