4 October 2006
 

WATER LOSS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AWARENESS AND EDUCATION GUIDELINES TRAINING, SYDNEY, 16 OCTOBER

As mentioned in the last newsletter, a 1 day training workshop has been scheduled for Monday, 16 October in Sydney at the State Library in Macquarie to provide training to all interested councils in water loss assessment. The objective of the training will be awareness of the issues in our latest publication titled Water Loss Management Program Awareness and Education Guidelines 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. An electronic version of the flyer has been sent out to all NSW local water utilities and a hard copy flyer has been mailed with this newsletter. All councils interested in participating in the Water Loss Management Program should consider sending a representative to this workshop. It is recognised that it is difficult and expensive for some councils to send representatives to Sydney . The Executive Committee will be considering the possibility of other venues however we recommend that you take advantage of this gratis training opportunity.

STP O&M MANUAL TRAINING, McKELL BUILDING SYDNEY , 30 & 31 0CTOBER

Two separate 1 day training workshops have been scheduled for Monday, 30 October and Tuesday, 31 October in Sydney at the Department of Commerce’s training rooms in the McKell Building near Central Station. Attendees can nominate either the Monday or Tuesday to attend and be trained on the use of the O&M Manual for STPs that was produced for member councils in October 2005. This document is over 1,000 pages and training will be given on how this template can be tailored and inputted to produce an O&M Manual for your STPs. Places and computer facilities are limited. A hard copy flyer for this training has also been mailed with this newsletter.

STRAY ELECTRICAL CURRENTS IN HOUSE SERVCE WATER LINES

Those who attended the Water Managers’ Forum in the LGSA 2005 Water Conference at Narrabri or the Water Directorate’s Safety Workshop at the 2006 Electrical Safety Days at Dubbo will know that Sydney Water Corp has done a lot of work preventing electrocution from house earthing when changing water meters. We thank SWC for sharing its safety information which is available as a guide on the Water Directorate’s website www.waterdirectorate.asn.au Click on News and please observe SWC’s proviso on their information.

NSW DROUGHT CONDITIONS

Improvements to the NSW drought conditions in September were insignificant with the NSW Department of Primary Industries publishing that 91.8% was officially drought affected. The area of NSW classified as marginal was 5.5% and the area classified as satisfactory was 2.7% in September. The NSW situation in September changed very little from August which was the driest August on record for Australia according to The Daily Telegraph on 6 September. The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed that it was the driest August Australia-wide since accurate record-keeping began in 1900 and it was the warmest month since detailed monthly temperature data was collected in 1950. BoM Director Geoff Love warned of severe consequences including elevated bushfire risks this summer and more water shortages and restrictions. “The chances of relief were not promising, with a 50% chance of another El Nino”, he said. In September the film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was released and water industry personnel should find the combination of grim images and science difficult to ignore.

FEDERAL OFFICE OF WATER RESOURCES ESTABLISHED

In September, PM John Howard created the Office of Water Resources to tackle water issues nationwide. Malcolm Turnbull the parliamentary secretary for water was given responsibility for the new office.

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

As mentioned in more detail in the last newsletter, the Energy and Water Green Globe Awards are the NSW Government’s leading energy and water efficiency awards scheme. Nominations close Monday, 9 October 2006 at 5.00pm . 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. 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

As also mentioned in more detail in the last newsletter, 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 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’.

NATIONAL WATER WEEK, 15 – 21 OCTOBER 2005

With water’s national and international profile continuing to rise due to the prolonged drought, climate change and population growth, National Water Week (NWW) is more significant and appropriate than ever. AWA’s website advises that NWW was first held in 1993 and the initiative is designed to assist the community to understand and take action to protect and conserve our precious water resources and habitats. NWW creates a large scale local awareness of community initiatives that generate long-term behaviour change for the protection, rehabilitation and improvement of streams, wetlands, waterways, beaches, and estuaries. In addition, water conservation campaigns are launched, highlighted or reinforced during the week to promote water saving in the community. During NWW Australians are encouraged to "Protect, Conserve and Get Involved" in water-related activities and celebrations around the country. The third week in October is designated as 'National Water Week' each year. In 2006, National Water Week will run from 15-21 October and provide the opportunity to focus on water in the media through community, regional and national events.

NWW is an event that galvanises the actions of current and future decision makers across Australia .  It delivers a strong focus on the national priority to protect, conserve and become involved in water management and is the only event that provides a national focus for the achievement of this goal. Participation in the sustainable management of water is a social priority that is here to stay, crossing generations and the boundaries of metropolitan and regional interests. The nature of the issue provides a broad demographic to target for attitude and behaviour change, which includes all sectors of the community within the metropolitan and regional areas of Australia , and particularly primary and secondary schools. The NWW theme and logo - 'Water for Life' - remains the same each year. Organisers of events to celebrate NWW are encouraged to use the NWW logo. AWA is providing national promotion of NWW on its website at www.awa.asn.au/nationalwaterweek

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

In September John Gould one of our inaugural Executive Committee members resigned after serving on the Executive Committee for almost 8 years since December 1998. John’s recent promotion to Assistant GM of Shoalhaven City Council unfortunately now involves him in much more than water management and something has to give. On behalf of the Executive Committee I congratulate John on his promotion and thank him for his many years of voluntary service to the establishment and success of the Water Directorate. Thanks also to Shoalhaven City Council for allowing John’s participation in our activities. It is pleasing to note that eight of the 16 inaugural Executive Committee members still remain on the committee after nearly eight years of service to the NSW local government water industry.

The remaining Executive Committee meeting in 2006 will be held on 9 November. The AGM will also be held on 9 November and representatives from member councils are welcome to attend. For information about membership or any water related issue, please contact me on 02 8267 3010 or gmitchell@waterdirectorate.asn.au

For more information contact: