6 February 2009

 
JANUARY 2009
In January the Water Directorate commenced its second decade as a voluntary association of Councils and County Councils that operate water and/or sewer businesses in regional NSW. Financial membership is currently 94 member Councils out of a potential 103 LWUs or 91% representation. We hope you enjoy this newsletter.

A LAND OF DROUGHTS AND FLOODING RAINS
Conditions in NSW improved for a fourth consecutive month with the DPI declaring that as at January, 53.3% of the area of NSW was officially drought affected. The area classified as marginal fell to 9.1% and the area classified as satisfactory improved to 37.6%. Ironically northern Queensland received almost as much rain in the first 5 days of 2009 as it received in all of 2008. Some reports say that damage to public infrastructure in at least 30 local government areas may climb to $100M from the monsoonal weather. End of January figures would no doubt exceed the report on 21 January that more than 56%, or 975,794 square kilometres of Queensland was eligible for disaster relief funding. Meanwhile Victoria and South Australia experienced record heatwave conditions!

JOINT WATER DIRECTORATE/LGSA WATER LOSS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE
Welcome to Melanie Werner as the newest member of the Water Loss Management Program team who started in the first week of January. Melanie is an engineer and was previously an associate with the Water Conservation Group P/L. Melanie joins Marko Petkovic and Ian Maggs and boosts the staffing resources back up to three at an interesting time in the program where Council uptake of this program is at an unprecedented level thanks to the enthusiasm of Program Manager Ian Maggs. The number of participating Councils is now 57 far exceeding the original estimate of 33. The great benefit of having so many Councils participating in the Program is the dissemination of water loss management expertise over a much wider area of NSW than imagined. Unfortunately the number of participating Councils must be capped on 31 March however late entry into the joint program is still be possible and LWUs still interested in applying for assistance should contact Ian Maggs ASAP on 02 9242 4127 or visit www.waterloss.lgsa.org.au.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW UPDATE
On 14th January in Orange, Minister Phillip Costa released the independent inquiry report authored by Messrs Armstrong and Gellatly. The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Secure and Sustainable Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Services for Non-Metropolitan NSW (December 2008) is open for public comment till 20 March. At first glance the Water Directorate was heartened that the report recommends local control and ownership of assets and recognises the impact of removal of water and sewerage services from Councils. The Water Directorate was pleased that a ‘one size fits all’ approach wasn’t favoured with recommendations including a combination of binding alliances; Council-owned regional water corporations; and maintaining the status quo for some large general purpose councils and county councils. Please note that this is an independent report and all stakeholders should critically examine it to see if it meets the review objectives. The report contains a number of recommendations for consideration by stakeholders and the state government. The Minister's intention is to follow up the release with another round of regional consultation meetings during February with dates still to be set. Following consideration of submissions, the NSW Government is expected to release its response to the Independent Inquiry Report in May 2009. Submissions must be received by DWE by 5pm, 20 March and all written submissions will be posted on the DWE website. The report will be discussed further at the Water Directorate Executive Committee meeting on 5 February.

LAST CALL FOR WATER DIRECTORATE AWARD TO ATTEND OZWATER CONFERENCE, MELBOURNE, 16-18 MARCH
As advised in the past two newsletters, the Executive Committee is offering an award plus funding, to assist a worthy water professional with up to 7 years experience from a member Council water business, to attend AWA’s Ozwater. The nomination form was mailed with last November’s hardcopy newsletter to member Councils only. Young water industry professionals are encouraged to write what they and their council hope to gain by attending a national water industry conference of this distinction. The Water Directorate will provide up to $1,600 towards the cost of travel and accommodation and AWA has kindly donated a gratis conference registration for Ozwater 2009 in Melbourne from 16 to 18 March also valued at approximately $1,600. The successful applicant will be required to write a brief report on their views of the conference and whether the conference met their expectations. Please note that the nomination date has been extended by 2 weeks to February 20 - please fax your nomination form to Eloise Stanley on 02 9283 5255. The award nomination form is available on www.waterdirectorate.asn.au/downloads/ConferenceAttendanceAwardCriteria2009.pdf.

3RD ANNUAL NSW WATER INDUSTRY ENGINEERS & OPERATORS CONFERENCE, TAMWORTH, 31 MARCH-2 APRIL
WIOA is holding its third Annual Conference and Trade Supply expo in Tamworth on 31 March to 2 April. The Water Directorate is pleased to sponsor this practical level conference again in 2009 and to present the Operator of the Year Award for NSW again – see next item below. Please support the conference by attending or sending delegates. Contact George Wall Executive Officer for more information on 03 5821 6744 or 0407 846 001 or www.wioa.org.au.

ANNOUNCING GREAT NEW PRIZE IN 2009 FOR WATER DIRECTORATE NSW OPERATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
To bring this award in line with similar awards in other states, the NSW Operator of the Year Award will now include a professional development trip to the NZ Operators conference. The winner of the NSW Operator of the Year will join the WIOA delegation as a participant on this trip along with WIOA Committee people, interested industry representatives and other prize winners. Most years, this trip also includes a study tour of various water and wastewater treatment plants and processes as well as attending the conference. The prize includes air fares and accommodation arranged through WIOA. Letters and nomination forms will be sent out in early February to General Managers of all NSW local water utilities advising that the Water Directorate will present for the third year an annual award to recognise the achievements of operational staff employed in the NSW water industry, similar to the award presented in Victoria and Queensland. Water and sewer managers from State and Local Government water utilities are invited to nominate operator/s from their organisation to be considered for the Water Directorate NSW Operator of the Year Award 2009 to be presented at the WIOA NSW Water Industry Engineers and Operators Conference at Tamworth on 31 March to 2 April. The award is presented to operators of water or wastewater treatment facilities to recognise excellent performance, initiative and all round attention to detail. Nominees should be employed in NSW and should have direct responsibility for operational decisions at community water and wastewater treatment plants or industrial water and wastewater plants.

LGSA CALL FOR PAPERS - 2009 WATER MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE DENILIQUIN, 9-11 SEPTEMBER
The LGSA are calling for papers for the 2009 Water Management Conference held in Deniliquin. What would you like to present or hear at the conference? Do you have a relevant project or initiative that others would like to know about? The 2009 conference will be hosted by Deniliquin Council and be held in Deniliquin on 9-11 September. Councils and other stakeholders are invited to forward papers and/or suggestions for consideration in the development of the conference program. The Water Management Conference is an annual event providing Local Government with a broad range of information on water management and issues associated with water supply and sewerage services provided by local water utilities. The conference presents an opportunity for councillors, Local Government professionals, government representatives and the broader industry to tackle key water management issues and discuss emerging issues in the water portfolio from a Local Government perspective. Deniliquin is the support centre for and headquarter of the largest private irrigation area in Australia, Murray Irrigation Ltd and is located in one of the areas worst affected by the recent drought. Please note that the LGSA do not accept presentations which are solely commercial in nature. Your paper/suggestion should include:

• A brief outline of the issue/main focus of your paper/suggestion;
• The preferred format for its inclusion in the program (conference paper, presentation, display, workshop topic);
  
• Possible presenter/s and a brief bio (50 words maximum); and
• The type of outcome that could be expected by conference delegates.
  

Papers and suggestions can be emailed to Sascha Moege, Senior Policy Officer, sascha.moege@lgsa.org.au. Regularly updated information about the conference as well as the opportunity to subscribe to a conference email newsletter are available on the conference website at www.waterconference.lgsa.org.au.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING DATES
Meeting dates for 2009 are 5 February, 5 March, 7 May, 2 July, 3 September, 4 November and 5 November. Member Councils are reminded that they are welcome to forward water issues to me for referral to the Executive Committee meetings. For further information about membership or any water related issue, please contact me on 02 8267 3010 or gmitchell@waterdirectorate.asn.au. The Chair, Deputy Chair and Sub-committee Chairs will be elected on 5 February for the next two calendar years.

Gary Mitchell
Executive Officer
© Copyright Water Directorate January 2009

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