Water security and resilience

Phase 1 of the Town Water Risk Reduction Program was completed. This phase of the program included activities to improve the regulatory and support framework for local water utilities, improve access to skills and training, encourage greater collaboration, facilitate greater state government support, and investigate alternative funding models.

An evaluation of phase 1 was undertaken and a report containing program insights and key findings to inform a future work program has been released. Key achievements of phase 1 include the following:

• Development of a new Regulatory and Assurance Framework in close collaboration and partnership between the department and more than 200 people from various organisation across the water sector. The co-design process used to develop the new framework helped build sector support and paved the way for ongoing collaboration. This framework empowers and enables local water utilities to address risks and strategic challenges effectively and efficiently, based on locally developed plans and management systems.
• Partnerships with Training Services NSW, as well as with the training and local water utility sectors, to address challenges related to the supply and demand of skills in the sector. The goal is to increase the skills of existing operators and attract more operators into the water industry. In December 2022, the department released the Water operations skills and training action plan to address a critical shortage of trained water operators in NSW and establish a sustainable water operations training market in the state.  Under this action plan, the NSW Government has made funding available for up to 900 fee-free training places in water operations. Between July 2022 and June 2023, the program funded:
  • 48 traineeships
  • 231 Certificate III qualifications
  • 9 Diploma qualifications
  • 20 part-qualifications for specific skillsets

Accredited training delivery has previously been limited by a lack of registered training organisations. Partnerships across government have resulted in the doubling of the number of registered training organisations able to deliver fee-free water operations training from 2 to 4. This has made expert water trainers from South Australia and Queensland available to NSW water utilities. This change will see previously unavailable Certificate IV training delivered in 2023 - 2024, with 60 students ready to be enrolled in this program.

• Development of information and resources for councillors to raise awareness of the risks in water management.

Phase 2 of Town Water Risk Reduction Program is underway with several initiatives to address issues such as safety and security of water delivery and treatment systems in NSW. The government has invested $10 million over 2 years to accelerate local water utilities response to the findings of the Dams Safety NSW audits and respond to raw water quality risks, by leveraging the capabilities of WaterNSW.

The Advanced Operational Support Program is underway and is providing expert in-plant support to 12 local water utilities with high-risk treatment plants in regional NSW. With a primary purpose to reduce drinking water quality risks through optimising plant operations and enhanced monitoring, the delivery of safe drinking water will be assured. The department is delivering the program in partnership with NSW Health and local water utilities and will run until 2024. Program outcomes will inform future opportunities for the government to support and collaborate with the sector to reduce risks.

Other programs include:

• continuation of the skills and training program including water careers days to prompt interest in a water sector career as an additional way of tackling skills shortages
• reviewing gaps in current regulations and minimum performance standards for local water utilities and consider policy, regulatory and legislative changes to address identified gaps
• supporting incident and emergency planning and response
• reviewing funding arrangements for local water utilities – this includes an independent review by the Productivity Commission of water and sewerage charges for local water utilities across the state and their capacity to deliver services that are sustainable and financially viable.

The NSW Government is also funding additional measures to reduce town water security risks including:

• improvements to critical water supply infrastructure for Wilcannia, Eurobodalla and Cobar, as part of a total $222.4 million commitment with the Australian Government
• $6.0 million for planning to improve water security for Tamworth and identify practical solutions
• $13.6 million over 4 years to improve the quality of drinking water by funding the replacement of critical infrastructure at the water treatment plant in Yass
• $35.4 million to deliver long-term water planning initiatives that will help support the resilience of regional communities to climate change and improve our understanding of how to better integrate climate change into decision making.

Key risks to regional water safety and security is also being addressed through the Safe and Secure Water Program. The $1 billion co-funded regional infrastructure program provides funding for water security, water quality and environmental infrastructure solutions across the state ensuring that regional towns have sustainable water and wastewater services.

During the reporting period, 31 Safe and Secure Water Program funding deeds were executed for projects addressing environmental, water security and water quality issues. Funding toward 5 construction projects was confirmed alongside 26 projects delivering strategic planning and project development up to a construction-ready phase. Some of the projects funded for construction include:

• the upgrade and augmentation of Dunedoo and Coolah Sewage Treatment Plants at Warrumbungle Shire Council to address environmental risks
• the Willawarrin and Sherwood Water Treatment Works at Kempsey Shire Council to address water quality risks
• the Parkes Peak Hill Water Supply Scheme at Parkes Shire Council to address water security risks.

During the reporting period, 27 projects funded by the Safe and Secure Water Program were completed, including 3 construction projects. Other projects include scoping studies and business cases bringing projects closer to construction ready. Completed projects have provided:

• new Infrastructure to support water security in Cobar and Manilla
• new infrastructure in Bundarra and Bombala to improve sewerage services, public health and environment.

At the completion of the reporting period, the Safe and Secure Water Program has achieved 59 completed projects with 121 projects in delivery and a further 93 potential projects being negotiated.

Changes in approach to strategy delivery is needed to respond to emerging issues and new information and to ensure responsible and efficient investment of public funds for water resource management.  The government’s recent decisions not to proceed with dam infrastructure projects, based on findings from economic and environmental investigations, demonstrate the effectiveness of evidence-based decision making and the value of robust infrastructure development processes.