Town Water Risk Reduction Program phase 1
In December 2020, the department established the Town Water Risk Reduction Program (TWRPP) to develop long-term solutions to identified barriers to effective operational and strategic risk management of water and sewerage services in regional NSW by local water utilities.
The program is based on a new partnership approach, which recognises and leverages the wealth of expertise within councils and local water utilities and provides opportunities for these stakeholders to refine better solutions in collaboration with the department.
Phase 1 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
- investigate alternative funding models.
The evaluation of the 2-year phase 1 Town Water Risk Reduction Program (PDF, 1440.73 KB) report found the program to be valuable and had made encouraging progress in achieving its foundational outcomes. Stakeholder feedback strongly supported its continuation. Given the ambitious nature of the program, sustained effort and resourcing will be required to achieve its longer-term outcomes.
Improve the regulatory and support framework
View regulatory and support information
Facilitate greater state government support
- Prioritise high-level areas for improving incident management support to local water utilities: Incident and emergency management for local water utilities (PDF, 1.2 MB)
- Dam safety pilot
- Catchment management pilot
- Integrated systems operator pilot
Encourage greater collaboration
We established a range of pilots to evaluate and test collaborative approaches to reduce risks in key areas identified through the engagement process, including:
View risk reduction pilot programs
Improve access to skills and training
We have partnered with Training Services NSW to offer up to 900 fee-free vocational training placements across the state to tackle the shortage of skilled water operators in regional areas.
Find out more about vocational training courses.