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Water
Greater Sydney Water Strategy

Monitoring, evaluation and review of the plan

We’ll regularly update the community about what’s being delivered.

Girl watering gardening using water from a rainwater tank

Annual monitoring, evaluation and review process

Annual monitoring, evaluation and review is an essential process to ensure that the Greater Sydney Water Strategy is implemented as intended. It provides transparency and accountability for delivering the plan and supports adaptive management.

The department is responsible for leading the annual review process and collaborates closely with Sydney Water and WaterNSW for needed data and information. The process includes monitoring actions in the implementation plan against milestones and targets as well as broader evaluation of progress in delivering against the priorities.

This report highlights some of the key achievements over the period from August 2022 up until the end of August 2023. It also identifies where there may be future challenges or opportunities, recognising the need for adaptation in an increasingly complex environment. Over time, more comprehensive evaluation of trends will be possible.

A beautiful waterfall.

Since the Greater Sydney Water Strategy was launched, the department, Sydney Water and WaterNSW have made significant progress in implementing actions to deliver the priorities set out in the plan.

Under the 5 priorities, the Greater Sydney Water Strategy set out 20 broad actions and an associated set of more specific actions. Delivery timelines for the actions were 1-3 years.

Read the implementation plan

Greater Sydney Water Strategy

  • Change the way we think about future water needs (enduring supply)
  • Consider future drought and climate risks
  • A concentrated focus on water conservation and efficiency
  • Make best use of the assets we have by optimising use of the Sydney Desalination Plant
  • Plan for new infrastructure with a focus on rainfall independent supply
  • Managing drought
  • Manage location-specific or asset-specific risks
  • Respond to the impacts of flood mitigation decisions on the system
  • Integrate water cycle and land use planning
  • Support the design principles for Greater Sydney
  • Prioritise alternative water sources for greening and cooling
  • Progress a circular economy approach for water services
  • Maintain and improve ecosystem health
  • Invest in wastewater management
  • Improve stormwater management
  • Protect water for recreation
  • Recognise and protect Aboriginal rights, interests and access to water
  • Enhance community confidence through engagement and transparency
  • Manage price impacts for customers
41 implementation sub-actions
Graphic showing the NSW Water Strategy process
Summary of progress against actions in the three-year implementation plan.

Priority 1 – We understand how much water we need and when

Action 1.1: Change the way we think about future water needs

  • Sydney Water continues an intensive customer-led engagement program ‘Our Water, Our Voice’ . This program is engaging customers on a wide range of topics to understand their expectations and their priorities for the future. Through this Sydney Water has gained insights about attitudes to water supply resilience, water restrictions, minimum water demands as well as an understanding of customer expectations for the level of service that Sydney Water provides.
  • Customer expectations for water use during long and severe droughts combined with modelling data will inform decision-making on water management and supply options.
  • The final phase of the ‘Our Water, Our Voice’ customer engagement program is due for completion in mid 2024.

Action 1.2: Consider future climate change and drought risks

  • The Office of Energy and Climate Change released the NSW Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in June 2022. The department has since undertaken a climate risk assessment to understand the potential impacts of climate change on assets and services and a draft NSW Climate Action Plan is under development.
  • Publication of stochastic climate change modelling data sets for Greater Sydney took longer than anticipated due to additional quality assurance requirements prior to publication. The data will be uploaded on the Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data portal in late 2023.

Priority 2 – Our water systems are sustainable for the long term and resilient to extreme events

Action 2.1: A concentrated focus on water conservation and efficiency

  • Sydney Water and the department worked together to develop a 5-year Water Conservation Plan for Greater Sydney. The plan maps out a range of activities to deliver 38 billion litres of water savings by 2030, with a view of achieving the 49 billion litres of savings by 2040 as set out in the Greater Sydney Water Strategy.
  • The Water Conservation Plan covers customer and community water savings programs such as WaterFix™, education and engagement programs that support customers in making timely and informed water wise choices, improvement initiatives for better management of water loss from the water supply network, and trial programs to explore new water conservation opportunities. The plan also covers key policy considerations, including the role of BASIX in delivering ongoing water savings.
  • The Water Conservation Plan will be reviewed annually and will be adapted over time to reflect new opportunities, lessons learnt, market insights, the speed and extent of program uptake, and policy changes.
  • The department released the NSW Water Efficiency Framework and guidelines in 2022 to support utilities in evaluating, planning delivering water efficiency programs.

Action 2.2: Make best use of the assets we have by optimising use of the Sydney Desalination Plant

  • The Sydney Desalination Plant is now able to make a greater contribution to water supply resilience and drought security through the introduction of a more flexible operating environment.
  • The new licence for the Sydney Desalination Plant supports the shift to flexible, full-time operation and has been in place since 1 July 2023. A framework is in place to guide decision making and aims to balance increases in water security with costs to customers.

Action 2.3: Plan for new infrastructure with a focus on rainfall independent supply

  • Sydney Water’s Resilient and Reliable Water Supply strategic business case was completed in 2023. It analyses a range portfolios of rainfall-independent supply augmentation, system resilience and water security options in terms of scale and cost.
  • The Resilient and Reliable Water Supply was developed with several augmentation pathways in mind, each with various scales of rainfall -independent supply, resilience benefits, and costs. Work is now underway to progress infrastructure priorities and readiness activities for longer-term options.
  • The scale and timing for delivery of the Resilient and Reliable Water Supply will be adapted based on ongoing reviews of forecast demand and in response to new supply challenges.

Action 2.4: Managing drought

  • The Greater Sydney Drought Response Plan sets out how WaterNSW, Sydney Water and the NSW Government will work together to respond to future droughts. The plan includes drought monitoring, governance and decision-making, roles and responsibilities, and drought response action plans for each stage of drought.
  • The Greater Sydney Drought Response Plan summary developed by Sydney Water and WaterNSW has been published. It will be reviewed annually and adjusted as needed so that it maintains relevance.
  • Delivery of the drought response is supported by a drought monitoring dashboard developed by WaterNSW that provides important information on drought indicators (inflows, climate outlook. etc.).

Action 2.5: Manage location-specific or asset-specific risks

  • Long-term capital and operating plans are now in place for both Sydney Water and WaterNSW to guide infrastructure and investment decisions out to 2050. The plans address the essential services of water, wastewater and recycled water and map out how these services will be provided over the long term in response to the challenges of population growth, changing customer expectations, climate change, evolving technology and ageing infrastructure.
  • The delivery of the investments in the long-term capital and operating plans will improve services for the people of Greater Sydney and will increase the level of supply from rainfall independent sources to 65%, providing vital drought resilience.
  • Individual investments, including considerations for community acceptance and costs, will be evaluated over time and will be subject to Government regulatory and approvals processes before they are operationalised.
  • Sydney’s Water’s Purified Recycled Water Demonstration Plant and Discovery Centre has been constructed and will be open for community tours in 2024. The facility is the first of its kind in NSW. It presents an opportunity to engage with the community on the importance of rainfall independent supplies and build water literacy.

Action 2.6: Respond to the impacts of flood mitigation decisions on the system

  • To address flood risk in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, the NSW Reconstruction Authority is prioritising a disaster adaptation plan for the region, one of the first of its kind in the state. There is no single solution for reducing flood impacts in the valley, and the plan will include a suite of integrated measures to reduce the risk where possible and adapt where not possible. This work will consider impacts on water security and the priorities of the Greater Sydney Water Strategy.

Priority 3 – Our city is green and liveable

Action 3.1: Integrate water cycle and land use planning

  • As part of the NSW Water Strategy, the department has been undertaking a project to better integrate land use planning and water management. The project aims to understand links and gaps between land use planning and water management frameworks; ensure that policy, legislation, regulation and advisory functions pertaining to development impacting water catchments are fit for purpose; and to support an environment whereby key land use decisions are supported by water information.
  • In future, there may be opportunities to review regulatory and legislative processes to consider Sydney Water’s role in water, wastewater and stormwater and better support delivery of integrated water management outcomes.
  • The department reviewed barriers and opportunities for Integrated Water Cycle Management and identified key features which will form the basis of a framework that can be used by government agencies, utilities, developers and planners to inform integrated water cycle management strategies and approaches. Sydney Water’s Aerotropolis and Mamre Road project was used as a case study in the review.

Action 3.2: Support the design principles for Greater Sydney

  • The department completed the first stage of a review of ‘BASIX water’ (Building and Sustainability Index for water). BASIX applies to all residential dwellings in NSW and sets out planning requirements to drive more efficient homes. The review collected evidence to assess how effective and appropriate BASIX water is and considered opportunities and barriers for BASIX water in supporting the achievement of the state’s water and land planning goals into the future.  Recommendations from the review will guide work over the coming years. Changes in BASIX will also support delivery of the water conservation targets in Priority 2 of the Greater Sydney Water Strategy.
  • To support the water conservation targets in the Greater Sydney Water Strategy, the department  has partnered with NABERS, providing financial contributions to drive continuous improvement and increase the uptake of NABERS ratings in NSW.

Action 3.3: Prioritise alternative water sources for greening and cooling

  • As an action under the NSW Water Strategy, the department is developing a Recycled Water Roadmap. The roadmap will identify actions, case studies and opportunities for Government to facilitate the increased use of recycled water for both drinking and non-drinking purposes.

Action 3.4: Progress a circular economy approach for water services

  • Sydney Water has developed a circular economy plan and roadmap with a greater focus on recovery, recycling and reuse of water, energy, carbon, materials and regeneration of nature across Sydney Water’s operations.
  • Sydney Water’s net zero carbon plan was published along with a report in partnership with NSW Circular on unlocking the circular economy in the Western Parkland City. Sydney Water continues to implement its circular economy plans, informed by customer engagement.
  • The biomethane facility at Malabar, a partnership with Jemena, supplied to the gas network in June 2023. Liverpool food waste project is being constructed and expected to be operating by the end of the year. Developing partnerships for potential circular economy hubs in Western Sydney is continuing.

Priority 4 – Our waterways and landscapes are healthy

Action 4.1: Maintain and improve ecosystem health

  • The NSW Water Quality Objectives are the agreed environmental values and long-term goals for NSW's surface waters. They set out the community's values and uses for waterways and use a range of water quality indicators to help assess whether the current condition of waterways supports those values and uses. The department has been engaging with communities and stakeholders to understand how they value waterways and is using this feedback in the review of environmental values and uses for waterways in coastal NSW. The feedback from this engagement will be used to revise the draft Water Quality Objectives which are targeted for release in April/May 2024.
  • To further this work and incorporate indigenous cultural values, the department has completed its first cultural mapping exercise of Indigenous cultural values for waterways. These maps have been converted to cultural care maps to inform masterplans and prioritise actions for land use and water infrastructure delivery.
  • Review and analysis of current water quality management and monitoring arrangements as part of NSW Water Strategy implementation has progressed by the department, with options to improve water quality including appropriate scales within basin systems, data and information, monitoring and evaluation, roles and responsibilities, policy cohesion and regulatory frameworks under consideration. These themes are currently being explored for the development of a NSW Water Quality Roadmap. This work will be ongoing for 2023-24.
  • Coastal managements programs are currently being prepared for the Hawkesbury Nepean, Northern Beaches, Sydney Harbour, Eastern Beaches, Cooks River, Georges River and Bate Bay, and Sutherland Shire Council is also considering developing a coastal management program for the Hacking River.
  • Work on the business case for Warragamba environmental flows progressed well through 2022-23 and will proceed to NSW Government infrastructure and investment approvals processes in 2024.
  • The Water Sharing Plan for the Greater Metropolitan Region Unregulated River Water Sources 2023, which includes rules for scaled environmental flow releases from Tallowa and Nepean dams, was gazetted on 1 July 2023. A baseline monitoring program will be in place to provide important information about the benefits of environmental flows when they commence.
  • The department are providing support to the Parramatta River Catchment Group to plan stormwater compliance and education programs and riverbank naturalisation initiatives to improve catchment health.

Action 4.2: Invest in wastewater management 

  • Sydney Water has continued to update its approach to reducing wet weather wastewater overflows. Sydney Water has invested in cost effective works to reduce the amount of water that gets into wastewater pipes in wet weather, and reduce stormwater to sewer connections, Sydney Water is targeting work in areas with the highest environmental and recreational values.
  • Enhancements to Sydney Water dry weather overflow program saw a reduction in dry weather overflows. Activities include enhanced proactive maintenance and inspections, improved detection of faults including through CCTV inspections, and internet of things sensors, pipe relining and improved response. Sydney Water has a new choke management plan that will guide future dry weather overflow management.
  • The new Sydney Water Aquatic Monitoring program was introduced from July 2023. The revised program was designed in collaboration with the Environment Protection Authority, to enable monitoring to better quantify the impacts (positive and negative) of Sydney Water’s water resource recovery facilities, sewer overflows and leakage on aquatic environments.
  • Sydney Water is working with partners to deliver pilot nutrient offset and research projects  in the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment. Projects include a raingarden at Glenbrook, bank stabilisation works at Camden and research into the long-term performance of wetlands at Richmond. Research will help build understanding of how well different types of green infrastructure reduce nutrients in waterways, and how well they can offset nutrients that are discharged from wastewater treatment plants. Research will also inform an overall sustainable nutrient approach for the Hawkesbury-Nepean River.

Action 4.3: Improve stormwater management

  • The department and Sydney Water are continuing to work together to refine the regional approach to stormwater management in the Mamre Road precinct.
  • Sydney Water is providing strategic planning advice and delivery support to local governments in the Cooks River, Parramatta River and Sydney Harbour areas to improve stormwater and waterway management while the department is supporting local councils across Sydney with specialist technical advice to deliver 85 projects under the NSW floodplain management program

Action 4.4: Protect water for recreation

  • Development of the department’s Place to Swim guide progressed in 2022/23. The guide will support councils, landscape architects, open space planners, policy makers, community champions and non-government agencies in developing new swimming and water recreation sites on natural waterways.
  • Sydney Water is continuing to work with partners to identify and activate new swimming sites across Greater Sydney as part of the Urban Plunge Program, with the RiverWatch monitoring program continuing to report data for swimming sites in the Parramatta River. Canada Bay Council, in collaboration with Sydney Water and the Parramatta River Catchment Group, launched the Bayview swimming site in November 2022.

Priority 5 – Water management and services meet community needs

Action 5.1 Recognise and protect Aboriginal rights, interests and access to water 

  • The department’s Aboriginal Water Strategy is currently being developed and more detailed co-design will occur in 2023-24.

Action 5.2: Enhance community confidence through engagement and transparency

  • Sydney Water continues an intensive customer-led engagement program ‘Our Water, Our Voice’. This program is engaging customers on a wide range of topics to understand their expectations and their priorities for the future, including insights about attitudes to water supply resilience, supply options and water restrictions.
  • Sydney Water continues to share information and engage with the community, with the last year seeing continued community education with the Wonders of Water vehicle and development of educational components for the Purified Recycled Water Demonstration Plant and Discovery Centre.
  • Sydney Water continues to promote water wise behaviours, build water literacy and awareness of water efficiency through a range of initiatives, including the ‘Turn it off Bob’ and Jess Fox campaigns and the opening of the Purified Recycled Water Demonstration Plant and Discovery Centre, which will open for community tours in early 2024.

Action 5.3: Manage price impacts for customers

  • The department, Sydney Water and NSW Treasury have been working towards the gradual reintroduction of infrastructure contributions for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services from 1 July 2024 to help recover the cost of providing infrastructure to new developments. Draft water and wastewater infrastructure contribution prices were on public exhibition in mid-2023 and IPART approved the registration of all development servicing plans for 1 December 2023.
  • Sydney Water is currently preparing its next price proposal aligned to IPART’s new 3Cs Framework – Costs, Customers and Credibility. This framework aims to deliver better value for money to customers and address key challenges like climate change and a growing population. Sydney Water offers social assistance programs to customers that may struggle with affordability including PlumbAssist, pensioner concessions and the Payment Assistance Scheme. These programs will be reviewed as part of new price determination in July 2025.