Town Water Risk Reduction Program 

NEWSLETTER ISSUE #4 | JULY 2021

Welcome to the July edition of the Town Water Risk Reduction Program newsletter. 

Upcoming webinar 29 July - Roadmap to an improved regulatory framework

We would like you to join us for the launch of the Roadmap for an improved regulatory approach for local water utilities.

The Roadmap has been developed following our workshops in June with local water utilities, co-regulators, the private sector and other stakeholders. At the launch, we will present our shared understanding of objectives and next steps for an improved regulatory framework.

We will also discuss how the Town Water Risk Reduction Program team and stakeholders can work together to make these improvements.

Please join the us to learn about the Roadmap. Register for the webinar here.

Workshop series on improving the regulatory framework is complete

The workshop series on improving the regulatory framework for local water utilities (LWU) is now complete. Thank you to the more than 180 participants from local water utilities, co-regulators, the private sector and other stakeholders for participating.  

We enjoyed the opportunity to meet with you face to face in Griffith and Dubbo, before moving online due to COVID-19 restrictions for our Queanbeyan, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour workshops. We appreciated your flexibility and look forward to meeting with you face to face again when it is safe to do so.

Our regional workshops tested and developed further the outcomes identified in our first set of virtual workshops earlier in June, on what an improved regulatory framework should look like and how to get there.

There was broad agreement on several important areas for improvement, such as the department’s regulatory processes, regulation of LWU strategic planning, infrastructure approvals and regulator coordination.

We will share the outcomes of these workshops in a webinar on 29 July when we launch the Roadmap to an improved regulatory approach for local water utilities (see the above story to register). A survey will also be provided to gather feedback on the Roadmap.

Upcoming online workshop - Encouraging regional collaboration and state government support  

In our regional face to face workshops in Griffith and Dubbo in June, the TWRRP team facilitated sessions about encouraging regional collaboration between LWUs and opportunities for strengthening in-kind support provided to LWUs by state government entities.

Unfortunately, due to the recent COVID-19 related travel restrictions and time pressures we were unable to hold similar sessions in the online workshops which replaced the Queanbeyan, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour face to face workshops.

We would like to invite all interested stakeholders to participate in a 1.5 hour online workshop at 1pm Monday 2 August to discuss:

• what LWU roles and functions are suitable for collaboration and state government support
• where such collaboration and support should be targeted, and
• what are the barriers to LWUs collaborating and accessing state government support?

Direct invitations will be sent to those who attended the Queanbeyan, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour online workshops in June. However, those who attended the Dubbo and Griffith workshops or any other interested stakeholders are also welcome to attend and can register here.

Updated regulatory assessment webpage

We have made some updates to our infrastructure regulatory assessments web pages with new and improved information including a table that provides the recent status of Local Government Act 1993 (section 60) and Water Management Act 2000 (section 292) approvals of water treatment works, sewerage treatment works and recycling schemes.

These updates provide clear and concise information on project development steps and regulatory assessment processes. You can access the new web pages here.

Enhancing incident and emergency support

In considering how we can facilitate greater State Government support for local water utilities we are looking at how to enhance the support provided to LWU's in incidents and emergencies. This was identified as a priority piece of work by our Stakeholder Advisory Panel.

In June, we held preliminary conversations and a workshop with key stakeholders, including the Water Directorate, LGNSW, the Water Services Association of Australia, state government agencies and representatives from our Stakeholder Advisory Panel, to identify high-impact areas for improvement in this space. Stakeholders identified six primary areas for improvement, and we are now testing these with the wider sector.

We invite you to review the six areas for improvement and let us know which are the highest priority for you. Go to https://www.sli.do/ and enter the code 91767 to access our survey.

If you identify any other higher-priority areas for improving incident and emergency support for local water utilities or are interested in working with us in this area of our work, email the team regional.town.water@dpie.nsw.gov.au.

LGNSW Water conference new dates

Local Government NSW (LGNSW) has rescheduled the Water Management Conference to Wednesday 29 September until Friday 1 October, subject to travel and movement restrictions.

We are proud to sponsor the event and look forward to seeing you in person in Narrabri. We will be there to share updates and seek feedback from you on the Town Water Risk Reduction Program. Please refer to the conference webpage for further information and check for updates closer to the date.

Further information and feedback

Visit the Town Water Risk Reduction Program website for more detailed information including a fact sheet that sets out the Program scope and proposed focus areas.

Have your say

For more information or enquires please email the team at regional.town.water@dpie.nsw.gov.au