The
NSW
Auditor General’s
audit report of 24 September 2020, titled Support
for regional town water infrastructure, reveals that state government has failed to meet its
responsibilities and fulfil its undertaking for the last six
years under the leadership first of Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell,
then of Liberal Premier Bruce Baird and finally of Liberal Premier
Gladys
Berejiklian
In fact NSW Liberal and Nationals politicians didn't begin to get even remotely serious about regional town water security until 2018-19.
Audit
Report Executive Summary,
excerpt:
"The
Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (the department) is
the lead agency for water resource policy, regulation and planning in
NSW. It is also responsible for ensuring water management
is consistent with the shared commitments of the Australian, State
and Territory Governments under the National Water Initiative. This
includes the provision of healthy, safe and reliable
water supplies, and reporting on the performance of water utilities.
Ninety-two
Local Water Utilities (LWUs) plan for, price and deliver town water
services in regional NSW. Eighty-nine are operated by local councils
under the New South Wales’ Local Government Act
1993, and other LWUs exercise their functions under the WM Act. The
Minister for Water, Property and Housing is the responsible minister
for water supply functions under both acts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Audit
Report Conclusion, section in full:
The
Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has not effectively
supported or overseen town water infrastructure planning in regional
NSW since at least 2014. It has also lacked a strategic,
evidence-based approach to target investments in town water
infrastructure.
A
continued focus on coordinating town water planning, investments and
sector engagement is needed for the department to more effectively
support, plan for and fund town water infrastructure, and work with
Local Water Utilities to help avoid future shortages of safe water in
regional towns and cities.
The
department has had limited impact on facilitating Local Water
Utilities’ (LWU) strategic town water planning. Its lack of
internal procedures, records and data mean that the department cannot
demonstrate it has effectively engaged, guided or supported the LWU
sector in Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) planning over the
past six years. Today, less than ten per cent of the 92 LWUs have an
IWCM strategy approved by the department.
The
department did not design or implement a strategic approach for
targeting town water infrastructure investment through its $1 billion
Safe and Secure Water Program (SSWP). Most projects in the program
were reviewed by a technical panel but there was limited evidence
available about regional and local priorities to inform strategic
project assessments. About a third of funded SSWP projects were
recommended via various alternative processes that were not
transparent. The department also lacks systems for integrated project
monitoring and program evaluation to determine the contribution of
its investments to improved town water outcomes for communities. The
department has recently developed a risk-based framework to inform
future town water infrastructure funding priorities.
The
department does not have strategic water plans in place at state and
regional levels: a key objective of these is to improve town water
for regional communities. The department started a program of
regional water planning in 2018, following the NSW Government’s
commitment to this in 2014. It also started developing a state water
strategy in 2020, as part of an integrated water planning framework
to align local, regional and state priorities. One of 12 regional
water strategies has been completed and the remaining strategies are
being developed to an accelerated timeframe: this has limited the
department’s engagement with some LWUs on town water risks and
priorities. [my yellow highlighting]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
