Rising to the challenge Annual Report 2010-11 14 September 2011 This Annual Report provides information about the financial and non-financial performance of Seqwater for 2010-11. The Hon Stephen Robertson MP It has been prepared in accordance with the Financial Minister for Energy and Water Utilities Accountability Act 2009, the Financial and Performance PO Box 15216 Management Standard 2009 and the Annual Report City East QLD 4002 Guidelines for Queensland Government Agencies. This Report records the significant achievements The Hon Rachel Nolan MP against the strategies and activities detailed in the Minister for Finance, Natural Resources and the Arts organisation’s strategic and operational plans. GPO Box 611 This Report has been prepared for the Minister for Brisbane QLD 4001 Energy and Water Utilities to submit to Parliament. It has also been prepared to meet the needs of Seqwater’s customers and stakeholders, which include the Federal and local governments, industry Dear Ministers and business associations and the community. 2010-11 Seqwater Annual Report This Report is publically available and can be viewed I am pleased to present the Annual Report 2010-11 for and downloaded from the Seqwater website at the Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority, trading www.seqwater.com.au/public/news-publications/ as Seqwater. annual-reports. I certify that this Annual Report meets the prescribed Printed copies are available from Seqwater’s requirements of the Financial Accountability Act 2009 registered office. and the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2009 particularly with regard to reporting Contact the Authority’s objectives, functions, performance and governance arrangements. Queensland Bulk Water Authority, trading as Seqwater. It has been prepared in line with the relevant ABN: 75450239876 legislative and reporting requirements outlined in the Annual Report Guidelines for Queensland Government Registered Office Agencies for the 2010-11 reporting year. 240 Margaret Street, Brisbane QLD 4000 PO Box 16146, City East QLD 4002 T 07 3035 5500 F 07 3229 7926 Yours sincerely E [email protected] W www.seqwater.com.au Peter Borrows Chief Executive Officer Seqwater Annual Report 2010-11 ISSN 1837-4549 © (Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority) 2011. The Queensland Government is committed to providing accessible services to Queenslanders from all culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. If you have difficulty in understanding the Annual Report, please contact us and we will arrange an interpreter to effectively communicate the Report to you. Contents Report from the Chairman and 2 Board attendance 34 the Chief Executive Officer Board remuneration 34 About our organisation 6 Organisational review 34 About the SEQ Water Grid 8 Compliance 34 The January 2011 Flood 10 Risk management 35 Vision and mission 12 Internal audit 36 The year in review 14 Information systems and record keeping 36 Summary of financial information for 2010-11 26 Workforce planning and retention 36 Industrial/employee framework 38 Summary of major assets 28 Whistleblower protection 39 Governance 30 Conduct and ethics 39 Responsible Ministers 30 Consultancy 40 Legislative and policy requirements 30 Overseas travel 40 Related entities 30 Carers Charter 42 Organisational structure 31 Greenhouse gas emissions 42 Executive Leadership Team 31 The Seqwater Board 32 Financial statements 44 Board role 33 Glossary 102 Board committees 33 Water quality research Hinze Dam Wyaralong Dam The thirst for water for the future gets interactive – a new Seqwater asset education 21 37 41 43 QUEENSLAND BULK WATER SUPPLY AUTHORITY TRADING AS SEQWATER ANNUAL REPORT 2010-11 1 Phil Hennessy Peter Borrows Report from the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer The 2010-11 financial year was an unprecedented The lead up to these events triggered our one for Seqwater and the challenges presented to the comprehensive emergency response with a dedicated organisation were exceptional. team working around the clock to strategically manage the dams. The Board acknowledges the While the January 2011 Flood was undoubtedly the professional work of our Executive Leadership Team, most notable event of the year and demanded a flood engineers, dam operators and support staff who dedicated focus from our organisation, it was also rose to the extraordinary challenge presented to them. important that we maintained normal operations to ensure a sustainable, safe and reliable water supply. While the devastating consequences of the January There was also substantial work undertaken to merge 2011 Flood were rightly uppermost in everyone’s with WaterSecure by 1 July 2011. minds and in the media spotlight, our people achieved exceptional outcomes in continuing to deliver safe In these demanding times, and in only our second full water supplies to the region during the Flood and its year of operation, we rose to the many challenges aftermath, despite interruptions to power supplies and inherent in our role of managing catchments, telecommunications. Their effective responses averted maintaining and operating infrastructure and supplying an even worse situation and assisted the clean-up water to the South East Queensland community. efforts when water was essential. Responding to an unprecedented event When the flood waters receded, we undertook an extensive program to assess asset damage, which In January 2011, extreme weather in the catchments included significant catchment and infrastructure resulted in our two largest dams, Wivenhoe and damage. This assessment for priority works was Somerset, reaching two flood peaks over a 30-hour completed within weeks of the event, which enabled period. The total rainfall throughout the January 2011 our team to move quickly to plan and undertake the Flood was more than double the rainfall experienced repair work required for a full recovery. during the 1974 flood event. In addition, our third largest dam, North Pine, experienced the biggest flood In addition, we devoted significant resources to event in the North Pine region’s recorded history. supporting and assisting the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry and to capturing insights that will help prepare the region for future extreme weather events. 2 FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2011 Delivering South East Queensland’s treatment plant upgrades. Workshops with the former water supply New York City Water Commissioner, Al Appleton, helped to finalise this strategic Framework and gave Throughout 2010-11, we continued to manage us the benefit of Mr Appleton’s globally-recognised our core business of delivering safe, reliable and approach to balancing water catchment management sustainable bulk drinking water supplies for South with major water infrastructure upgrades. East Queensland. As well as improved water quality from catchments, On behalf of the South East Queensland (SEQ) the benefits of adopting this approach to water Water Grid and working closely with SEQ Water Grid management includes greater quantities of available partners, we supplied more than 220,000 megalitres drinking water and the enhanced ability to anticipate of safe drinking water to residents and businesses and respond to regional growth and climate across the region. change. Our adoption of this holistic strategy will be The safety of our people remained a key focus and supported by partnerships and alliances with local priority over 2010-11 with a range of campaigns and government, businesses and the communities in our training programs to ensure safety continued to be at water catchments. Where we have involvement, this the forefront of our operations. Safety was also a key helps us achieve optimum economic, environmental focus in our approach to the January 2011 Flood, both and social benefits. at the dams and water treatment plants. Meanwhile, our major infrastructure development We also focused on initiatives to improve water quality continued on track throughout the year, with progress and produced drinking water management plans for on key projects designed to boost water storage all water treatment plants and our major drinking capacity, improve water-treatment capability and drive water storage, Wivenhoe Dam. More than 65,000 continued efficiencies. water quality tests were undertaken during the year, During the year, we achieved the functional completion with an increased monitoring program including the of the Hinze Dam Stage 3 Project, which almost introduction of real-time monitoring points on our key doubles the capacity of the Gold Coast’s largest drinking water storages. water supply. We also completed Stage 2 of the Through the strategic use of the SEQ Water Grid Queensland Government’s South East Queensland assets, we, in partnership with SEQ Water Grid Fluoridation Program, and completed the design of entities, were also able to minimise water quality the future Wyaralong Water Treatment Plant to service issues following major rainfall events. Wyaralong Dam, Cedar Grove Weir and Bromelton Offstream Storage. A range of upgrades to key regional The connected nature of the SEQ Water Grid, and water treatment plants were also completed. the ability to move water to where it is needed most, played a key role in maintaining high-quality drinking Managing energy and water supplies, from water which continued to be environmental impact equal to, or better than, the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2004. A new procurement strategy for chemical and energy contracts reduced our key