WATER DIRECTORATE FORUM COFFS HARBOUR Wednesday 9 May 2012

The Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance Learnings from 2008 to the Present

Stewart McLeod Director of Technical Services Dubbo City Council and Chair, NSW Water Directorate 1 LMWUA PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1. Background & Development history 2. Structure& Formalisation 3. Objectives 4. Operation & Management 5. Operating Costs 6. Alliance Statistics 7. Achievements to date 8. Best Practice Compliance 9. Future projects 10. Advantages of our approach

2 LMWUA 1. BACKGROUND & DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

• Six Councils in the Lower Macquarie Valley came together in early 2008 & agreed to be proactive by developing an Alliance Model – to address the requirements of the Water Inquiry which commenced in late 2007 • Councils involved initially: - - Shire - Dubbo City - - - Wellington Shire • Bourke & Brewarrina subsequently joined in May 2009 3 4 LMWUA

• The Alliance covers 18% of the LAND AREA of ,

but

• Serves only 3.4% of the WATER CONNECTIONS in non-metropolitan New South Wales

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2. STRUCTURE & FORMALISATION

• Deed of Agreement signed by 6 original Councils on 1 July 2008. A new, more binding, Deed of Agreement has been developed but not executed; pending a decision on the Water Inquiry by State Government • Deed covers: - Vision Statement - Objectives - Work plan (4 Year reviewable) - Term of Agreement – 4 years renewable 6 LMWUA

- Structure of Alliance - Access to Property, Data & Records - Intellectual Property - Reporting - Fees & Charges - Termination

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3. Objectives Overall objective of the Alliance is mutual co- operation - to address short term deficiencies and impediments to achieving “Best Practice” – and to demonstrate long term sustainability.

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SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES are to undertake:

a) Resource and staff skill sharing;

b) Water resource sharing opportunities

c) Peer review of performance and mentoring where appropriate;

d) Development of shared best practice;

e) Funding of best practice strategies and goals 9 LMWUA

4. OPERATION & MANAGEMENT - Operating under Section 355(d) of the Local Government Act, 1993 - Retention of autonomy of each member Council - Headed by a Management Board which meets bi-annually. - Operational matters dealt with by a Technical Committee which meets bi-monthly and a paid PROJECT OFFICER (Consultant).

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• SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Three “Special Interest” Groups (Sub- Committees) formed to further the knowledge sharing and problem solving objectives of the Alliance

- A Compliance and Statutory Reporting Group, whose primary function is to work together in developing annual Performance Reports and EPA Licensing Reports

- A Works Officers & Supervisors Group, whose functions are to mentor each other, improve operating procedures, implement ADWG Drinking Water Framework (in accordance with the Alliance’s Water Quality Management Plan) & share resources and materials, where possible & appropriate.

- A Web Site Development Group Administered by the IT Officer at Narromine Shire Council. The web site is located at www.lmwua.nsw.gov.au

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• Voting Rights - Board has two representatives from each Council (1 Councillor, 1 Senior Staff member) - Equal representation irrespective of Council size.

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5. OPERATING COSTS

- Cost of joint projects is levied on a per connection basis. - Cost of projects for the benefit of one member only is the responsibility of that Council only, but the Alliance will usually bear the cost of preparing a Brief, calling quotes, and assessing quotes received to recommend a successful consultant. - Total operating costs (excluding Projects & special consultancies – which have, to date, been largely financed by Grant funds, are in the order of $90,000 pa (less than 1 senior staff FTE)

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6. ALLIANCE STATISTICS

Size Council W/S Connected Total W & Sge % age Compliance with BPM Criteria Rank Properties 10/11 Revenue (Excl Cap (10/11 Perf. Report) Wks Grants (10/11)

Number %age $ Mill % age W/S Sge Comb.W/Sge 1 Dubbo 16,690 60.1 23 62.7 100 100 100 (08/09:100%) 2 Wellington 2,900 10.5 3.8 10.4 100 100 100 (08/09:100%) 3 Cobar 2,260 8.1 1.9 5.2 90 78 84 (08/09:58%) 4 Narromine 2,130 7.7 2.2 6 100 100 100 (08/09:79%) 5 Bourke 1,280 4.6 2 5.4 100 78 89.5 (08/09:46%) 6 Bogan 1,030 3.7 1.4 3.8 100 100 100 (08/09:52%) 7 Warren 960 3.5 1 2.7 100 78 89.5 (08/09:62%) 8 Brewarrina 490 1.8 1.4 3.8 60 57.9 37 (08/09 ;25%) Totals/ Averages For Alliance 27,740 100 36.7 100 93.8 86.1 90 (08/09:65%)

Source: “2010/11 NSW Water Supply and Sewerage Benchmarking Report” (NSW Office of Water)

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7. ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE

• Achievement of 90% overall compliance with Best Practice requirements (from a base of 73% in 2008) • Successful applications for grants totalling $451,800 from DEWHA, under the strengthening Basin Communities Program; to develop regional strategies • Completion of the following Regional Strategic Plans: – IWCM (Evaluation Study) – Demand Management Plan – Drought Management Plan – Drinking Water Quality Management Plan – Stormwater Harvesting Strategy • Collaborative completion of annual Performance Reports • Formation of three working Groups

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• Submissions on water reforms to: – Infrastructure – The Productivity Commission – The National Water Commission • Completed development of a Regional Resource Sharing, Mentoring and Training program (in June 2011), including a Link Document to establish connectivity and resource sharing opportunities with Centroc WUA. • Developed Alliance Policies covering: - Disinfection of potable water supplies - Fluoridation - Asset Management - Pricing • Completed audits of all Alliance member Water Treatment and Sewage Treatment Plants (HWA)

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• Projects to date have been largely funded by Grants The 6 Best Practice Regional Projects cost a total of $529,500 • The cost to LMWUA was $72,500 (rest was Commonwealth Grant). • The overall savings from doing Regional Plans/Strategies were $280,000 (or average of $35,000 per Council) based on estimated consultancy costs of each Council doing independent Plans/Strategies

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Progress with the Joint (LMWUA/CWUA) Resource Sharing, Training & Mentoring

With Centroc we have agreed to: • to share all Policy Documents • to consider “do and charge”/ free support from the Alliance to members in need of water and sewer engineering support • form a subcommittee that has carriage of this project • “growing our own” will be a focus where this could include • Tailoring “our training needs”; for example for Water Treatment Operators • Support for trainees in the region • Sponsored scholarships for engineering students including regional work experience rotations

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Joint (LMWUA/CWUA) Resource Sharing, Training & Mentoring (cont’d)

Other potential opportunities: • developing a joint Water sampling Policy • procuring joint Asset Valuations (again, buying power of up to 24 LWUs) • developing joint SBPs (as part of IPR)

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8. BEST PRACTICE COMPLIANCE - Identification of gaps in compliance by member Councils with Best Practice management and documentation completed - Over the last three years, compliance with NSW best practice management requirements, across the Alliance’s 8 Councils, has improved from 66% overall compliance in 2007/08 to 90% compliance in 2010/11 (an improvement of 36.4%). - It is anticipated that 100% compliance will be achieved in 2012/13

20 LMWUA Historic Best Practice Performance Summary Year Water Supply Sewerage Overall

2005/06 65% 51% 59%

2006/07 69% 55% 63%

2007/08 73% 57% 66%

2008/09 86% 72% 80%

2009/10 90% 75% 83%

2010/11 94% 86% 90%

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100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30% Water Supply 20% Sew erage 10% Overall

0% 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11

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Regional Water Quality Management Plan

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9. FUTURE PROJECTS

• Develop a Regional Strategic Business Plan

• Develop a Regional Asset Management Plan

• Develop a Regional Quality Management Plan

• Develop a Regional Environmental Management Plan

• Develop a Regional Pricing Policy

• Develop a Regional Business Continuity Plan

25 LMWUA 10. ADVANTAGES OF OUR APPROACH

• Opportunity to pool resources, reduce duplication and form a common platform to develop initiatives • Staff development • Knowledge & resource sharing • Catchment based approach • Uniformity of approach to resource management

• Cost effective delivery of Best Practice 26 LMWUA

• Maintenance of community ownership & involvement • Co-operation instead of coercion – members WANT to be involved, they are NOT FORCED to belong • Regional integration, in the true sense of the word

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Thank You

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