Annual Review 2012 /2013 Providing PMS > regional water authorities with indePendent, exPert advice, technical suPPort, shared industry knowledge, imProved efficiencies and long CMYK > term Planning REVERSED > Photos supplied courtesy of Water Directorate member councils. Chair Review In the absence a response from the a large number of members from representation opportunities more State Government regarding local different regions. However, our closely in the near future. water utility reform the Water strong membership base and good Once again I would like to thank the Directorate has remained focussed communication channels meant that on promoting the good work achieved we could consult widely with members members of the Executive Committee by local water utilities, particularly on the content of our submissions for their involvement in all our activities. since the introduction of the best prior to the closing dates. I particularly want to thank retiring practice framework by the NSW members Carmel Krogh and Simon Office of Water in 2007. A copy of our submissions to the State Thorn who have been stalwart members Infrastructure Strategy 2012-32, the of the Executive Committee over a In recent months we made Local Government Acts Taskforce, number of years. Their professionalism submissions to four separate the Joint Review of the Water and passion for the local government government inquiries that strongly Industry Competition Act 2006 and the water industry will be missed. promoted the benefit of water and/ Independent Local Government Review or sewerage services being delivered Most importantly I want to thank our by local water utilities. The Water Panel are available on our website. member councils for your ongoing Directorate rejects the notion that a We also advocated strongly during the support. Your participation and ‘one-size-fits-all’ model is applicable year for representation on the Dam technical expertise is a key reason and instead we support a flexible Safety Committee and the proposed for our success as a membership approach to utilising a range of Local Government Development organisation. models, including alliances. Board. This is an area in which When preparing these submissions the Water Directorate should do it was not easy to find a ‘common more work on behalf of members voice’ that could adequately represent and we will need to examine our Stewart McLeod Executive Officer Review The past year has been busy with In addition, we hosted two forums: We are often invited to provide the publication of four technical the first was held at the LGSA Water representation on industry documents: an Environmental Management Conference in Wagga committees, participate in Incident Report to use when notifying Wagga and the second forum was university studies or undertake joint authorities of a pollution incident, an held at the IPWEA (NSW Division) projects with other water industry Overview of the 2011 Australian Drinking Annual Conference in Terrigal. The organisations. Water Guidelines that identifies key panelists, presenters and attendees changes made by the NHMRC, a made both these forums very The voluntary nature of our Executive revised version of the WTP Guidelines successful events and we thank them Committee means that some of our for Residuals and Backwash Water for their participation. representatives attend additional Reclamation and a new document to meetings such as the Aboriginal assist local water utilities with the The excellence awards we sponsor Water and Sewage Services Steering protection of existing and future sewer provide our members with an Committee or the Water Industry assets, Building in the Vicinity of Sewer opportunity to showcase their local Advisory Committee. I particularly Mains Guidelines. water utility or an outstanding want to thank these Executive individual. The IPWEA Excellence Committee members for their We also hosted three workshops to Award for Innovation in Water and ongoing commitment to representing discuss issues with member councils: Wastewater, the WIOA Operator of the the local government water industry. two one day Dam Safety Risk Year Award and the joint AWA/Water Management workshops were held Directorate Conference Attendance with a view to forming a Dam Safety Award have proved very popular in subcommittee as well as developing recent years. Unfortunately the LGSA Gary Mitchell appropriate guidelines and one half Environmental Award failed to attract day workshop was held to discuss an nominations in the past two years industry-wide response to the Local and hence we will not continue our Government Acts Taskforce. sponsorship in 2013. High Priorities Actions A key objective of the Water Directorate is to provide At the annual planning meeting our list of priority actions technical advice and support to our member councils. is reviewed and updated. Members are always encouraged We achieved this objective in 2012/13 by: to send suggestions for new projects and are formally P producing technical publications invited to attend the Annual General Meeting in November. P hosting an online discussion forum During the annual planning meeting our Strategic Plan is reviewed and updated. A copy of our current Strategic P convening workshops on relevant industry topics Plan is available on our website. Project suggestions or P making submissions to various government inquiries and enquiries should be sent to Gary Mitchell on P sponsoring four industry best practice awards. [email protected] High Priority Activities 2012/13 JUL 2012 AUG 2012 SEP 2012 P Hosted the Water Managers’ P Published an Environment Incident P Hosted a Dam Safety Risk Forum at the LGSA Water Report that provides LWUs with Management Workshop in Sydney Management Conference in Wagga a generic template to use when P Executive Officer attended the NSW Wagga notifying a pollution incident Green Globe Awards in Sydney P Executive Officer attended the Water Services Association of Australia members meeting in Canberra OCT 2012 NOV 2012 DEC 2012 P Published an updated version of the Overview of P Hosted a Local Government Reviews Workshop the 2011 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines in Sydney P Hosted a Dam Safety Risk Management Workshop P Sponsored the LGSA Environment Awards in Ballina – Best Practice Environmental Management of P Made a submission to the State Infrastructure Water and Sewerage Supply that was won by Strategy 2012-32 Dubbo City Council P Executive Officer attended the AWA Water Industry P Made a submission to the State Government Skills Taskforce (WIST) Forum in Canberra Review of the Local Government Act 1993 JAN 2013 FEB 2013 MAR 2013 P Published a revised version of the WTP Guidelines for Residuals P Executive Officer attended the and Backwash Water Reclamation. National Water Commission’s P Made a submission to the Joint Review of the Water Industry World Water Day and Competition Act 2006 Performance Report Launch P Chair and Executive Officer attended a combined Queensland Water in Canberra Directorate, Vic Water and Water Directorate meeting in Brisbane P Executive Officer attended the P Executive Officer attended the Sydney Catchment Authority Science AWA NSW President’s Dinner Symposium in Sydney APR 2013 MAY 2013 JUN 2013 P Sponsored the WIOA P Facilitated the Water Forum at the IPWEA P Published the Building in the Vicinity of Operator of the Year (NSW Division) Conference in Terrigal Sewer Mains Guidelines Award won by Neville P Jointly sponsored the Conference Attendance P Hosted a Business Model Subcommittee Woodward of Coffs Award with AWA that was won by Tracey workshop in Sydney Harbour City Council Hamer of MidCoast Water P Made a submission to Independent Local P Sponsored the IPWEA Excellence Award for Government Review Panel Water and Wastewater that was won by Wyong P Executive Officer attended the WIOA Qld Shire Council Operators Conference on the Gold Coast Executive Committee 2012/13 Executive Committee Attendance Record – Elected Representatives Name Council Region Attendance Wayne Beatty Orange City Council Central West 5/7 Anthony Burnham* Tweed Shire Council North Coast 0/5 David Byrne Cooma-Monaro Shire Council South East 6/7 Brett Corven** Eurobodalla Shire Council South East 2/2 Russell Deans Bathurst City Council Central West 7/7 Greg Finlayson Riverina Water South West 7/7 Alan Fletcher** Upper Hunter Shire Council Hunter 2/2 Wayne Franklin Rous County Council North Coast 6/7 Brendan Guiney** MidCoast Water Mid North Coast 2/2 Doug Hill Tamworth Regional Council New England 6/7 Tony Holmes** Shoalhaven City Council Illawarra 1/2 Heinz Kausche Wagga Wagga City Council South West 5/7 Carmel Krogh* Shoalhaven City Council Illawarra 4/5 Greg McDonald Wyong Shire Council Hunter 4/7 Angus McLean* Eurobodalla Shire Council South East 4/5 Stewart McLeod Dubbo City Council Orana 7/7 Eric Poga Wellington Shire Council Orana 7/7 Terry Seymour** Richmond Valley Council North Coast 1/2 Jeff Sharp Port Macquarie Hastings Council Mid North Coast 4/7 David Steller Armidale Dumaresq Council New England 3/7 Simon Thorn* Coffs Harbour City Council Mid North Coast 4/5 David Tull Griffith City Council South West 6/7 *Resigned **Newly elected At the end of 2012 four of our Executive Committee Fletcher, Brendan Guiney, Tony Holmes and Terry members resigned: Simon Thorn, Carmel Krogh, Seymour. It is pleasing to have so many new, and in Angus McLean and Anthony Burnham. One the case of Tony Holmes returning, faces to replace newly elected representative, Terry Seymour, our outgoing members. also resigned in May 2013. We thank all these The Executive Committee comprises 18 elected retiring members for volunteering their time and members representing 9 local government participation on various subcommittees. non-metropolitan regions and two appointed Local Particular thanks are extended to Simon Thorn for Government NSW representatives. All elected his valuable contribution over the part fourteen members are currently employed as senior water years and also to Carmel Krogh for her dedication and/or sewerage managers or technical directors as both a committee member and, most recently, in NSW local government.