To make sure Canberra has a strong and secure water supply into the future, the ACT Government will set up a new Office for Water this month, water minister Shane Rattenbury announced today.
The bureau, working out of the Dickson Building on Northbourne Avenue, will be a central hub, bringing together ACT public servants from different agencies working on water.
The Office will lead water policy, identify opportunities and gaps across the system, and improve water management.
“Coordinating all water elements across ACT Government, from policy to implementation, will simplify and enhance our approach to water-related issues,” Mr Rattenbury said.
The Office will make sure urban lakes and waterways (such as polluted Lake Tuggeranong) are clean and healthy for community use, and address issues of water security – likely to be a concern as climate change makes Canberra hotter and drier.
Because the ACT’s main waterways, the Molonglo and the Queanbeyan Rivers, cross the NSW boundary, the Office will also co-ordinate with surrounding councils.
The government has allocated $4.2 million in the budget over the next two years to establish the office, including employing four more staff and procuring more resources. Mr Rattenbury expects the Office to begin operating within the next fortnight.
Because the ACT public service’s water experts are spread out across the government, they do not feel they have a peer network, Mr Rattenbury explained.
“At the moment, there is a real risk of disjointed policy work or particularly the failure to either identify opportunities or see some of the risks that are coming because people are operating in particular siloes. This is a proactive measure to make sure that we are not missing those opportunities or failing to see those gaps.”
Protecting waterways from pollution is another important issue, environment minister Rebecca Vassarotti said. The government will spend $722,000 over the next two years to strengthen the ACT’s Environment Protection Authority, putting “more boots on the ground” to regulate pollution, and to review the agency’s policies and systems.
The government will also model flooding for higher risk parts of the Molonglo and Queanbeyan Rivers. Ms Vassarotti believes climate change will bring more extreme weather events, like the recent floods in NSW and Queensland.
“We need to do some forward planning, particularly around our main waterways to ensure that our community is protected,” she said.
“These initiatives will … ensure that we are protecting our water security, protecting our community, and making sure that our waterways are clean and adding to the amenity of our beautiful city.”
The government and Icon Water will also replace the non-potable water pipeline in Uriarra Village, to provide long-term water security, and increase water supply for firefighting. Most of the pipeline will be built along fire trails from the Cotter precinct.
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