Address: Main Office: John Gorton Building

Urban water infrastructure

In 2010–11, investment in infrastructure was increased to secure water supplies for cities and towns. The Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence and National Centre of Excellence in Desalination each made progress on researching, developing and commercialising new technologies.

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  Investment was made in infrastructure projects to secure water supplies for major urban centres, for example:
  

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  an aquifer storage and re-use system as part of City West Water’s West Werribee Dual Supply project in Victoria
  
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  Hunter Water Corporation’s Lower Hunter Recycled Water Initiative in New South Wales
  
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  infrastructure works to allow future expansion to 100 gigalitre capacity at the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant in Western Australia.
  

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  Funding was provided to 22 projects to assist state, territory and local governments invest in stormwater harvesting and re-use.
  
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  To deliver on the Australian Government’s 2010 election commitment to provide $100 million to expand the stormwater harvesting program, the third round of grants for stormwater harvesting and re-use projects was launched and the Waterproofing Eastern Adelaide and Waterproofing Greater Gawler projects were supported.
  
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  The National Centre of Excellence in Desalination announced the outcomes of its first two funding rounds, with its third funding round closing May 2011. The 12 projects announced in the second round of funding included research to improve membrane performance, new types of desalination for remote areas, forward osmosis for simultaneous production of water and fertiliser, and solar powered desalination for rural communities.
  
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  The Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence invested in the first stages of a project to develop a national validation framework for water recycling and held two funding rounds. The first was for a project to ensure that reclaimed water is seen as an acceptable ‘alternative’ water for drinking water augmentation, and the second for supporting various fundamental and applied research projects across the water recycling spectrum.
  

National Water Security Plan for Cities and Towns

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  Funding of $77.4 million commenced for 35 projects under the competitive call for the National Water Security Plan for Cities and Towns. Projects completed included the Australian National Botanic Gardens non-potable pipeline project in Canberra, the Bellbrook water treatment plant project and the Cooks River Management project in New South Wales. Further information about the Australian National Botanic Gardens project is detailed in case study 1.
  
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  Planning and design commenced for the Nambucca Water Security Project in New South Wales.
  

Water Smart Australia

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  Commitments of over $1.5 billion were made to 78 projects approved for funding under the Water Smart Australia program, which has been operating since 2004–05. In 2011–12, 21 projects are expected to be completed. Projects include stormwater harvesting and managed aquifer recharge, water recycling, infrastructure upgrades and environmental planning.
  

National Rainwater and Greywater Initiative

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  During the reporting year 4 474 rebates totalling $2.15 million were made under the National Rainwater and Greywater Initiative.
  

Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Scheme

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  Progress was made through the Environment Protection and Heritage Council’s decision in July 2010 to introduce minimum water efficiency standards for washing machines and water efficiency labelling for combined washer-dryers that use water in dryer mode.
  
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  The final report of the Independent Review of the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) Scheme was tabled in parliament and work is now under way to implement the recommendations.
  
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  Amendments to the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005 received Royal Assent in March 2011. The amendments allow the minister to designate WaterMark scheme certification as a requirement for WELS product registrations. This will facilitate closer arrangements between the two schemes.
  

Healthy rivers and wetlands

During 2010–11, 387 gigalitres of Commonwealth environmental water was delivered to the Basin’s rivers, wetlands and floodplains. This brings the total amount of Commonwealth water delivered to the environment since environmental watering began to more than 553 gigalitres. State governments, the Living Murray Initiative and private donations have contributed a further 342 gigalitres to joint watering actions.

Commonwealth environmental water helped support environmental assets during the drought that ended in 2010. More recently, it has been used to capitalise on improved river flows. This water is contributing to various ecological benefits across the Basin, including better health of river red gums and improved habitat for birds, fish and frogs. As 2010–11 was a wet year, a substantial volume of water has been carried over for use in the future, providing insurance for the environment when drier times return.

The significantly larger volume of water available in 2010–11 meant that the scope of environmental watering to promote higher floodplain–river connectivity could be expanded and high-flow river and floodplain functional processes could be supported. Some highlights of 2010–11 include:

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  the largest use of Commonwealth environmental water to date—over 100 gigalitres of water were delivered to hundreds of wetlands along the Murrumbidgee River, benefiting the Murray system as far downstream as South Australia’s Lower Lakes and Coorong
  
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  inundation of the Gwydir wetlands was extended for the first time in a decade with the use of environmental water
  
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  the largest flooding event in a decade for the Macquarie Marshes area was extended with the use of environmental water
  
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  delivery of over 80 gigalitres of Commonwealth environmental water to the Lower Lakes and the Coorong, helping to reduce the risk of acidification and improve habitat for water birds and other species.
  

The minister also announced $118 million in funding for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Recovery Project to manage the ecological values of the lake system consistent with the Long-term Plan for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth, developed by the South Australian Government.

Another key outcome for the health of rivers and wetlands during 2010–11 was the repayment of the Snowy Mowamba Borrowings Account and release of approximately 17 gigalitres of environmental flow into the Snowy River in November 2010, with a further seven gigalitres released in April 2011.

Water being released from Jindabyne Dam in November 2010 to benefit the Snowy River environment.

Other progress included:

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  The rolling review of Australia’s Ramsar sites continued. Ramsar site-specific status forms were developed, piloting the review at 20 sites and developing site-specific threat conceptual models to identify suitable indicators to include in site status forms.
  
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  Further development of the Ecological Character Descriptions for Australian Ramsar sites to describe the ecological character and values of Ramsar wetlands and inform future management planning.
  
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  The release of the National guidance for the management of acid sulphate soils in inland aquatic ecosystems, to help mitigate the potentially harmful effects of inland acid sulphate soils.
  
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  Bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the future opportunities and challenges at the Lake Eyre Basin Conference in September 2010.
  

Evaluation

The department delivered a high proportion of the administered appropriations for water reform through projects and grant schemes. Project plans included strategies for monitoring and evaluating progress against milestones, and methods for judging success when projects were completed. A project board monitored all major projects, and the highest risk projects reported quarterly to the Departmental Management Board. At a strategic level, the department progressed initiatives that aim to embed a culture of best-practice project management, governance and risk management across the organisation.

Individual programs within the Water for the Future initiative were subject to internal and external performance audits. For example, a performance audit of the Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin Program and use of water under that program was conducted by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO). In the report delivered in February 2011, the ANAO concluded that the department had put in place satisfactory arrangements to administer the program. It also concluded that the department had demonstrated that it had met its obligations with respect to procurement principles, including the development and documentation of clear approaches to identifying and assessing value for money. The ANAO found that the department had established adequate internal arrangements to support timely and effective decisions by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.

An internal audit of three programs within the Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Program commenced as well as an ANAO performance review of the New South Wales Private Irrigation Infrastructure Operators Program commenced during 2010–11. The department’s Audit Committee continued to take a risk-based approach in deciding which areas of activity to audit, including performance.

In 2010–11, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder published a second environmental water outcomes report. The report described the results from the second year of Commonwealth environmental watering in 2009–10. The positive signs of improvement first identified in the 2008–09 report were again present—there was evidence of improved tree growth, decreased salinity and continued benefits to a variety of plants and animals. The benefits were felt more widely across the Basin as the volume of the Commonwealth environmental water holdings continued to increase.

The National Botanic Gardens in Canberra is now sourcing water from Lake Burley Griffin.

Case study 1: Australian National Botanic Gardens Non-Potable Pipeline Project

The Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra, which contains the world’s largest collection of Australian plants, is now being irrigated with water piped from Lake Burley Griffin.

This will save 170 million litres of Canberra’s valuable drinking water each year.

Up until 2010 Canberra was gripped by a severe, long-term drought. Water restrictions applied not only to residential properties but also to the Australian National Botanic Gardens. This significantly affected the gardens’ capacity to adequately irrigate this important living collection.

In December 2009 the Australian National Botanic Gardens Non-Potable Pipeline Project was launched, to bring irrigation (non-potable) water from nearby Lake Burley Griffin to the gardens.

New cost-effective technology and an advanced water filtration system allows for water to be extracted from Lake Burley Griffin. While potable water, rather than lake water, continues to be used at the gardens for drinking and all other non-irrigation purposes, the irrigation water quality achieved as a result of the technology exceeds World Health Organization drinking water standards. This eliminates any risks if a member of the public accidentally comes in contact with the water from the irrigation system.

Although in 2010 water storage levels in Canberra reached 100 per cent capacity for the first time since 1996, Australia’s climatic cycle means that inevitably drought will return. This project will secure water for the gardens’ extensive collection into the future.

This project was jointly funded by the Director of National Parks Capital Works Program and the National Water Security Plan for Cities and Towns Program, key components of the government’s long-term Water for the Future initiative. Under the initiative, the Australian Government is providing more than $250 million to cities and towns to upgrade older pipes and water systems, install new infrastructure and undertake practical projects that save water and reduce water losses.

Case study 2: Marthaguy Irrigation Scheme