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WATER CAMPAIGN™ – APRIL/MAY 2008

The Water Campaign™ is an international freshwater management program, which aims to build the capacity of local government to reduce water consumption and improve local water quality. The Water Campaign™ is an ICLEI Oceania program delivered in collaboration with our partners, including the Government of Western Australia, Australian Government, City West Water, South East Water, Yarra Valley Water, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board, Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management Board and the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board.

WATER CAMPAIGN™ PROGRAM NEWS

Participation and milestone achievements

There are currently 117 councils taking part in the Water Campaign™. We welcome Northern Areas Council, South Australia, to the program.

Congratulations on program achievements:

Barossa Council, District Council of the Copper Coast and District Council of Mallala, South Australia – Milestone 1 (Community)
City of Charles Sturt, South Australia – Milestone 1 (Corporate)

City of Wanneroo, Western Australia, and the Corporation of the Town of Walkerville, South Australia – Milestone 1 (Corporate and Community)
Maroondah City Council, Victoria – Milestone 2 (Corporate and Community) and Milestone 3 (Community).

A special mention to the Western Suburbs Region Organisation of Councils (WESROC), which includes the towns of Cambridge, Claremont, Cottesloe, Mosman Park, cities of Nedlands, Subiaco and Shire of Peppermint Grove, Western Australia, for passing Milestones 2 and 3 (Corporate and Community).

Congratulations!

Water Partnerships in Action recognition event

ICLEI Oceania held a Recognition Breakfast Event at the Water Down Under 2008 Conference on 15 April to recognise the achievements of Water Campaign™ participants in South Australia.

Thirteen councils received awards at the event including six from the Adelaide and Mount Lofty NRM Board region, four from the Northern and Yorke NRM Board region and four from the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board region.

Guest speakers included the Hon. Karlene Maywald MP, Minister for Water Security and the River Murray, the Rt Hon. The Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Michael Harbison, and Anita Aspinall, Board Member, Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM.

For more information about the event and photographs of councils receiving their awards, visit the recently held events webpage.

Forthcoming events

Sustainable urban water management in action, field trip and networking event

7 May 2008, North Sydney Council, New South Wales

ICLEI Oceania is holding a sustainable urban water management forum, field trip and networking event for NSW Water Campaign™ participants on Wednesday 7 May 2008, from 9.15am–3.00pm at North Sydney Council.

Attendees will hear presentations about leading edge local government sustainable urban water management actions in Sydney and network with local government and stakeholders.

The day will include site visits to:

North Sydney Council to see its water recycling innovation at North Sydney Oval
Hornsby Shire Council to see its Foxglove Oval biological treatment of leachate for reuse on sporting fields.

For more information about the forum please contact the ICLEI Oceania events team, Ph: +61 (0)3 9639 8688.

WA Urban Water Management Networking Forum

21 May 2008, Perth, Western Australia

ICLEI Oceania is running a one-day networking forum in Western Australia on Wednesday 21 May 2008.

The forum will aim to bring together key players in urban water management to share past experiences and ideas for the future.

For more details please contact Sarah McCabe, Water Campaign State Manager, Western Australia, ph: +61 (0)8 9364 0643.

WSUD Networking Event

11 June 2008, Hahndorf, South Australia

ICLEI Oceania, in partnership with the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board, is holding a Water Sensitive Urban Design Forum on Wednesday 11 June 2008, from 9.00am–4.30pm at the Hahndorf Resort and Convention Centre.

Attendees will hear a range of presentations and participate in workshops with a Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) focus.

The forum will feature a variety of speakers including:

Mr David Altman, Presiding Member, Stormwater Management Authority
Professor Simon Beecham, Sustainable Water Resources Engineering, University of South Australia
Dr David Cunliffe, Principal Water Quality Advisor, Department of Health
Mr Geoff Fisher, Director, Australian Water Environments
Ms Christine Lloyd, Regional Policy Manager, Planning SA
Mr Peter Scott, Senior Advisor, Environment Protection Authority.

Local government case studies profiling WSUD features implemented by Water Campaign™ councils will provide valuable information on the implementation of WSUD by local government. The forum will also feature an interactive workshop.

For more information please contact Kris Swaffer, Water Campaign™ State Manager – South Australia, Ph: +61 (0)8 8366 9246.

More events

For a list of forthcoming external events, see the Stakeholder Events page.

WATER CAMPAIGN™ COUNCILS IN ACTION

City of Melbourne – Showerhead Exchange Program

: A water efficient showerhead

The City of Melbourne, with City West Water and South East Water, is offering a Showerhead Exchange Program.

Even if you are not a resident in the City of Melbourne, you can exchange your old showerhead for a free water efficient model.

Water efficient showerheads can lead to annual savings of around 13,500 litres of water per person.

See the Showerhead Exchange Program page on the City of Melbourne website for more information.

Participant highlight – WESROC achieves milestones 2 and 3

: From left: ICLEI Ocenaia Executive Manager, Martin Brennan, with WESROC representatives

The Western Suburbs Region Organisation of Councils (WESROC), comprising the cities of Subiaco and Nedlands, the towns of Cambridge, Cottesloe, Claremont and Mosman Park and the Shire of Peppermint Grove, have all successfully completed Milestone 2 and Milestone 3 of the Water Campaign™.

The councils are participating in the Water Campaign™ as a regional group and are working through the milestones together. In February and March of this year each council adopted tailored water management goals and a local action plan.

The group is now working on the development of a regional action plan using the individual action plans as a basis. The regional plan will identify where the councils have priorities and actions in common and where they may be able to work together for a more effective outcome.

WESROC has a strong history of working together on water management. The recent WESROC Total Water Cycle Monitoring Program report looks at water quality monitoring in the region to inform regional action including community stormwater education programs and stormwater harvesting for aquifer recharge.

To view the WESROC and other councils’ Local Action Plans visit the Milestone Results page of the Water Campaign™ website.

Regional milestone assistance funding

Four groupings of councils have been successful in their applications for a Regional Milestone Assistance Grant.

To assist local governments to progress through the Water Campaign™ and achieve water management outcomes, the Government of Western Australia's Department of Water made available a once-off Regional Milestone Assistance Fund for Water Campaign™ participants in the state working in groups of three or more councils.

The successful projects were:

Development and adoption of water sensitive urban design policies – Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council, Shire of Mundaring, Shire of Bassendean and City of Belmont
Incorporating sustainable design advice in development services – cities of Nedlands and Subiaco, towns of Claremont, Cambridge, Cottesloe and Mosman Park and the Shire of Peppermint Grove
Serpentine subcatchments data compilation and preparation of joint action plan – shires of Serpentine Jarrahdale, Murray and Kwinana
Implementation of actions from the communications plan developed by the Geocatch Stormwater Promotional Project 2006 – shires of Augusta Margaret River, Capel and Harvey.

For more information about any of these projects please contact your WA Water Campaign State Manager.

New case study now online - Town of Cottesloe

: Cottesloe Beach

The Town of Cottesloe, Western Australia, has been working in direct partnership with the Australian Government, through the Water Smart Program, to implement a groundwater restoration project.

Council's Peninsular Groundwater Restoration project is the focus of a new case study prepared by Water Campaign™ staff.

To read the new case study log in to the ICLEI Oceania website and access the Water Campaign™ case study menu under 'Milestone Resources'.

AUSTRALIAN WATER NEWS

New South Australian Office for Water Security

A new Office for Water Security has been established in South Australia to coordinate water policy development across government.

The office will support the Hon. Karlene Maywald MP, Minister for Water Security and the River Murray, in negotiations on the national plan for water security; including South Australia's commitments under the national plan and developing a state-wide water security plan.

Minister Maywald will lead a newly created Water Security Council, which will involve chief executives from a range of government agencies, including Treasury and Finance and Premier and Cabinet.

The Government of South Australia has announced that Professor Rob Lewis, previously Executive Director, South Australian Research and Development Institute, has been appointed as the interim Commissioner for Water Security.

As Commissioner, Professor Lewis will also be Deputy Chair of the Water Security Council and will lead the Office for Water Security in driving the Government's water security policy agenda and will report directly to the Minister for Water Security.

Professor Lewis commenced his new full time role on 8 April 2008 for a period of four months pending the appointment of a permanent independent Commissioner.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

savewater! Awards

The prestigious 2008 savewater! Awards^® are now calling for entries.

Now in their sixth year and going national for the first time, the awards recognise and reward the outstanding water saving achievements of individuals and organisations.

One of the nine categories is for local government entrants, and last year's winner was Water Campaign™ participant Hume City Council.

These awards are a great platform to spread the water conservation message to the broader community.

Entries close Friday 9 May 2008.

For more information visit the savewater! Awards website.

Up-to-date information on funding and grants

Visit ICLEI Oceania's funding opportunities website for all the latest news on grants and funding.

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