Urban Water
Country town water supply and sewerage
The provision of water supply and sewerage services to country towns in New South Wales is the responsibility of local government under the Local Government Act 1993. Local Government through 106 non-metropolitan local water utilities provides water supply and sewerage services to 1.8 million people – 30 per cent of the state's population.
The Department of Water and Energy (DWE) is responsible for managing the NSW Government's Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program and works with a range of stakeholders towards achieving the Department's requirements under the State Plan Priority E1 "A secure and sustainable water supply for all users".
In addition to overseeing and monitoring the performance of local water utilities, the Department builds local water utility capacity to achieve best practice through statutory approvals, provision of strategic and operational guidelines, manuals, software, expert advice, technical support and assistance, inspections and training, together with financial assistance towards the capital cost of backlog water supply and sewerage infrastructure.
The Integrated Water Cycle Management program is the Department's principal non-metropolitan urban water planning tool. It is used to achieve consideration of all urban water uses within a catchment and policy framework to deliver affordable and sustainable environmental, economic and social outcomes.
The recent local water utility Inquiry into secure and sustainable urban water supply and sewerage services for non-metropolitan NSW is identifying the most effective governance arrangements for the long term provision of water supply and sewerage services in country NSW.
DWE provides financial assistance to country town water programs through the Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program and the Aboriginal Water Supply and Sewerage Program.
The NSW Government has also provided funding for drought relief to ensure that towns do not run out of water. So far, the NSW Government has committed more than $52 million to emergency drought relief projects and assisted more than 129 communities across rural and regional NSW since 2002.