Sustainable Water Management Plan - Nillumbik Shire Council

Indicators
Water conservation performance indicators and targets have been set to measure the success of each
initiative. Each indicator is directly linked to an objective, and targets have been set for 2010-2011. In order to
measure the success of actions, Council will benchmark data annually against baseline data to illustrate the
progress made in reducing water demand.
The indicators and targets for Theme 1: Water conservation are as follows:
Indicators Target for 2010-2011
Reduction in annual water consumption (kL) Council – 45% decrease from 2000-2001
consumption rate
Community – 25% decrease from 2000-2001
consumption rate
Amount of water reused annually (kL)
Uptake of rainwater harvesting opportunities (kL)
Amount of AAA rated water appliances installed
Amount of education and awareness raising
materials available to staff and the community
Base year
The year 2000-2001 was selected as the base year
for water consumption figures as it is the earliest
year that a reliable set of data was available to
Council, showing ‘business as usual’ without water
restrictions or permanent water saving rules. The
baseline data highlights the relative reticulated water
demand across Council’s assets and operations.
When comparing rainfall over the past five years,
the base year was the wettest and therefore it is
assumed that any reduction in water use over the
following drier years is due to water saving initiatives
Council has undertaken and influence from staged
water restrictions.
Rainfall
In response to low annual rainfall, Council and the
community may need to increase irrigation rates for
the maintenance of playing surfaces. It is therefore
expected that lower rainfall could lead to Council and
the community consuming more water.
Table 1: Average annual rainfall in Nillumbik
Increase
Increase
Increase
Increase
As rainfall and climate variations affect water
consumption, it is important to set long term targets
to absorb these annual variations. Rainfall data for
the past six years reflects the current drought and
is not intended to reflect climate change, which
requires longer-term analysis and consideration.
Future Council water consumption
If no water saving actions are undertaken, Council’s
future water consumption may slightly increase due
to the acquisition of water consuming operations,
such as installation of additional irrigation systems or
establishment of new open space. The development
or upgrade of Council owned buildings may also
increase water consumption during construction
and operation. However, it is expected all future
developments will include water efficient features
resulting in reduced water demand over time.
Projected population growth from 2006 to 2011 is
anticipated to be approximately 3%. 6 This slight
increase in population is not expected to have a
significant impact on Council’s services that would
result in increased water use.
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
771.1 mm 630.4 mm 424.4 mm 683.6 mm 789.6 mm 716.5 mm
Rainfall monitoring stations located at Yan Yean and Warrandyte (Source: Bureau of Meteorology)
Water consumption (corporate)
A reticulated water consumption inventory was
undertaken for all of Council’s facilities for the
financial years 2000-2001 to 2005-2006. (See
Appendix A) Reticulated water consumption data
was provided by Yarra Valley Water.
The results from this inventory have provided the
strategic direction for the development of the Plan.
This data provides Council with an understanding
of the many issues surrounding reticulated water
use within its own operations and throughout
the community, and highlights the importance of
comprehensive data and information management.
The inventory did not consider other water supplies
such as creek water, bore water, recycled water,
rainwater or greywater.
Over the past five years, Council has achieved a
35% reduction in its water use. This reduction can be
attributed to a range of water saving initiatives which
have been implemented by Council and through the
introduction of mandatory water restrictions.
Determining water demand
A water consumption inventory for Council’s
operations was completed in 2005. The data has
been categorised according to ICLEI property types
to allow for ease in comparison of usage between
Council-owned facilities and properties (Appendix
C). This data allows Council to easily determine
its highest water-using facilities and where water
efficiency measures can be best implemented.
The inventory of Council’s water consumption
highlights that Council has significantly decreased
its reticulated water consumption over the past
five years by a total of 64,003 kilolitres or 35%
(Graph 2). The reduction over the past several
years can be attributed to the introduction of staged
water restrictions (November 2001) and Councilfunded
initiatives to reduce water use such as the
installation of warm season grass species on some
playing fields and a reduction in the area of irrigated
open space (Appendix D).
Graph 2: Council’s annual water consumption
and costs vs rainfall
Consumption (kL) and cost
250000
200000
150000
100000
5000
0
Council’s annual water use and costs vs rainfall
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
consumption cost rainfall
(Data Source: Yarra Valley Water and Bureau of Meteorology)
Graph 2 details Council’s water use and associated
costs over the past five years in comparison to
annual rainfall. With the exception of 2000-2001, the
graph clearly shows the relationship between annual
rainfall and water usage rates. As expected, there
is a relationship between low annual rainfall and
increased irrigation.
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Rainfall (mm)
6
Nillumbik Shire Council – Council Plan 2007-2011
14 Sustainable Water Management Plan Sustainable Water Management Plan