Catchment Management Plan - Hunter Water

Executive SummaryWater supply businesses are underever-increasing pressure to ensure thatthey deliver excellent quality drinkingwater to their customers. Hunter Wateris meeting that expectation using arisk based approach and implementingmultiple barrier philosophy to ensure thatno contaminants can get through andinto the product water. The first of thosebarriers is the catchment from which thewater is drawn.Protecting our water supplies to ensurewe have high quality source water wasidentified as a priority area from HunterWater overall corporate risk rating. TheHunter will be home to approximately160,000 more people by 2031 whichwill lead to increased development andrecreational pressures. Some climatechange scenario modelling also indicatesthat increased storm intensities willaffect the quality and quantity of streamflows. This eight element CatchmentManagement Plan (CMP) aims to identifyactivities in catchments that can bebetter controlled to manage this risk todrinking water quality and proactivelyadapt to impacts brought about byclimate change.A snapshot of water quality in HunterWater’s catchments reveals that waterquality varies across sites. It is evidentthat each catchment has its own riskprofile, catchment characteristicsand resulting water quality. Individualcatchments are described to give anoverview of the current understandingof their nature and health. Runoff fromurbanised areas into surface watercatchments currently poses the greatestrisk to source drinking water quality.To develop this CMP, a wide rangingreview of other water authorities,regulations and water qualitymanagement guidelines was conductedto benchmark current best practicecatchment management. The reviewrevealed that the current Australianand international leaders in catchmentmanagement effectively implementeight principles:1. Identify the top hazards:After analysing the various methods toidentify and rank catchment hazards towater quality around Australia, HunterWater has partnered with the SydneyCatchment Authority (SCA) to developethe Source Water Improvement SupportSystem (SWISS). The SCA currentlyuse a similar model as the foundationupon which catchment priorities aredetermined and subsequently funded. Ithas a scientifically robust, logical and userfriendly structure.Initial tests on the GrahamstownCatchment yielded promising results.Hunter Water aims to have modelledwater quality hazards in all catchmentsand scoped catchment remediation worksusing this model in time for the nextbudgeting process.2. Have effective legislation:Effective legislation refers not only to thestrength and clarity of the rules governingcatchment land use, but also theirintegration into local planning instruments.Hunter Water will seek to clarify thelegislation through improvements to theHunter Water Regulation 2010 and alsoendeavour to embed it in local planninginstruments within the next two years.3. Work with stakeholders:Stakeholders in the management of thetotal water cycle, not only the traditionalservice components such as water deliveryand stormwater, must work together incatchments to improve water quality.Hunter Water will build upon currentstakeholder relationships by regularlymeeting with catchment stakeholders. Weaim to have an initial meeting with all bythe end of this financial year (2010-2011).4. Monitor high risk areas:Very small numbers of pathogens intreated water can make large numbersof the population sick. It is not possibleto reliably monitor treated water forpathogens. A sound understanding of thehighest level of risk in the raw water drivesthe design of the treatment process. It alsoallows effective targeting of catchmentactivity impacts. Hunter Water will continueto target samples of runoff from rain eventsat sites that pose the highest riskin catchments.5. Foster research:Our understanding of catchments changesthrough time as the population grows andscience improves. It is essential to beinvolved in national and local catchmentresearch to have quality information thatenables informed decisions. In the nextfinancial year catchment research will bedirected by the information requirement forthe catchment model. It is envisaged thatwithin two to three years the outcomesof the catchment model will driveresearch priorities.The Upper Williams River CatchmentCATCHMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN . ssS . 001 . JUNE20104