Catchment Management Plan - Hunter Water

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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
6. Perform proactive surveillance:Gathering knowledge about catchmentsis an essential foundation of the riskassessment process. Hunter Watercurrently employs Rangers to engagein surveillance of the catchments.We plan to implement programmedsurveillance of each catchment withsimple templates so that catchmentcondition information can be recordedand shared.7. Engage the community:Hunter Water’s catchments areapproximately 65 per cent privatelyowned. It follows that land usershave arguably the greatest ability tomake a difference to water qualityin catchments. We have begun toimplement methods to inform andengage the community and will developa Catchment Communication Plan withhelp from catchment stakeholders.8. Plan for emergencies (fire):All catchments are vulnerable tounexpected incidents ranging from thosewith remote possibilities (eg an aircraftcrashing) to high (eg vandalism). HunterWater has a tried and tested IncidentResponse Plan (IRP) in place. A BushfireManagement Plan that addressesfire preparedness and emergency fireresponse will be written to complementthe IRP.This plan is a recommendation for substantial change to Hunter Water’s catchment responsibilities. Each of the eight elementscontain recommendations that may take some time to put into practice. In recognition of this, a scaffold is provided, for each of theeight elements, that promotes future planning in three time horizons:Horizon 1spans this price path (2010-2013) andcontains the actions necessary to laya sound foundation for our vision. Theactions of this horizon are pivotal forputting forward the rationale to theIndependent Pricing and RegulatoryTribunal (IPART) for expenditure in thebudget process.Horizon 2is a crucial period as it builds towardsour long term vision for catchmentmanagement.Horizon 3contains Hunter Water’s broad longterm vision for catchment managementbeyond 2017. This horizon is importantas it directs Horizon 1 and 2 actions.HORIZON 1 HORIZON 2HORIZON 3This price path2010 - 2013►Next price path2013 - 2017►Our vision for the future2017 - beyondCATCHMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN . ssS . 001 . JUNE20105
Page 2 and 3: Table of contentsMessage from the M
Page 6 and 7: Part 1: Introduction1.1 DOCUMENT Pu
Page 8 and 9: “Preventive measures by their1.6
Page 10 and 11: Part 2: Our drinking water catchmen
Page 12 and 13: 2.3 A snapshot of Hunter Water’sc
Page 14 and 15: NBarrington TopsNational ParkChiche
Page 16 and 17: 2.6 Grahamstown DamCatchmentarea115
Page 18 and 19: 2.7 The Tomago SandbedsCatchmentare
Page 20 and 21: 2.8 The Tomaree (Nelson Bay) Sandbe
Page 22 and 23: 2.10 The Paterson andAllyn RiversCa
Page 24 and 25: 3.1 Element 1: Identify thetop haza
Page 27 and 28: 637 6000williams river2Sinclairs Hi
Page 29 and 30: Using this model it is possible to
Page 31 and 32: 3.2.4 Hunter Water’s visionfor le
Page 33 and 34: Freudenberg (1999) 9 recommendsthe
Page 35 and 36: 3.4.3 Recent improvementsto the mon
Page 37 and 38: 3.5.2 Hunter Water’s vision forca
Page 39 and 40: 3.7 Element 7: EngagE thecommunityO
Page 41 and 42: Appendix A:Items to observe during
Page 43 and 44: Appendix C:The Land newspaper adver
Page 45 and 46: Appendix E:Graphic used to illustra

Catchment Management Plan - Hunter Water

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