Water Directorate Forum Feedback

The Water Directorate recently hosted the Water Managers' Forum at the Local Government NSW Water Management Conference at Terrigal. The Forum was well attended by approximately 70 conference delegates.

The topics chosen for the Forum were designed to provoke discussion amongst attendees. The format of the Forum encourages open discussion of the topics with a panellist introducing each topic and providing a brief summary of the issues and/or actions that have been undertaken to date. Three of the four panellists were Water Directorate Executive Committee members with one guest panellist from MidCoast Water.

A summary of the main discussion points from each of the topics covered at the Forum is below. Please contact Gary Mitchell with any queries regarding the Water Managers' Forum to raise issues for discussion by the Water Directorate Executive Committee.

PANEL ONE: REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS

Discussion Leader: Stewart McLeod, Dubbo City Council 

• Stewart McLeod gave a brief overview of reviews currently being undertaken by the State Government to examine which reforms, if any, should be implemented.
• In the past twelve months the Water Directorate has made four submissions:
• Because the members of the Water Directorate have a range of opinions on the ideal model of local government or water utility reform the submissions have been largely generic and emphasized that a “one-size-fits-all” policy does not suit all councils or circumstances.
• There is still a great deal of uncertainty about the direction the State Government is planning for both the water industry and local government reform in general.
• It is notable that the Minister for Primary Industries, the Hon Katrina Hodgkinson MP, is not attending the conference to provide an update on the reform process.
• This lack of direction from the State Government has lead to inertia on behalf of councils seeking to form alliances or corporations with their neighbours.
• The current advice is that the Independent Local Government Review Panel will release its final report in October (previously estimated to be September) 2013.
• Stewart McLeod argued that continuous improvement is more likely to emerge from the adoption of a variety of models specific to each region than a generic model across the State.
• There was very little general debate on this issue as most councils have adopted a “wait and see” approach as they are all waiting for the State Government to indicate their preferred model or direction.

• Submission to the State Infrastructure Strategy 2012-2032,
• Submission to the Local Government Acts Taskforce,
• Submission to Joint review of the WIC Act 2006 and Local Government Act 1993 and
• Submission to Independent Local Government Review Panel

 Recommendations and actions:

• No action necessary until the State Government announces its position on reform.
• Keep members up to date with any relevant issues via the newsletter, website and discussion forum.

 

PANEL TWO: STREETS OPENING

Discussion Leader: Gary Mitchell, Water Directorate (on behalf of Greg Finlayson who was unable to attend the Conference)

• Gary Mitchell spoke on behalf of Greg Finlayson and noted that the hierarchy of legislation that local water utilities operate under in NSW is at the very bottom.
• Two issues of particular interest are congested footpaths and the proliferation of underground telecommunication cables and crossing railways.
• For instance, the Telecommunication Act has a lot of references to codes of practice, consultation and standards of construction. However if you read through the legislation and codes, it is difficult to see which one might be a binding standard.
• The sort of issues faced by local water utilities include:
• It is not clear who actually regulates the telcos – ACMA or Telecommunications Ombudsman who is better geared to regulate matters such as mobile phone service, not infrastructure.
• The telco plans can be wrong and they put all the responsibility on the water utility to locate their infrastructure.
• The cable is fibre optic in PVC conduit and is untraceable and requires much physical excavation to find it.
• The cables in the footpath have unnecessarily wandered off any proper alignment and leave no place for your work.
• When local water utilities come into conflict with other utilities, particularly those utilities with overriding powers, they can experience a competition that seems unfair and unwinnable.
• Repair bills are unreasonable and unfair.
• These issues are compounded by the use of contractors to install telco cables, particularly since the introduction of the NBN in recent years.
• With crossing railways the issues are related to changes in ownership as well as the hierarchy of legislation. For instance John Holland now manages all the old branch railway lines. These lines are still owned by the State but regulated under Commonwealth legislation and therefore they have overriding powers compared to the legislation that local water utilities operate within.
• There was general consensus amongst the attendees that these issues are widespread as many people are unable to get a quick response in regional areas to inquiries and the responses are often unhelpful. For instance, it can take up to an hour to get a response from a gas contractor when called out due to a gas leak which raises a duty of care issues with gas leaking into the environment for that period of time.

 Recommendations and actions:

• Executive Committee has scheduled a visit from Otre Moussa, Dial Before You Dig, at its next meeting to explore what options water utilities have to protect their assets and to avoid expensive payouts to other utilities for damages.
• Water Directorate to seek permission for a copy of his presentation to be made available to the members.
• Executive Committee to discuss the potential of lobbying for legislative review of the various Acts and seek to reassert the power of water utilities in the road reserve.

PANEL THREE: DAM SAFETY MANAGEMENT

Discussion Leader: Wayne Beatty, Orange City Council

• Wayne Beatty advised that a Dam Safety Management Forum will be held in Sydney on Wednesday 9 October 2013. The Forum follows on from a previous Dam Safety Risk Management Forum hosted by the Water Directorate in 2012.
• A number of actions have been undertaken by the Water Directorate since the last Forum and we want to bring local government dam owners together again for a one day Forum to discuss new and emerging issues.
• The program has been drafted and includes the following presentations:
• Currently local government does not have any significant dam expertise and is not represented on the Dam Safety Committee. The Water Directorate has written on a couple of occasions to request representation but due to the current review process this action has been put on hold.
• Daniella McKenzie, Office of Public Works, commented that the Water Directorate should make a contribution to the current review process by:

• Review of the Dam Safety Act 1978 and Dam Safety Committee that is currently being undertaken by KPMG.
• Section 60 Approval Application Process for LWU Dam Works
• Dam Safety Guidance Sheets and Dam Safety Data Forms
• Case study presentations from Nambucca Shire and Armidale Durmaresq
• A discussion forum will be held to explore issues that member councils need assistance with regarding the augmentation or construction of dams and the development of Dam Safety Guidelines
• Making a submission to the KPMG review paper when it is released to the public and
• Discussing the cost of upgrading dams to the highest level of safety with our communities to explore what level the community is willing to fund

 Recommendations and actions:

• Water Directorate to have a standing subcommittee on Dam Safety.
• Water Directorate to host an annual workshop on Dam Safety issues to keep members and other interested industry people up to date with relevant issues.
• Continue to promote the Dam Safety Management Forum on 9 October and ask Daniella McKenzie to partake in this workshop to provide an overview of the KPMG review and its findings.
• Water Directorate to make a submission to the Review of the Dam Safety Act 1978 and Dam Safety Committee by KPMG when the review paper it is released for comment.

PANEL FOUR: SEWER INFILTRATION AND REHABILITATION

Discussion Leader: Gary Mitchell, Water Directorate (on behalf of Greg McDonald who was leading one of the concurrent site tours)

 

• Gary Mitchell advised on behalf of Greg McDonald that the Water Directorate is considering the production of Sewer Infiltration and Rehabilitation Guidelines.
• He asked if there was interest amongst the attendees for the development of a technical document and, if so, what they would like to have included.
• General agreement that NATSPEC does not cover this issue adequately and therefore it is not a repetition of information.
• The Water Directorate has been advised that WSAA is working on a infiltration and rehabilitation project and we have inquired whether we are able to be part of that project to avoid duplication.

• Greg Mashiah advised that the Northern Rivers Water Group is currently working on a common specification and that it will be available at the end of the year. The NRWG is happy to make this specification available through the Water Directorate in the interests of industry standardization.
• The following topics were discussed as inclusions in the proposed guidelines:

• A review of the different technologies to ensure they are well understood by the user of the guidelines
• A summary of the condition of the pipes and how to assess their condition prior to tendering a project
• Community consultation is recommended as it is a very important factor

 Recommendations and actions:

• Water Directorate Sewer Subcommittee to ask the WSAA representatives at the next Executive Committee meeting scheduled a visit from Otre Moussa, Dial Before You Dig, at its next meeting to explore what options water utilities have to protect their assets and to avoid expensive payouts to other utilities for damages.

PANEL FIVE: STANDARD DRAWINGS
Discussion Leader: David McKellar, MidCoast Water

• David McKellar advised that MidCoast Water has been successfully using the WSAA Standard Drawings since they were established in 1998.
• During this period MidCoast Water has developed a large number of Standard Drawings that are applicable to their water business.
• He advised that MidCoast Water understands that WSAA will not continue to maintain and update their suite of Standard Drawings after the end of this year and therefore local water utilities will need to maintain their own set of standard drawings.
• Brendan Guiney has previously advised the Water Directorate Executive Committee that MidCoast Water is happy to modify their Standard Drawings for general use by the local water industry.
• Ian Edwards of Open Spatial Data Management noted that updated water and sewer Australian Standards were recently released.
• There were several comments regarding whether NATSPEC adequately covers the water and sewer aspects of he has discussed the update of the Standard Drawings with the national office of the IPWEA and they are happy to update the Standard Drawings for a fee.
• Several attendees noted that their councils are happy to continue to use the Standard Drawings in AUS-SPEC.

Recommendations and actions:

• Water Directorate Executive Committee to seek an update on the status of the WSAA Standard Drawings at our next meeting with Adam Lovell from WSAA.
• Water Directorate to adopt a watching brief on this issue to determine whether we need to develop our own set of Standard Drawings.

 

NOTE: At the most recent Water Directorate Executive Committee meeting on 19 September 2013, David Cox, Director Technical Services, WSAA advised that WSAA will continue to publish and update their Standard Drawings. Therefore the Water Directorate does not need to consider developing this project. Members should be advised that an updated version of the Standard Drawings will be included in the next WSAA Codes due out shortly.

PANEL SIX: OPEN DISCUSS FORUM

Facilitator: Gary Mitchell

• Greg Mashiah of Clarence Valley Shire reminded attendees that there are often engineering students available to undertake research projects on behalf of councils and that this option should be explored to ensure the next generation of engineers is aware of the issue particular to local government.
• Greg Mashiah of Clarence Valley Council recommended the efficiencies gained by using a period supply contract that allows one council in the Northern Rivers Water Group to call tenders and other councils to use the opportunity to also purchase through the same tender.
• Sam Samra of NOW advised that the Developer Contributions Plan Guidelines are due to be released shortly and that they are very similar to the draft Guidelines.
• Stewart McLeod asked attendees for any feedback on using pressure sewer systems. This question generated a lot of discussion with most attendees agreeing that their experiences were mixed. Shoalhaven Water reported positive experiences using pressure sewer pumps that outweighed any negative experiences.

 Recommendations and actions:

• Water Directorate Executive Committee encourage members to present papers on their experiences with pressure sewer pumps to promote the issues – good and bad – in the interest of encouraging best practice.
• Water Directorate thanks the panellists and attendees.

 

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