Safeguarding our water
Everyone in NSW deserves access to reliable and high-quality water. Reliable and affordable water is vital for our households, businesses and industries to thrive and remain economically competitive, both nationally and internationally.
In both the cities and regions we must plan for climate variability and the impact of extreme events on water safety, supply and security. Future temperature increases and rainfall changes are likely to place additional pressure on water resources in some parts of NSW. The amount of available water will be affected, as will be the ability of the infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events. In developing water resource plans and regional water strategies, we will plan for these changes to help manage the state’s water supply in the long term.
In the cities, our focus is on ensuring access to water in the face of growing populations. We need to maintain liveable communities and deal with increasing wastewater treatment in densely populated areas with sensitive environments. As part of the WaterSmart Cities program, we will continue to look at integrated water cycle solutions and cost-effective water recycling to reduce demand for water and new infrastructure, and to build greener cities.
We will create a NSW Water Statement, which will bring together the work currently in progress to develop water resources plans and regional water strategies across the state, including planning to meet the future challenges of climate variability and population changes.
Sydney Water will deliver a 20-year Strategic Capital Plan for water and wastewater, in partnership with WaterNSW, to improve asset planning and maintenance activities.
To address anticipated population growth, we will complete the South Creek Corridor Strategic Business Case.