Sydney's water supply unable to cope with population growth, drought

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Sydney's water supply unable to cope with population growth, drought

By Alexandra Smith

Sydney's water supply will struggle to cope with population growth and future droughts because the NSW government has failed to investigate, implement or support water savings measures.

In a scathing report, the Auditor-General says Sydney Water and the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, has "little focus" on options and investments for water conservation.

Low flow mode at Sydney's desalination plant will continue until September.

Low flow mode at Sydney's desalination plant will continue until September.Credit: Getty Images AsiaPac

The agencies have not met key requirements of the 2017 metropolitan water plan, the blueprint for Greater Sydney, and Sydney Water has not met all its operating licence requirements.

There has been little policy or regulatory reform, and the department has not done any community engagement to understand whether recycled water may be a future option for drinking water.

Sydney Water has not expanded its recycling capacity in over eight years, the report says.

"Sydney Water has been ineffective in driving water conservation initiatives, delivering detailed planning and resourcing for ongoing initiatives, and in increasing its investment in water conservation during drought," the report, tabled on Tuesday, says.

"As a result, Greater Sydney's water supply may be less resilient to population growth and climate variability, including drought."

The department and Sydney Water "have struggled to fund water conservation initiatives", the report says.

"Funding for water efficiency programs was scaled back when Sydney Water was not required to contribute to the Climate Change Fund between 2012-13 to 2016-17," the report says.

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It says the department also has not carried out any "detailed analyses of a range of water conservation options since 2013," the report says.

"The department and Sydney Water have not identified clear responsibilities nor established formal arrangements that support planning, implementation, reporting and capacity for water conservation," the report warns.

"This is despite reviews of previous metropolitan water plans by the department and reviews by IPART highlighting weakness in water resource management in general, and specifically for water conservation."

The report warns "planners and service providers are expecting significant pressure on the water supply system" as Sydney's population is expected to increase to 7 million in 20 years.

"Infrastructure NSW estimates that an additional 47 gigalitres of water per year will be required to achieve the liveability vision for Western Sydney," the report says.

"To put this in perspective, this additional volume is equivalent to around half the water produced by the Sydney desalination plant each year when operating at capacity."

The desalination plant was switched on in January last year amid declining water supply levels.

It is still operating in a low flow mode, which is about 20 per cent of its capacity and three per cent of Sydney's water usage. This is expected to continue until September.

The government has delayed the expansion of the plant, just five months after it moved to double its size to provide more drinking water for the city.

A Sydney Water spokesman said: "Despite a 26 per cent increase in population, we have seen the total consumption of drinking water decrease to its lowest since mandatory restrictions were introduced 17 years ago.

"In response to the recent drought, Sydney Water has achieved overall water savings of 11.4 per cent against forecast since June 2019. This equates to more than 76.4 billion litres of water saved – or 30,560 Olympic-sized swimming pools."

Independent NSW upper house MP Justin Field said the Auditor-General's report was a reflection of the government's "unequivocal failure to conserve Sydney's drinking water and prepare for drought".

"As the biggest city on the driest continent on the planet, we should be world leaders in water conservation, but under the Coalition we are failing," Mr Field said.

"This report should serve as a wake up call to Sydney and the government. Our water planning needs to set clear targets for water recycling and efficiency, with regular and transparent reporting."

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