Water Infrastructure NSW (WINSW) celebrated one year of operations last week (25 November) as the State’s first stand-alone water infrastructure Agency.
Marking the milestone, Minister for Water, Property and Housing, Melinda Pavey said WINSW was focused on accelerating the rollout of infrastructure that would provide regional communities with water security and jobs.
“In just one year, Water Infrastructure NSW has secured $410 million in Australian Government funding, which will create thousands of jobs in regional NSW over the next four to eight years,” Mrs Pavey said.
“More than $29 million in contracts have already been awarded,” she said.
“A dam hasn’t been built in NSW since the 1980s and, with the establishment of this Agency, NSW is now in the best possible position to meet the increasing demands on our water resources in the face of a more variable climate and a growing regional population.”
Mrs Pavey said WINSW, part of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, brought together regional water infrastructure, planning, development and delivery into one Agency.
“This means for the first time that we have a team of expert professionals dedicated to building dams and other large infrastructure,” she said.
“Water Infrastructure NSW will be delivering a wide range of projects, all of which will contribute to the reliability, security and sustainability of our valued water resources.”
Mrs Pavey said this included weir renewals and upgrades; fish passageway and screening programs; hundreds of new bridges and accessways; as well as dams and storage reservoirs.
