The Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) has launched a long-term strategy to secure Greater Sydney’s water supply with a new approach to water security planning.
Welcoming DPE’s Greater Sydney Water Strategy (GSWS), Minister for Lands and Water, Kevin Anderson said the 20-year GSWS was designed to tackle the region’s water challenges with the best mix of innovative water solutions.
“The GSWS is about being resilient, especially in the face of a more variable climate,” Mr Anderson said.
“Sydney’s population is set to grow to 7.1 million by 2041, which will put even more pressure on our water resources.”
He said the strategy made it clear that additional water supply would be needed in the next five to 10 years as well as improving water efficiency and conservation to make better use of all water sources and assets.
“It will also identify alternative pathways to increase water supply options through reuse programs and additional water from desalination,” the Minister said.
Mr Anderson said the Strategy would improve water efficiency, leakage management and reuse programs to save Greater Sydney up to 49 billion litres of water every year by 2040, and introduce new flexible operating rules for the Sydney Desalination Plant to allow up to 20 extra billion litres of water to be produced per year.
He said the GSWS would also deliver options to expand the desalination plant and re-use programs for watering trees, sports fields, cooling and greening the city.
“The GSWS lays the groundwork for these, and many other exciting programs, initiatives and technologies, to start delivering big water wins for our city,” the Minister said.
DPE’s 128-page Strategy can be accessed at this PS News link.
