The Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) has kicked some major milestones in the first 12 months of its NSW Water Strategy, according to a new report on its progress.
Chief Executive of the NSW Water Sector at DPE, Jim Bentley said the Strategy was the State’s first-ever long-term plan for water, and put concrete actions in place to improve the security, reliability, quality and resilience of the resource.
“We only launched the strategy 12 months ago, along with an implementation plan mapping out steps we could take immediately,” Mr Bentley said.
“Pleasingly, out of the 123 actions in the implementation plan, 96 per cent have either been completed, are ongoing or now in progress,” he said.
“This is a considerable achievement, one we should all be proud of.”
Mr Bentley said the progress meant results were being delivered to residents in the State’s cities and regional towns, Aboriginal communities, farmers, water users and the environment.
He highlighted some of the NSW Water Sector’s achievements of the past year, including the Greater Sydney Water Strategy, an unprecedented 20-year plan to tackle the region’s water challenges, the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan, the commencement of the NSW Water Efficiency Program, and the establishment of a dedicated Aboriginal Water Program.
“We’ve also developed an implementation plan for 2022-2024, which includes some big initiatives,” he said.
“We’ll finalise the NSW Groundwater Strategy and start to deliver actions on the ground to sustainably manage and protect our state’s vast and precious groundwater resources,
“And for the first time, we’re developing a dedicated Aboriginal Water Strategy that recognises First Nations’ water rights and values and increases their access to and ownership of water,” the Chief executive said.
The 71-page NSW Water Strategy Annual progress report on implementation can be accessed at this PS News link.
