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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 4122 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

We currently use only a small amount of the treated effluent we produce, so we need to think about how significantly to increase this amount. In the longer term we need to make significant changes to our buildings-commercial and domestic-re-use waste water, capture rain water and use limited potable water. We need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our water management practices.

We also need to be fully aware of external pressures on our water resources. We are facing the establishment of a water "cap", which will determine the amount of water the ACT will be able to extract from the Murray-Darling system without buying a water right to use more. There is considerable national debate about the future of water rights for primary producers, which could have implications for all governments. We are facing considerable growth in the population of our region, which will turn to the ACT for water, as well as for other services.

We will need to meet all these challenges, and more, if we are to defer or avoid building that additional dam. The need is both environmental and financial, and we must ask the Canberra community to support this work. We have a very high level of environmental awareness-the highest in Australia. So why are Canberrans also the least likely in Australia to adopt water conservation measures in their homes? We have got excellent water resources and a relative lack of restrictions. Perhaps this has instilled in us a false belief that our water supply is endless.

The current drought has reminded us of our vulnerability in management. We need to work with the community and change the way Canberrans think about and use water. We will adopt the acronym WATER, water action-that's everyone's responsibility, to encourage the community to help establish directions for sustainable water management.

As we take this process further, Environment ACT, in close co-operation with other government departments and Actew, and with all the resources of the community, will develop a comprehensive, balanced and progressive strategy for making substantial and sustainable improvements in our water resource management efforts.

In the end, the water resources strategy for the ACT, when completed, will go beyond the Assembly motion calling for a water conservation and re-use strategy. The strategy that we will conclude over the next period will cover all aspects of the water cycle and water as a resource, including water's links to ecosystems and regional issues. The strategy will be formalised in the water resources management plan-due for review next year in any case-of the Water Resources Act 1998.

The Assembly should note the critical importance this government places on water resources. Our goal for Canberra is to be the best urban water managers and, in so doing, make the most use and re-use of the least amount of water. Achieving this goal will bring changes to the urban environment and lifestyle of our garden city. It will impact on the way the city is designed and built and the way we manage our lives. We need to acknowledge that this process of change may take decades.

It is fortuitous that the government is currently formulating the Canberra Plan. Each element of the Canberra Plan-the economic white paper, the social plan and the spatial plan-will need to consider water and how it will influence our lives.

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