Page 3926 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 25 November 2014
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Improving water quality will have benefits not only for the aquatic environment but also for the community through improving the social and economic contribution of ACT lakes and waterways to our region. The ACT government will also be contributing a further $8.5 million in addition to the Commonwealth’s funding of the project.
In accordance with the business case agreed with the Commonwealth, the ACT Basin Priority Project has two distinct phases. Phase 1, the water quality monitoring component, is scheduled to be completed by February 2016. Phase 2, the detailed design and construction of water quality intervention infrastructure, is due for completion by March 2019.
Phase 1 of the ACT Basin Priority Project consists of implementing both a specific monitoring program for six identified priority sub-catchments (Lake Tuggeranong has been identified as one of the six priority catchments) and a comprehensive ACT-wide water quality monitoring program. The sub-catchment monitoring will provide relevant data to underpin Phase 2 of the Priority Project. There will also be an audit, analysis and investigation of a representative range of current stormwater quality assets in the ACT to determine their efficiency and effectiveness and assist in both the choice and development of infrastructure alternatives in Phase 2.
Phase 2 of the ACT Basin Priority Project will be the detailed design and the construction of water quality intervention infrastructure to address the water quality issues identified in Phase 1. Phase 2 will also determine ongoing governance arrangements for long-term monitoring to gauge the effectiveness of the new infrastructure works and the subsequent improvements to water quality in the catchment. The Phase 2 funding component is subject to Commonwealth approval of a supplementary business case on the construction of this infrastructure by February 2016. Subject to agreement to the supplementary business case, the expected time line to complete the work under the project will be 30 June 2019.
Further details on the ACT Basin Priority Project are available online at
http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/water-management-partnership-agreement-commonwealth-australia-and-australian-capital
While the construction of two wetlands in the Tuggeranong catchment could well be a viable option under Phase 2 of the Project, it would not be appropriate to pre-empt the outcomes of the Phase 1 project monitoring and investigations. The consultancy engaged at looking at the six priority catchments as part of Phase 1 is still in the process of developing an integrated water quality monitoring regime, incorporating detailed monitoring in the identified six priority representative sub-catchments. In conjunction with this, consultancies for the ACT-wide water quality monitoring framework and the strategic review and analysis of ACT urban water infrastructure are also underway.
In order to make the most informed decision on the water quality infrastructure appropriate for the Tuggeranong catchment which considers the social, environmental and economic implications based on sound scientific knowledge, it is important that the activities proposed in Phase 1 are carried out.
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