Page 2424 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 9 August 2016
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ACT government agencies and Icon Water. The audit focused on ACT government agencies and Icon Water’s implementation of the lower Cotter catchment strategic management plan 2007 and other recent activities in the management of the catchment.
The audit made 12 recommendations, of which three were considered to be high priority. In response to the Auditor-General’s report, the government agreed to all 12 recommendations. The committee acknowledges that cooperation across government agencies and community volunteers in restoration of the catchment has resulted in the achievement or part achievement of almost all 29 management actions outlined in the 2007 lower Cotter catchment strategic management plan. Notwithstanding, the committee emphasises that further work remains.
The committee also acknowledges that since presentation of the audit report a number of significant aspects relating to management of the catchment have occurred. Firstly, as part of the 2015-16 budget, the government appropriated to the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate a total of $7.8 million over four years to actively manage and protect the catchment. Secondly, the government announced the creation of a single conservation agency within the Environment and Planning Directorate, which became effective from 1 July this year.
In the report tabled today, the committee has made seven recommendations. I will make a few very brief comments this morning as they relate to the recommendations. Two recommendations are concerned with budget and functional matters, in particular the implementation of a sustainable funding model for management of the catchment and improved transparency as it relates to budgets for maintaining source water protection and land management in the catchment.
Two recommendations are concerned with seeking updates on the recommendations of the audit. Three recommendations are focused on current issues and risks to the catchment, specifically seeking an update on progress with regard to pine wildling removal trials within the Blue Range area; that the finalisation of a recreation strategy for the catchment be prioritised; and that government consider extending the program of native planting and habitat restoration for the catchment in partnership with the local community and community-based organisations and groups.
In summary, the overarching objective of catchment management is the protection of water resources. In the case of catchments that are sources of domestic water supply, the protection of water quality is of paramount importance. Every catchment has its own unique characteristics that generate respective risk profiles which should be used to identify, prioritise and underpin management strategies to achieve catchment objectives.
Of equal importance is a sustainable funding model for catchment management. The lower Cotter catchment has a unique history and specific characteristics that require careful and appropriate management to ensure protection of the catchment as a source of domestic water supply in the territory. The audit has been important in setting out a framework for the management of the catchment now and into the future.
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