The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) welcomes the release of Infrastructure Australia’s bold plan to secure Australia’s prosperity and sustainability through better infrastructure provision. With over $150 billion in assets and $15 billion in revenue urban water is a key part of the Australian Infrastructure Plan.
‘The Plan recognises that urban water is essential to Australia’s economic prosperity and critical to the productivity and liveability of our cities and regions. WSAA agrees that reforms across the water sector should build on the core principles and strong foundations of the National Water Initiative’, said Mr Adam Lovell, WSAA’s Executive Director.
‘WSAA supports the recommendation in the Australian Infrastructure Plan for better independent economic regulation of the water sector and for a national framework to be established, said Mr Lovell.
‘We are pleased that Infrastructure Australia has agreed with our call that a process for resolving the role of competition in the urban water sector should be a key element of the Australian Infrastructure Plan,’ Mr Lovell said.
WSAA supports recommendation 6.12 that the Federal Government should work with State and Territory Governments to establish an independent national body to deliver a National Water Reform Plan.
WSAA also welcomed the recognition that water and energy infrastructure needs to be resilient to the risks of climate change impacts. The urban water sector is at the leading edge of climate risk adaption, however significant investment will be required to ensure resilience.
WSAA recommends that governments include stormwater and drainage as critical components of the urban water environment. ‘Managing stormwater in our built environment provides options for urban habitats and mitigating the urban heat island’, said Mr Lovell.
Noting the general recommendation in the Plan that all commercial government owned infrastructure, including water, should be transferred to private ownership, Mr Lovell said: ‘These are matters to be considered by individual government shareholders on a case by case basis. However, the water-specific recommendations in the Plan provide a strong platform for the urban water industry regardless of future ownership’.
A number of urban water projects are included in the Plan’s Infrastructure Priority List. These are: Northern Adelaide Plain water infrastructure development; Darwin region water supply infrastructure upgrades; Tasmanian sewerage infrastructure upgrades and Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley flood management. WSAA agrees that these are important initiatives that should be further developed for potential funding.
The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) is the peak industry body representing the urban water sector. Our members provide water and sewerage services to over 20 million customers in Australia and New Zealand and many of Australia's largest industrial and commercial enterprises.
17 Feb 2016
