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Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program


In March 2007 the NSW Government pledged an extra $160 million to the Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program (CTWSSP). The funding will be spread over eight years across an extra 54 council projects. The Associations have welcomed the renewed commitment to the CTWSSP but maintain that a lot more support is required to eliminate the remainder of the backlog projects to ensure that all communities have access to modern water and sewerage infrastructure.

The Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program (CTWSSP) is a long standing program which supports councils in country NSW in their provision of water supply and sewerage services.

In 1994 the Government negotiated major changes in policy for the CTWSSP and agreed to fund the program at the rate of $85 million (1994 dollars) per year for 10 years to rectify identified backlog problems so that all schemes could be brought to an acceptable standard that met the requirements of government regulatory agencies at the time. Councils agreed to fund works for growth and implement nominated reforms.

Significant changes were made to the Program following a review in 2003, including reduction in the size of grants for some councils, priority ranking for projects and new provisions for councils such as compliance with the Best Practice Management of Water and Sewerage Guidelines.

The current Government commitment to the Program is $915 million, which has been fully allocated to existing projects. Without an additional commitment from the Government, approximately 200 projects will remain unfunded.

The Associations continue the call for a fair deal for water supply and sewerage in regional and rural NSW and certainty regarding the future of the CTWSSP. While the CTWSSP has achieved good results, its funding remains uncertain and there has been a lack of transparency in its administration.

In 2005, the Associations and the Water Directorate worked together to produce a review of the Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program (91KB) and joint position statement (51KB) to present a case for the need to restore funding to the Program. The strategy paper identifies an overall shortfall of NSW Government funding to the CTWSSP, and recommends that the Associations and Water Directorate seek:

  • A commitment from Government that it will reassess residual funds available to the Program after making realistic allowances for cost escalation from 1994;
  • An increase in annual allocations to more closely match the original agreement between Government and councils of $85 million per annum (in 1994 dollars);
  • A return to a more consultative approach to administration of the Program including a joint review of the effect of the reduction in grants to individual projects introduced in 2004. This review would give particular attention to the level of subsidy provided for new small town sewerage schemes; and
  • An increase in funding to assist councils comply with changes to legislation and application of more stringent regulatory requirements (e.g. load based licensing, 2004 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, Water Management Act 2000).

 

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