AGY-3986 | Sydney Catchment Authority

Full description

Background
In 1998, repeated incidents of contamination of Sydney water supply by Cryptosporidium and Giardia resulted in an independent inquiry set up by the New South Wales Government. The purpose of the inquiry was to identify the cause of the contamination, and whether the water supply was being adequately managed. The inquiry headed by Peter McClellan QC did not find a single source of contamination, but emphasised the importance of healthy catchments in ensuring safe drinking water, and also recommended that a new body be created to take a leading role in catchment management. (1)

The Authority
The Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) was subsequently established by the Sydney Water Catchment Management Act 1998 (No, 171, 1998), to fulfil this role. (2) The Act was proclaimed on 8 January 1999. (3)

The General function of the Authority was to protect the quality and quantity of water in catchment areas. (4)

The Specific functions of the Authority were to:
(a) Supply bulk water to Sydney Water Corporation;
(b) Supply bulk water to other water supply authorities, prescribed local councils, or prescribed county councils;
(c) Supply water to customers (for their own consumption);(d) Manage and protect the catchment area, and catchment infrastructure works including dams, storage and pipelines;
(e) Protect and enhance the quality of water supplied by the Authority;
(f) Carry out research on catchments generally and on the health of its own catchments in particular
(g) Educate the community about water management and catchment protection (5)

The Board of the Sydney Catchment Authority consisted of the Chief Executive and up to seven members appointed by the Minister. These were to be selected because of their expertise in public health or protection of the environment. One of the members was to be nominated by the NSW Farmers Association, and another nominated from the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales. (6)

The functions of the Board were to: determine long-term strategic plans; to oversee the effective, efficient and economical management of the agency; to endeavour to ensure that the Authority meet all public health and environmental requirements set out in the operation licence and any relevant instrument. (7)

The Authority was granted an operating licence by the Governor on 2 July 1999 (8). An operating licence granted under s.25 of the Sydney Water Catchment Management Act (No.171, 1998) allowed the Authority to construct, operate, manage and maintain systems or services to fulfil its functions. (9)

The Authority was granted a water management licence on 23 April 2003 by the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation (Department of Land and Conservation) under Part 9 of the Water Act 1912 (No. 44, 1912). (10) The licence was issued in order to authorise the Sydney Catchment Authority to take and use water from specific water sources. The objective of the licence was “ to mange the SCA’s access to water resources within its area of operations in accordance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development as described in s 6 (2) of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991 “ (No. 61, 1991). (11)

Special areas of land that surrounded the SCA’s dams, canals and pipelines were jointly managed with the National Parks and Wildlife Service under a Special Areas Strategic Plan of Management. This plan was developed under s.49 of the Sydney Water Catchment Management Act (No.171, 1998), which identified “a number of strategies for the management of special areas to achieve outcomes for the maintenance of ecological integrity, and water quality”. (12) In September 2003, the National Parks and Wildlife service became a division of the newly created Department of Environment and Conservation. (13)

In 2004, the Authority was headed by a Chief Executive and consisted of 9 Divisions including: Executive Support Unit, Senior Legal Counsel, Finance and Procurement, Bulk water, Catchment Operations and Major Projects, Environment and Planning, Strategy and Policy, Corporate and Property Services, and Dam Safety. (14) The Authority remained a separate organisation to Department of Environment and Conservation. However, the Chief Executive of the Authority was also appointed as the Director – General of the Department, in order to encourage close links between the works of the two agencies. (15)

The Sydney Water Catchment Management (Amendment) Act (No. 70, 2003) expanded the SCA’s responsibilities to include: the generation and supply of Hydroelectricity, and related activities; and to undertake any associated activities, whether on the Authority ‘s own account or with others. (16)

In 2004, the Catchment Authority managed five catchment areas occupying 16,000 Square Kilometres. These catchment areas included: Warragamba Dam; the Upper Nepean Dams; the Shoalhaven System; Woronora Dam; and Blue Mountains Dams. (17) Authority also sourced water from the Prospect Dam, and the Fish River Scheme (based at Oberon). (18, 19)

Endnotes
(1) Sydney Catchment Authority Annual Report 1999/2000 p. 6
(2) Ibid. p.3
(3) Government Gazette 24 December 1998 p.9953
(4) Sydney Water Catchment Management Act, 1998. s.15 (1)
(5) Ibid s.16
(6) Ibid s. 7
(7) Ibid s.8
(8) Annual Report 1999/2000 Op. Cit. p.13
(9) Sydney Water Catchment Management Act Op. Cit s. 25
(10) Government Gazette 25 May 2001 p. 2903
(11) Sydney Catchment Authority Annual Report 2001 – 2002 p.83.
(12) Loc. Cit
(13) http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/new_department (accessed 05/07/2004)
(14) http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/about/org_structure.html (accessed 19/04/2004)
(15) http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/new_department Op. Cit
(16) Sydney Water Catchment Management (Amendment) Act 2003 s. 3 (2) – s.16 (1) (c1) of the Principal Act (17) http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/dams/major.html (accessed 19/04/2004)
(18) http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/dams/prospect.html(accessed 19/04/2004)
(19) http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/dams/fishriver.html (accessed 19/04/2004)