Full description
State Water [II] was removed from the Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability and established on 1 July 2004 as a State Owned Corporation under the State Water Corporation Act 2004 (Act No.40, 2004). (1)
Under the State Water Corporation Act 2004, State Water's main objectives were to capture, store and release water in an efficient, effective, safe and financially responsible manner. Other objectives of the Corporation were:
1) to be a successful business and to that end to operate at least as efficiently as any comparable business and to maximise the net worth of the State's investment in the Corporation;
2) to exhibit a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates;
3) where its activities affect the environment, to conduct its operations in compliance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development;
4) to exhibit a sense of responsibility towards regional development and decentralisation in the way in which it operates. (2)
The principal functions of State Water were:
1) to capture, store and release water: to persons entitled to take the water, including release to regional towns; for the purposes of flood management; and for any other lawful purpose, including the release of environmental water;
2) to construct, maintain and operate water management works;
3) any other functions conferred or imposed on it by the operating licence or by or under this or any other Act or law. (3)
Under section 7 of the State Water Corporation Act 2004, State Water was accountable to a Board of Directors. (4) The Board was to consist of no fewer than three and no more than eight directors appointed by the voting shareholders. Of the directors, one was to be selected from a panel of three persons nominated by the Labor Council of New South Wales by a selection committee consisting of two persons nominated by the voting shareholders and two persons nominated by the Labour Council of New South Wales. (5)
The Fish River Water Supply Authority became part of State Water on 1 January 2005. (6)
On 1 January 2015 the Water NSW Act was passed by the NSW Parliament to establish WaterNSW, by merging State Water Corporation (State Water) and the former Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA). Specifically, under this Act:
(i) State Water continued, albeit with a new name of Water NSW (WaterNSW); SCA was abolished; and
(ii) The operations (including assets, rights and liabilities) of the SCA were transferred to WaterNSW.
(iii) WaterNSW was established as a SOC and principal objectives and functions were identified. (7)
WaterNSW functions included:
(a) to capture and store water and to release water:
(i) to persons entitled to take the water, including release to regional towns, and
(ii) for any other lawful purpose, including the release of environmental water,
(b) to supply water to the Sydney Water Corporation,
(c) to supply water to water supply authorities and to local councils or county councils prescribed by the regulations,
(d) to supply water to licensed network operators or licensed retail suppliers within the meaning of the Water Industry Competition Act 2006,
(e) to supply water to other persons and bodies, but under terms and conditions that prevent the person or body concerned from supplying the water for consumption by others within the State unless the person or body is authorised to do so by or under an Act,
(f) to construct, maintain and operate water management works (including providing or constructing systems or services for supplying water),
(g) to protect and enhance the quality and quantity of water in declared catchment areas,
(h) to manage and protect declared catchment areas and water management works vested in or under the control of Water NSW that are used within or for the purposes of such areas,
(i) to undertake flood mitigation and management,
(j) to undertake research on catchments generally, and in particular on the health of declared catchment areas,
(k) to undertake an educative role within the community. (8)
The Act also provided for other important structural and operational matters, like the continuation of the Operating Licence; the continuation of the regulation; some aspects of the Board's composition; the appointment and employment of the CEO; and empowerment of WaterNSW to undertake certain things necessary to perform its statutory functions. (9)
On 1 July 2016, WaterNSW was conferred functions previously performed by the Department of Primary Industries-Water (DPI Water). (10).
Endnotes
1. NSW Government Gazette No.110, 1 July 2004, p4983.
2. State Water Corporation Act 2004 (No.40), s.5.
3. ibid., s.6.
4. ibid., s.7.
5. loc. cit.
6. NSW Government Gazette No.204, 24 December 2004, p. 9667.
7. WaterNSW website, About-Who we are-Corporate Governance, https://www.waternsw.com.au/about/who-we-are/corporate-governance/, (accessed on 22 November 2022).
8. Water NSW Act 2014 (Act No.74, 2014), s.7.
9. WaterNSW website, About-Who we are-Corporate Governance-WaterNSW Act 2014, https://www.waternsw.com.au/about/who-we-are/corporate-governance#stay, (accessed on 22 November 2022).
10. Ibid.
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