Page 3695 - Week 12 - Thursday, 25 November 2021
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gas. Additionally, clubs will be given the opportunity to provide their plan to become an extreme weather refuge site as part of the program. Registrations for the program opened in October just gone, with energy assessments expected to start in the December quarter.
I now turn to water. We have also introduced a range of measures to improve catchment health and water quality. Water security and water quality are critical for the health and wellbeing of all Canberrans and the environment. Clean and secure water for drinking, agriculture, biodiversity and greening the city requires action.
We also need to protect our catchments for our water supply, for environmental outcomes and to reduce nutrients entering our waterways, to ensure water quality and availability. The effect of climate change on our water resources is an additional pressure on top of our long-term highly variable climate. This is becoming more pronounced, reaffirming our resolve to futureproof our region.
To rise to this challenge, our administrative arrangements for water management are being reviewed. Government is collaborating across all relevant areas to ensure that we take forward a holistic and coordinated approach to water programs and policies. We are investigating reforms to our administrative arrangement that will strengthen the foundations for a water secure city. These reforms will support the breadth of services and program investment that we are already delivering to protect our catchments and water supplies. Working in partnership with the community is critical to delivering on-ground activities to secure our water future and protect the core values that a healthy environment provides for us all.
The government acknowledges the important role that our ACT regional catchment management groups provide in caring for our environment. We are continuing to support these groups, with $348,000 to deliver citizen science volunteer programs such as the iconic Waterwatch and Frogwatch programs.
We are committed to strengthening our support for the Ngunnawal traditional custodians to be a critical partner in building our water secure city. We have initiated an employment program that will ensure that traditional values and perspectives are incorporated into all aspects of our planning, policy and program delivery.
I recently announced the appointment of a Ngunnawal water policy officer who will partner with us on water planning. I am excited by the opportunities that this presents for the government’s business in assisting the Ngunnawal community to maintain its connection to country and waterways. The water policy officer position is one of six new Indigenous positions within the directorate.
I am pleased that we are continuing to undertake important work to improve the health of our waterways. The ACT Healthy Waterways program, from 2014 to June 2020, comprised a $93.5 million joint initiative of the Australian and ACT governments to protect and improve long-term water quality in the ACT and the Murrumbidgee River system. The 20 water quality assets built for this investment are now annually intercepting approximately 1,900 tonnes of pollutants from our waterways, including 1,885 tonnes of sediment, 14 tonnes of nitrogen and 2.4 tonnes
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