Page 4648 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019

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Water security

MR GUPTA (Yerrabi) (3.24): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes that:

(a) Australia is facing significant water constraints;

(b) from late 1996 to mid-2010, much of southern Australia experienced a prolonged period of severe dry conditions known as the Millennium Drought;

(c) in 2006, then Prime Minister John Howard described the drought as a “one in a thousand years” drought, yet we are seeing more droughts of that severity more often;

(d) conditions across the Murray Darling Basin are at their most severe in 120 years of records;

(e) Australia’s water security has already been significantly influenced by climate change, rainfall patterns are shifting, and the severity of droughts has increased; and

(f) these conditions have placed significant pressure on water availability in the ACT;

(2) further notes the ACT Government’s achievements in ensuring the ACT’s long-term water security, in particular, the significant investment made by the ACT Government:

(a) to increase water storage, with capacity in the ACT growing around 35 percent from 205 gigalitres to 278 gigalitres since 2012;

(b) to add new water sources, including stormwater harvesting and reuse at the neighbourhood level in the inner north;

(c) to oversee major reductions in demand on water resources through increased efficiency as a result of water sensitive urban design and permanent water conservation measures; and

(d) in 2010, the ACT introduced a scheme of permanent water conservation measures, administered through Icon Water, which includes rules and guidance around matters such as garden and lawn watering, pool filling, and cleaning with potable water which are mandatory and enforceable; and

(3) calls on the ACT Government and Icon Water to:

(a) continue to implement and promote the comprehensive ACT Water Strategy, Striking the Balance 2014-2044, which provides the basis for continuing to support current and future growth, achieve desired environmental outcomes and be responsive to climate change; and

(b) hold consultations with water stakeholders and relevant experts and report back to the Assembly on the Government’s findings from these consultations before 1 July 2020.

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