What is an Urban Water Strategy?
All Victorian water businesses are required to engage with their customers and local communities to develop their Urban Water Strategies (UWS). These strategies outline how we will manage demand for, and ensure sufficient supplies of, drinking water across our service region. They are the key planning tool in delivering safe and sustainable water supplies for our cities and towns.
North East Water reviews its UWS every five years with and aims to support the development of resilient and liveable communities while balancing social, environmental and economic costs and benefits across the water cycle.
Purpose
Urban Water Strategies identify the best mix of actions to provide water services in our towns and cities now and into the future.
To do this UWSs:
- have a long-term outlook of 50 years
- consider the total water cycle (consistent with the principles of integrated urban water management
- support the development of resilient and liveable communities
- balance social, environmental and economic costs and benefits
- take account of the consequences and uncertainty associated with population changes, climate change and variability and other risks.
Engagement
Customer and stakeholder engagement is a central task of the Urban Water Strategy, with requirements and expectations set out in the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) guidelines issued to North East Water.
As a minimum, the following must be consulted on:
- appropriate levels of service and willingness to pay
- potential need to take action to keep supply and demand in balance
- possible initiatives to address any imbalance between supply and demand
- values and uses of water
- cost-benefit and trade-offs of taking action
- which of these initiatives should be chosen for action, and when
- drought preparedness and response
Ovens River, Wangaratta
