Stormwater Trust Program

About the Urban Stormwater Program

Phase 1 of the Urban Stormwater Program

Phase 2 of the Urban Stormwater Program

About the Urban Stormwater Program

The NSW Government is committed to improving urban stormwater management and reducing waterway pollution.

The Government's Waterways Package released in May 1997 highlighted the need for a whole-of-government approach to stormwater management.

The objective of the Stormwater Trust is to encourage and support improved urban stormwater quality management practices to improve the condition of the State's urban waterways.

Phase 1 of the Urban Stormwater Program

The three main elements of the Phase 1 program employed to achieve this objective are:

• a Stormwater Trust Grants Scheme, which has allocated $51 million primarily to local councils to undertake 252 stormwater projects throughout the State
• a State-wide Urban Stormwater Education Program, which aims to educate the community, industry, local councils and other stakeholders to reduce urban stormwater pollution through greater awareness and improved practices, using a range of educational approaches
• a Stormwater Management Planning process, whereby local councils throughout the State have been required to prepare stormwater management plans for urban areas. These plans were prepared jointly on a catchment basis by councils within the Greater Metropolitan Region. Relevant State agencies were required to participate in the preparation of the plans.

Phase 2 of the Urban Stormwater Program

The NSW Government allocated additional funding of $20 million to the Program from its 2001–2002 budget based on the positive outcomes of the three-year Urban Stormwater Program. The Stormwater Trust has since developed Phase 2 of the Program, based on the results of the Phase 1 program evaluation completed in December 2000, and on feedback from stormwater stakeholders. The main elements of the Phase 2 Urban Stormwater Program are:

• Stage 4 of the Stormwater Trust Grants Scheme
• Urban Stormwater Education Program
• Stormwater Extension Officers (funded by grants and appointed to nine regional groups of councils, covering all of NSW)
• auditing of Council Stormwater Management Plans
• projects to build local council capacity:
  •  updating the Managing Urban Stormwater documents — Council Handbook, Source Control and Treatment Techniques
  •  undertaking initiatives through the Urban Stormwater Education Program.

Please direct all inquiries to stormwatertrust@epa.nsw.gov.au