Purpose of preparing stormwater management plans
The primary purpose of preparing an urban stormwater management plan is to improve the health and quality of the State's urban waterways. The preparation of the plan will contribute to this objective by:
- facilitating a cooperative approach to stormwater management on a catchment basis, where more than one stormwater manager is present;
- identifying management priorities and actions for councils and other stormwater managers within a catchment. This will enable these organisations to be better prepared to apply for external sources of funding (eg Stormwater Trust grants); and by
- establishing a program of actions identified on a catchment basis that can be integrated with councils management planning process under the Local Government Act.
The urban stormwater management plan is to address "environmental protection" issues, as defined in the Protection of the Environment Administration Act. This will include stormwater quality, river flow, riparian vegetation and aquatic habitat management. The plan is not intended to be a flooding or drainage management plan, whereby actions necessary to address flood mitigation issues are identified. If additional issues (eg, flooding or rural stormwater management) are addressed in the plan, it is important that addressing these issues does not affect the primary purpose of this plan, dilute the attention given to the primary purpose of the plan, or delay the plan's completion.
The stormwater management plans are to include:
- clearly defined management objectives, for both existing and proposed urban areas;
- identification of management problems and issues;
- management practices (both non-structural and structural) to address the identified problems and issues;
- an implementation schedule for each organisation participating in the plan's preparation;
- a monitoring program to assess the effectiveness of the plan and identify any necessary refinements;
- a mechanism for reporting the effectiveness of the plan to stakeholders, including the community; and
- a program for revising the plan.
It is expected that the plan will be prepared largely using existing or readily available information held by councils or catchment management committees, in addition to input from the community. The plan is primarily intended to target 'hot spots' or problem areas that are expected to be known by councils or relatively easily identified by a catchment audit. It is not envisaged that water quality monitoring or modelling will be necessary to prepare the plan.
Aspects of the stormwater management plan contents (primarily the description of existing catchment conditions and issues) may be contained in councils' State of the Environment Reports or in councils' Management Plans. This information could be referenced in the stormwater management plan and does not necessarily need to be repeated. This is likely to be particularly appropriate outside the Greater Metropolitan Region, where the plans will be prepared on a local government area basis.
The plans are to identify an implementation strategy containing actions to be undertaken by all stormwater managers within a catchment. The strategy is to contain proposed annual expenditure over a 3-5 year planning period that is compatible with councils' proposed expenditure on stormwater management. The strategy is not intended to contain a 'wish list' of unfunded commitments over this period. The strategy should also identify additional projects that could be implemented should additional funding (eg, Stormwater Trust grants) become available. This strategy will identify each stormwater manager's responsibilities, including asset management, operation and maintenance.
The plans need to be related to the nature of the catchment. For example, it is expected that the plan for a Greater Metropolitan Region catchment will differ from that for a rural local government area.
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On 24 April 1998 the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) issued a legal direction under section 12 of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act requiring councils to prepare stormwater management plans.
The Direction for councils in the Greater Metropolitan Region generally requires the preparation of catchment-based plans on a cooperative basis, with the direction to non-Metropolitan Region councils requiring the plan to be prepared on a local government area basis.
The legal direction was issued to facilitate the preparation of consistent stormwater management plans by all stormwater managers within a timely period. It is not a precursor to any other regulatory approach to urban stormwater management such as licensing of stormwater systems.
The NSW Government is committed to a cooperative approach with local government to urban stormwater management and, at this stage, considers that the stormwater planning process will provide a more appropriate and effective approach for improving the quality of our urban waterways than a licensing scheme.
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There is a staged approach to the preparation of the catchment-based stormwater management plans.
Councils in the Greater Metropolitan Region (Sydney/Newcastle/Wollongong) were originally required to prepare plans by 24 April 1999. However, since the EPA issued the Section 12 Direction, specific concerns were raised in relation to the time available for the preparation of these plans. In response to these issues, the EPA decided to extend the time available to councils within the Greater Metropolitan Region to prepare the stormwater management plans by three months. The completed plans were required to be submitted to the EPA by 24 July 1999.
This extension of time was formalised by the issue of a second Section 12 Direction to each of the Greater Metropolitan Region councils, which repealed the previous Direction and restated the requirement for the preparation of the plans with the amended dates for submission of the completed plans to the EPA.
Major non-metropolitan councils (with a population greater than 10,000) were required to prepare plans within two years (ie by 24 April 2000) and smaller rural councils (with townships exceeding 1,000 people) were required to prepare plans within three years (ie by 24 April 2001). This was done to enable early gains to be made in the metropolitan areas and allow rural areas to benefit from these experiences.
These periods are considered adequate to prepare the types of plans expected from this process. Councils could complete the plans prior to the required date, enhancing the ability of councils to attract funding from sources such as the Stormwater Trust.
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The directions to prepare stormwater management plans generally applied to urban areas with a population exceeding 1000 people or where smaller towns are located in environmentally sensitive areas. A number of rural local government areas do not include towns of this size and the EPA is not proposing to issue a direction to these councils. These councils are, however, encouraged to prepare stormwater plans for these towns. They were eligible to apply for grants for plan preparation and for implementing actions contained in the plans.
If a council has a number of towns within its local government area, but only a small number have a population greater than 1000, the plan is only required to address stormwater management in the larger towns. However, as noted above, the plan may address stormwater management issues in the smaller towns.
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As part of the Government's commitment to a whole-of-Government approach to urban stormwater management, all State Government agencies and trading enterprises with stormwater or land management responsibilities are to cooperate with councils in the preparation of catchment-based stormwater management plans.
The EPA also issued Notices to the Sydney Water Corporation, Hunter Water Corporation, and the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) under the Clean Waters Regulations to participate in the preparation and implementation of the stormwater management plans.
The extent of the participation of these organisations in the plan preparation process will be strongly dependent on the amount of stormwater infrastructure under their control within a catchment. It is important to note that the role of these organisations in stormwater management extends beyond a single catchment (or a single plan). Priority for funding stormwater management actions by these organisations is expected to be allocated between catchments based on this wider perspective, and their relative role within each catchment.
A Direction under s.12 of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act has also been issued to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) requiring the preparation of a stormwater management plan for resort areas within the Kosciuszko National Park.
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Where more than one stormwater manager is located within a catchment, it may be appropriate to establish a working group to coordinate the plan's preparation. This group would contain representatives from all stormwater managers and possibly include representatives from a catchment management committee and/or the community. The working group could appoint a coordinator or facilitator for the plan preparation. As the plans are to be prepared on a cooperative basis, it is not appropriate for any organisation to dominate the working group or dictate requirements to other organisations. It is also important that the plan be 'owned' by the stormwater managers that have a legal requirement to prepare and implement the plan.
Where a Government agency or trading enterprise has a significant stormwater management role within the catchment, the organisation could be represented on the working group. When the organisation's role is relatively minor, a reduced involvement in the plan's preparation should be adequate.
The EPA will provide strategic advice to working groups and councils on plan preparation as required, but will not be providing state-wide coordination or management of the preparation process for individual plans.
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Under the Government's Water Reforms, water quality and river flow objectives are to be established. Community consultation on interim environmental objectives is currently underway. The interim water quality objectives are expected to be the long-term objectives of the stormwater management plans.
