About 'Audit of the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment'

The 2003 audit of the Sydney drinking water catchment is the third independent audit report of this catchment. Like the two previous bi-annual reports (prepared by the CSIRO in 1999 and 2001), this report has been prepared in accordance with Sydney Water Catchment Management Act 1998 (s.42).

The 16,000 km² catchment supplies drinking water for more than 4 million people in Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.
 
The report provides a valuable benchmark for the government, private sector and the community who share common interests in the supply of raw drinking water and the health of the catchment, enabling stakeholders to identify areas that need to be targeted for additional action.

The audit process (Chapter 1: sdwc05chapter1.pdf 201 kb) involved consultations on information and data to assist the audit process in assessing state of the catchment.

The 2003 audit report is structured around four major themes:

• Minimising contamination of raw water supply (sdwc05chapter2.pdf 552 kb)
• Managing water resources (sdwc05chapter3.pdf 302 kb)
• Protecting and improving land condition (sdwc05chapter4.pdf 427 kb)
• Maintaining and enhancing ecosystem health (sdwc05chapter5.pdf 503 kb).

An important feature of the report is the use of a core set of 16 environmental indicators that have each been applied to one of the four major themes to provide a valuable baseline for future audits. 

Audit results have been summarised in the Main Findings (sdwc05summary.pdf 53 kb). Also reported here are trends since the last audit, where this information was available.

A list of Recommendations (sdwc05recommend.pdf 26 kb) has been compiled to assist stakeholders to improve both the collection and analysis of information for use in future audits.

The format and structure of Audit of the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment may have been adapted for web delivery.

Published by: Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) 59-61 Goulburn St Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290 Sydney South NSW 1232 Phone: 131 555 (publications and information requests) (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard) Fax: (02) 9995 5999 info@epa.nsw.gov.au www.environment.nsw.gov.au Audit of the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment Size: 297 mm x 210 mm (A4) Length: 184 pp (includes 19 A3 maps) ISBN 1 74137 012 3 EPA 2003/102 December 2003