2007 Audit of the Sydney drinking water catchment
The full report is also available as pdf: sdwcaudit07567full.pdf,(4.4 mb, requires Acrobat Reader). |
The 2007 audit of the Sydney drinking water catchment is the fifth independent audit report of this catchment. Like the four previous bi-annual reports (prepared by the CSIRO in 1999 and 2001, and the then Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) in 2003 and 2005) 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 (catchment map Map1point1.pdf, 131 kb). 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 2 (2ch07567.pdf, 49 kb) involved consultations on information and data to assist the audit process in assessing the state of the catchment.
The 2007 audit report is structured around four major themes:
- Raw water quality (3ch07567.pdf, 1 mb)
- Managing water resources (4ch07567.pdf, 571 kb)
- Land condition (5ch07567.pdf, 1.1 mb)
- Ecosystem health (6ch07567.pdf, 1 mb).
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 Executive Summary (sum07567.pdf, 33 kb). A list of Recommendations (rec07567.pdf, 22 kb) has been compiled to assist stakeholders to improve both the collection and analysis of information for use in future audits.
2007 audit of Sydney drinking water catchment: Report to the Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water, NSW Government
(Contents provided as pdf files - requires Acrobat Reader)
Executive Summary (sum07567.pdf, 33 kb)
Recommendations (rec07567.pdf 22 kb)
Chapter 1: Introduction (1ch07567.pdf, 153 kb)
Chapter 2: Audit Methodology (2ch07567.pdf, 49 kb)
Chapter 3: Raw Water Quality (3ch07567.pdf, 1 mb)
Chapter 4: Managing Water Resources (4ch07567.pdf, 571 kb)
Chapter 5: Land Condition (5ch07567.pdf, 1.1 mb)
Chapter 6: Ecosystem Health (6ch07567.pdf, 1 mb)
Chapter 7: State of the Sub-catchments (7ch07567.pdf, 50 kb)
Chapter 8: Management Overview (8ch07567.pdf, 38 kb)
Chapter 9: Audit Recommendations (9ch07567.pdf, 61 kb)
Acronyms, References and Bibliography (ref07567.pdf, 66 kb)
Appendixes A, B and C appendixes07567.pdf, 258 kb