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Council achieves Milestone 4 for community water conservation

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), has awarded Sutherland Shire Council Milestone 4 for its community water conservation. This follows Council being the first Local Government in Australia to receive Milestone 4 for its corporate water saving initiatives in 2005.

The award is given to Local Government areas that implement water quality and conservation programs and have committed to improving water management in the community through the ICLEI Water Campaign.

Mayor of Sutherland Shire, Councillor David Redmond, said the award recognises Council's commitment to conserve water and improve the quality of rivers, waterways and groundwater in the Shire.

"We are leading by example and working with the community to have a positive impact on the health of our local waterways," he said. "The programs we have implemented will help us create sustainable management practices for our water resources."

Council's water conservation measures include:

• implementing a project to recycle tertiary treated effluent from the Cronulla Sewerage Treatment Plant for reuse as irrigation and/or for commercial processes
• encouraging the use of native plants and mulching in private gardens through a Greenweb program and free mulching days, thus reducing the need to water gardens and encouraging more efficient watering
• waiving the development application fee for schools to install rainwater tanks of up to 10,000 litres
• promoting water efficient business practices with the Every Drop Counts program
• supporting the Easy Being Green program to supply AAA water saving shower heads to all participants to reduce water consumption in the home.

To improve water quality in the community, Sutherland has also implemented the following actions:

• a Stormwater Development Control Plan (DCP) to support the development and implementation of Water Sensitive Urban Design
• an audit to determine the effects of vehicle related business activities on water quality in the Shire
• a Site Management DCP to manage erosion and sediment on work sites to minimise or prevent the pollution of stormwater
• education programs for sediment and erosion control within Council and at TAFE to educate the building and construction industry.

For further information contact Beth Innes, Sutherland's Environmental Scientist, on (02) 9710 0686.

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