Actew Corporation
DamSweepingWatering

Outcomes of Community Consultation on Water2WATER

The community appears to be open to the Water2WATER proposal, provided these conditions are met:

  • ensuring an adequate response to the six major issues raised during the consultation; and
  • ensuring that a robust consultation process is a core function of any future planning and approvals process, and includes all stakeholder groups.

Background

Water2WATER was ACTEW’s proposal in early 2007 to help secure the ACT’s water supply by purifying Canberra’s used water and adding this to the Cotter Dam, which would also be enlarged. It was developed due to the severe water shortages in the ACT, following near record low inflows to reservoirs. In 2006 alone inflows were just seven per cent of the long-term average.

The ACT Government requested ACTEW to undertake a community consultation program whilst technical studies for securing the ACT’s water supply were completed. The consultation program focused on the ACT and Queanbeyan communities’ views and issues related to the Water Purification Scheme and the enlargement of the Cotter Dam.

ACTEW conducted the community consultation program from March 22 to June 22 to provide the ACT Government with an informed view regarding community attitudes toward the Water2WATER proposal.

Views were collected through surveys, the Project Office, community meetings and forums, stakeholder meetings, local events and shopping centre displays. In addition, ACTEW reached the wider community through advertising, the website and media.

Outcomes

A random telephone survey, the only statistically valid representation of the community’s perceptions, demonstrated that 75% of the community were positive (53%) or conditionally positive (22%) towards the Water2WATER proposal.

Additionally, key outcomes were:

  • More than 3700 direct contacts were made with the Water2WATER project
  • The majority of people in contact with the project were positive or conditionally positive about the Water2WATER proposal. Where they had concerns, these were predominantly about health aspects and a desire to see better planning for water security in the ACT.
  • There are some individuals and groups (approximately 820 contacts), particularly those actively involved through community forums, the online survey, telephone, email, and mail, who expressed dissatisfaction with the water purification component of the Water2WATER proposal. Their major issues were:
    • health with a focus on removal of drugs and hormones;
    • investigation and communication of all water supply/security options;
    • environmental factors, particularly climate change and global warming;
    • cost to the end user;
    • quality assurance/monitoring; and
    • community confidence in ACT Government and ACTEW.
  • A significant number of individuals and groups (approximately 2300 contacts), typically those who were passively involved through community and stakeholder briefings, shopping centre displays and events, were conditionally supportive of the Water2WATER proposal. Where they had concerns, these were similar to the smaller group (820).
  • There were 620 contacts by people who were neither positive nor negative about the Water2WATER proposal; these were classified as neutral.
  • There were no significant differences between the ACT and Queanbeyan communities’ attitudes.