Council joined the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives Water Campaign in December 2003 and was awarded Milestone 5 on 26 May 2008 signifying the completion of all milestones in the program.
During the program Council reduced its water consumption by 35.28% from the baseline year (2001/2002), developing several policies and implementing several programs, including:
- The development of WaterWay: Councils strategy for improving corporate and community water quality and conservation;
- The development of the Data Management System in Finance 1: allowing Council to track and report on Water and Energy consumption at Council facilities;
- The incorporation of water conservation actions and key performance indicators in Outcome Manager: ensuring the delegation of responsibilities for water conservation and requiring regular reporting of progress against key performance indicators;
- Training of Council staff and community members on the importance of water conservation, and;
- Continual review and improvement of public open space irrigation: with public open space irrigation accounting for a significant proportion of Council’s water consumption.
Council’s participation in the Water Campaign has resulted in clearly defined objectives, strategies and actions for managing Council and community water resources and Council is committed to ensuring that these are achieved. The Water Campaign also assisted Council in integrating these water conservation objectives and actions into Council’s Strategic Plan, Management Plan and Annual Report. These were large tasks and have aligned Council’s Sustainability Plans with its Corporate Plans.
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