Process of management and stakeholder responses

Introduction

As discussed in Chapter One, the Goulburn Mulwaree Council presented a project proposal to the National Water Commission in June 2005. This was called the 'Goulburn Mulwaree Sustainable Cities Project' (hereon in referred to as the Sustainable Cities Project). This chapter will discuss the management processes that were undertaken prior to release of this proposal and what the final project entailed. It will also comment on the responses the project received from the State and federal governments, which were both asked to provide funding to help bring the project to fruition.

Early management processes

The problem of water shortages has long been an issue of concern in Goulburn (refer to Chapter One). At the time the Sustainable Cities Project proposal was presented in 2005, the town's three dams had been below capacity and water restrictions had been in force for five years. It had been clear for quite some time, therefore, that whatever action was taken to address the water shortage in Goulburn would need to be carefully considered. Prior to the release of the project in 2005, a number of management processes had already been undertaken by the Goulburn Mulwaree Council. The outcomes of these processes were then used to influence the final project that was put forward.

A number of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) were carried out before the Sustainable Cities Project was completed and submitted as a funding application. EIAs are an important step in the management process as they are used to assess the likely impacts that a proposal will have on the environment to which it is being applied. An EIA was conducted in 2004, for example, to assess the impact that a plan to upgrade Goulburn's existing sewerage system would have on the area. Another had been conduced three years before, in 2001, to assess the likely impacts that work the council was intending to complete at Sooley Dam would have on surrounding ecosystems. Sooley Dam is the site where the treated wastewater under the Sustainable Cities Project is intended to be released, after it passes through the water reclamation plant. See image 1

Another management process which influenced the final project was a three-month period of community consultation, which was undertaken in 2003. The purpose of the community consultation process was to assess the local residents' attitudes towards the intention to propose a sewerage system upgrade and wastewater recycling scheme. At this stage, attitudes towards introducing a wastewater recycling scheme were being assessed in the event that it may one day become a full-scale proposal. As part of this process, the council sent letters to households, placed announcements in the local papers, held a public information day and gave residents the opportunity to present written submissions to the council. In these submissions people were invited to voice their opinions on or present any alternative suggestions for addressing the town's water management problems.

The 2005 Goulburn Mulwaree Sustainable Cities Project

The key focus of the Goulburn Mulwaree Sustainable Cities Project was the council's plan to implement a sustainable system for increasing the town's water supply (refer to Chapter One). The project involved construction of a new wastewater treatment plant, a new water reclamation plant, restoration of a wetlands system in the Bumana Creek, and an upgrade of the Sooley Dam.

The project outlined how wastewater treatment plant would treat sewage effluent to a secondary level and the water reclamation plant would then release the purified drinking water into the nearby Bumana Creek. From this point, the discharged water would pass through a wetland system (which consists of a series of ponds that act as a natural filter) within Bumana Creek, before flowing into the Sooley Dam to supplement the water already there.

In its entirety, it was estimated that the Goulburn Mulwaree Sustainable Cities Project would cost $32 million. This figure, however, also included other initiatives such as the carbon sequestration scheme and the introduction of wind-powered energy (refer to Chapter One). In order to cover the enormous cost of the project, the Goulburn Mulwaree Council asked for a considerable amount of funding from the federal government and NSW State Government.

Early stakeholder responses

Prior to its completion, the federal government announced that it would contribute $50 000 towards the second community consultation phase, estimated to cost $200 000. The New South Wales State Government also announced that it was highly likely it would meet the requests for its entire portion of the funding.

At the time this portion of funding was allocated, the federal government announced that approval for the whole project and any additional funding would not be granted until the Goulburn Mulwaree Council could establish that the outcome had been agreed to by all stakeholders. It was also stipulated by the Goulburn Mulwaree Council in their Sustainable Cities Project funding application that the proposal would need to have full community support before it would be implemented.