RECEIVE UPDATESWater
The ACT Greens believe:
1. water, regardless of its source, is valuable and scarce and all sectors of the ACT community have an obligation to use it sustainably
2. water policy should protect human health and conserve and maintain ecological health
3. water management should be coordinated at all levels of government and engage local communities
4. investment in water infrastructure must be based on sustainability of water supply, and incorporate measures to protect ecosystems and their function
5. pricing of water should incorporate the full social, health and environmental costs of extraction, transport and use.
The ACT Greens want:
1. a comprehensive water management strategy that is based on a vision for long-term water security and responsive to the challenges of climate change and Canberra’s changing demographic structure
2. public ownership and control of ACT water resources
3. drinking water in the ACT that meets or exceeds World Health Organisation and national drinking water standards
4. water treatment options in the ACT that are safe, energy efficient, appropriately scaled, and matched to water use
5. improved health of watercourses and ecological water systems including, adequate environmental flows.
The ACT Greens support:
1. using the ACT’s new role as a full member of the Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council to work for the health of the Murray Darling river system
2. calling for the development and collection of ‘standard water accounts’ throughout Australia
3. legislating to separate the responsibilities for water use, regulation, and sale
4. commissioning research into the cultural, social and institutional drivers of water demand, prior to any new investments in water infrastructure
5. reviewing current targets for water reduction in light of projections for climate change impacts on water supply
6. replacing the current staged system of water restrictions with a permanent strategy to achieve water conservation targets
7. ensuring the ACT’s water management strategy adequately incorporates demand reductions, efficiency measures and product regulations, and appropriately targets assistance for low income groups
8. reviewing the tariff structure for water pricing to promote water use reduction, giving a guaranteed minimum water supply to all households, and charging appropriately for additional water
9. strengthening and extending the coverage of water efficiency standards and the use of water sensitive design
10. developing, in conjunction with local industry partners, a program to retro-fit buildings with appropriate water efficiency and water recycling technologies
11. addressing the perverse incentives created by subsidies for industrial and commercial water users
12. ensuring the public disclosure of water sources and treatment processes
13. monitoring the impact of new developments on water quality and supply, and developing plans to mitigate adverse impacts
14. excluding new urban development from riparian zones, and revegetating creek and river banks with local native species
15. replacing stormwater drains with urban creek and wetland systems where appropriate, beginning with the completion of the Sullivans’ Creek wetland network.
