Planning
The general planning needs for a Queensland Water Service Provider are summarised in the following diagram (from the DERM Total Management Plan Development Guideline).
Since 2000, the number of mandatory planning requirements required of Water Service Providers has increased markedly, often replicating elements of the Total Management Plans. A full list of regulatory planning requirements has been created by qldwater and some of the specific requirements are listed below.
- Strategic Asset Management Plans,
- Customer Service Standards,
- System Leakage Management Plans,
- Drought Management Plans,
- Total Water Cycle Management Plans,
- Drinking Water Quality Management Plans,
- Recycled Water Management Plans,
- Total Management Plans
- Outdoor Water Use Conservation Plans
- Local Government Asset Management Plans
- Water Efficiency Management Plans
In South East Queensland much of the reporting requirements are being subsumed by the new NetServ system. This planning approach is required for town planning and water pricing oversight but is being designed to incorporate as many of the existing plans as possible.
Reporting to Regulators through statutory plans has been a cause for growing concern among Service Providers for several years particularly where there are overlapping planning and reporting requirements requiring significant staff time to complete. This has resulted in a series of dicussions bewteen the industry and the Regulator (see Regulatory Plans (mandatory Management Plans).