Total Water Cycle Management Plans
Total Water Cycle Management Plans (TWCMPs) are a mandatory planning requirement created under the Environmental Protection Policy (Water) 2009 which is subordniate legislation to the Environmental Protection Act. The legislative requirements were introduced with limited consultation with the water industry but with an offer that councils would have meaningful input to the development of regulatory guidelines.On 31 March DERM sent letters to CEOs of local governments with a proposed structure for TWCMPs raising concerns that development was underway without consutation and that the new requirements would not align with the raft of existing statutory planning requirements. Subsequent communication with the Department clarified that the suggested structure was sent for comment and that there was a committment to "integrate with planning frameworks under the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 and the SEQ Water (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) Act 2009."
Subsequently, DERM decided to change the timeframes for requirments for TWCMPs so that plans would be required in SEQ but delayed in regional Queensland. The Water by Design group of SEQ Healthy Waterways Partnership was commissioned to create the TWCMP guidelines for SEQ and consulted strongly with both local governments and the new SEQ water entities.