Water Plan 2017 for Greater Sydney: A Business Paper Report

This report discusses the Water Plan 2017 for Greater Sydney, initiated by the council of NSW to better water conservation and usage. It includes a comparison of business paper structures of different councils, challenges faced by the council, recommendations, consultations, and financial implications.

Business Paper & Report 0
Title: Business Paper & Report
Assignment Name:
Student Name:
Course Name and Number:
Professor:
Date:

Business Paper & Report 1
Executive Summary
Water is a very important natural resource that is getting scarce with each passing year. The
alarming challenges that have been stated by the researchers have led to the formulation for
many water conservation plans. In one such attempt by the council of NSW a Water Plan 2017
have been initiated with an approach to better the water conservation and the usage of water in
the Greater Sydney. In this assignment, this have been discussed by incorporated a structure of a
business paper. The business paper structure that have been taken in use is of the council of city
Parramatta.

Business Paper & Report 2
Contents
Council Report Structure.................................................................................................................3
Council Business Paper Report.......................................................................................................5
Subject.........................................................................................................................................5
Purpose........................................................................................................................................5
Recommendations........................................................................................................................5
Background..................................................................................................................................6
Options/Issues/Consequences......................................................................................................6
Consultations...............................................................................................................................7
Financial Implications.................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

Business Paper & Report 3
Council Report Structure
The three Australian Local government papers, which are taken into consideration are the
Hawkesbury City Council, the Camden Council Administration Center and the City of Parramatta
Council. All three of them have a different business paper structure that highlights the pros and cons of
each paper.
Comparison between Hawkesbury City Council, Camden Council Administration Centre & City of
Parramatta Council
Every council has a different approach to present a business paper report. Even if the headings are
similar the contented presented under them may differ. The main headings that are found in the business
paper may include background, consultation, community engagement, recommendations, financial
implications and conclusion. The various headings in the three council’s business papers are-
 Purpose of the Report
The Camden Council and the Parramatta Council, both have the heading the purpose of
the report. The purpose of the business meeting is stated under this heading in a concise manner.
The Camden Council though provides a bit more detail in comparison to the Parramatta Council.
The Hawkesbury Council does have this heading, but they explain the purpose of the report under
the heading executive summary.
 Background
The background heading may vary for each business paper, like in some the information
about the strategies is given while in some the schedule of the project is given. In the
Hawkesbury business paper, under the background heading the strategy, program, plan and the
future meeting of the council are highlighted. In the Camden Council paper, the actions that have
to be implemented are discussed shortly, this also includes the financial assistance that will be
required which is missing in the business paper of Hawkesbury. In the business paper of
Parramatta, the reports that have been presented before and the conclusion of those meetings are
discussed under the background heading in this business paper.
 The Main Body of Each Business Paper
The main body of each business paper has a different set of the heading which are
utilized with a different approach. The main headings of the Hawkesbury business paper are
recommendations, consultation and financial implications. The issues that the project is facing,
the consultation explains the important sources who have been consulted for the final decision,
but the heading financial implications do not explain anything in a clear manner and are hardly

Business Paper & Report 4
used. In the business paper of Camden Council, the main body has heading like sustainability,
productivity, infrastructure, strategic plan, GAP analysis, consultation strategy, recommendations
and financial implication, all are explained in a detailed manner with the response of the office on
each aspect of the project. It is a more detailed business paper in comparison to the both the
Hawkesbury and the Parramatta. The best paper is of Parramatta Council, as it provides the exact
information that is needed for each heading and all the information provided is selected on the
basis of priority. The main headings of this paper are issues, options, consequences,
recommendations, timings and consultations.
The best heading is the productivity and the sustainability heading in the Camden
Council paper and the worst headings is in the Hawkesbury business paper that is interest
changes. Also, for the business paper of Parramatta the heading issues/options/consequences
should be broken down into three different headings rather than just a single one (Canon, 2016)..

Business Paper & Report 5
Council Business Paper Report
The structure of the business paper incorporated in the report is of the City of Parramatta
Council.
Subject: 2017 Metropolitan Water Plan NSW
Purpose
The main purpose of this report is to fulfill the four key objectives of the Council of
NSW in relation to the water issues. The main objectives of the report include, an affordable and
secure water supply system, the system of water supply should be free from shocks and stresses,
the water supply system should facilitate better urban communities and the downstream of the
rivers from the dams those, which are healthy (Artlett and Pask, 2017).
Recommendations
The recommendations for the NSW Council for the Water Plan 2017 are-
a) That the water demands in the metropolitan regions are increasing at a very high pace
that results in droughts and many other issues. The council should regularly investigate
the rapid increase in the water consumptions in the Sydney region to understand the real
issues.
b) That the council should also delegate officers to investigate the issue of growing use of
water and also the highest percentage of misuse of water that is conducted in the
metropolitan areas.
c) That the council from the analysis about the use and the misuse of water should formulate
strategies that are strict and should impose to it instantly to control the huge problem of
water deficiency.
d) That the council should perform community practices that are focused on correct water
use and preservation, to increase the resilience and liveability in the community areas.
e) The council has to incorporate many other additional measures to deal with the growing
uncertainty related to the climate change, the increasing use of water and many other
obligations. This should be tackled accordingly, by keeping the main focus on the
community’s growth and the required education that will help in controlling the matters
related to water issues in the future (Kemper and Stober, 2017).

Business Paper & Report 6
Background
1. After the early 2000s millennium drought, there were alarming signals that showcased
the showcased the problem of water deficiency highly. A lot of measures were taken that
have been beneficial, but with the growing use of water and the growing population, the
correct use of water is crucial and also its preservation. The Water Plan 2017 of the NSW
was started with this initiative.
2. The Water Plan 2017 will include the areas of Sydney, Blue Mountains, and Illawarra.
The optimization of water is important for maintaining a vibrant Sydney life and a
healthy environment (Lequerica and McInnes, 2016).
3. The Water Plan 2017 has been initiated with the objective of building water SMART
cities. This means that new approaches will be formulated and implicated to the
stormwater, wastewater services, so as to help the communities with the rising demands
of water.
4. The Water Plan 2017 has also another main aim of helping the metropolitan regions to
face the problems of droughts and other issues due to water. In this, the council has also
implicated a Drought Response strategy, which has to be implicated with all seriousness.
5. The Water Plan 2017 also aims at improving the health of the water bodies, especially
rivers in and near the region of Sydney. The council will release a number of
environmental flows from the areas of Warragamba Dam. This will be conducted to
protect and improve the health of the river Hawkesbury-Nepean.
Options/Issues/Consequences
The main challenges which the council of Water NSW is facing have been listed below-
1. The increasing demand for water is putting a huge pressure on the council to implicate
strategy that helps in better conservation of water for the future. The population of the
Greater Sydney will increase by two million in the next 20 years, according to the studies
conducted, this has imposed a huge pressure on the water system that has to be even more
efficient than before. This challenge is being tackled by utilizing a water conservation
strategy that is focused on the long term.
2. The other challenge that the council is facing is the growing urbanization in the
communities that are affecting the liveability. The growing urbanization is directly

Business Paper & Report 7
integrated with the growing needs of water that will affect the lifestyle of the
communities and hence the pressure on the council increase. The growing urbanization
also signals the alarming signs of growing pollution that will affect the quality of the
water and this is a collective challenge for the council (Li, Wills and Golding, 2017).
3. The Council is also facing problems with the rapid climate changes. The climate changes
give rise to uncertainty. This uncertainty may result in climates that may be very hot, dry
or wet. The climate in the NSW is changing at a very high pace, that indicates an increase
in the temperature of the region and the also fluctuation in the rainfall patterns. All these
attributes add up to the problems that the council is facing due to the pressure that is
generated on the water resources in this region (Magee et al., 2017).
4. Dams are a huge source of water in this region, but protecting the health of the rivers is
getting affected by the dams. The Warragamba Dam, provides Sydney with almost 80%
of the water demand. The dam is continuously affecting the health of the river by
reducing their water content. The downstream environment of the river to the dam is the
main reason for the reduction in the quality of the river.
5. The next challenge which the council is facing is maintaining a cost-effective approach to
building a water system that is sustainable and affordable. The council incorporates late
in their planning process the changes that cities will go through for the implication of the
water system. The cities will expand and thus to provide a cost-effective method is
getting increasingly difficult for the council (Mazumder et al., 2017).
Consultations
1. The Council has to continue with the available resources that they have. An important
consultation is required between the officers, to tackle the problem of growing
urbanization in the communities. The communities have to work according to the
growing threats against the water and have to follow the strict guidelines that are drawn
from the council.
2. The council requires consultation for the growing problems in the quality of the water
bodies that are decreasing with each passing day. The downstream nature of the rivers
has required a different approach that helps the dams too, and also the rivers maintain
their quality (Ocock et al., 2017).

Business Paper & Report 8
3. The council also have to improve the quality of water by implicating the strategies for the
cleaning of the water bodies that have to be performed in the available resources. The
council also has to invest more in the water conservation strategies as the uncertainties
that are attached to the changing environment of the metropolitan regions have displayed
shocking signals.
4. The water supply system has to be more cost effective and it should also be flexible that
caters to the growing population and the expansions of the regions. This should also be a
long term attempt as the changes will continuously take place in the Greater Sydney.
5. The council has to improvise their demand management measures and they also require a
wider approach. The council has to include multiple water supply system that helps with
water conservation, water recycling and maintaining the quality of water through the
region (Rahman, 2017).
Financial Implications
The financial implications that the council is going to face are-
1. The expansion of the regions will increase the cost of the water supply system. Though
the council has stated that the water supply system is still affected by the growing
population, according to the research conducted by the council, but this will definitely
have an implication of the investment that is being incurred by the council.
2. The other additional activities that have to be conducted for maintaining the quality of
water like the additional conservation practices, the recycling of the water, and the
community events that have to be increased with the growing urbanization. Thus, this
will have a financial implication on the council and on the Water Plan of 2017.
3. The council also has to undertake certain measure to educate the different population
ratios about the growing concerns with water. This requires additional strategies that have
to be undertaken for educating the children, teenagers, adults and the senior citizens
about the water conservation techniques and how each one of them can contribute to
water preservation. The largest volume of water consumption takes place in a household
environment, but there are many measures that can be taken by the council towards
family education about the water preservation methods. All these activities are additional

Business Paper & Report 9
to the ones that are included in the budget of the plan and thus, this will have a financial
implication on the council (Skinner, List and Wright, 2012).
References
Artlett, C. and Pask, H. (2017). New approach to remote sensing of temperature and salinity in
natural water samples. Optics Express, 25(3), p.2840.
Canon, J. (2016). Water Management In NSW And Colombia: Similarities And
Differences. Water e-Journal, pp.1-7.
Kemper, E. and Stober, T. (2017). Springfield – Greene County Integrated Plan: A Citizen
Focused Approach. Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, 2017(2), pp.33-57.
Lequerica, M. and McInnes, R. (2016). EVALUATION OF UPGRADE EFFECTS IN FOUR
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS IN NSW. Water e-Journal, 1(1), pp.1-8.
Li, Y., Wills, R. and Golding, J. (2017). Storage at elevated ambient temperature and reduced
ethylene delays degreening of Persian limes. Fruits, 72(5), pp.288-291.
Magee, A., Verdon-Kidd, D., Diamond, H. and Kiem, A. (2017). Influence of ENSO, ENSO
Modoki, and the IPO on tropical cyclogenesis: a spatial analysis of the southwest Pacific
region. International Journal of Climatology, 37(1), pp.1118-1137.
Mazumder, D., Saintilan, N., Wen, L., Kobayashi, T. and Rogers, K. (2017). Productivity
influences trophic structure in a temporally forced aquatic ecosystem. Freshwater Biology, 62(9),
pp.1528-1538.
Ocock, J., Bino, G., Wassens, S., Spencer, J., Thomas, R. and Kingsford, R. (2017). Identifying
Critical Habitat for Australian Freshwater Turtles in a Large Regulated Floodplain: Implications
for Environmental Water Management. Environmental Management, 61(3), pp.375-389.
Rahman, S. (2017). Implementation of Ballast Water Management Plan in Ships Through Ballast
Water Exchange System. Procedia Engineering, 194(2), pp.323-329.

Business Paper & Report 10
Skinner, J., List, P. and Wright, C. (2012). Utilisation of the Medicare Teen Dental Plan in NSW,
2008 - 2010. New South Wales Public Health Bulletin, 23(2), p.5.