Strengthening Basin Communities: Water Saving Initiatives
Water for the Future – Fact sheet
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, August 2009
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The Australian Government has committed $200 million from Water for the Future to establish the Strengthening Basin Communities Program. This program is implemented in two stages. The first stage of the program aims to help communities in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) plan for a future with less water. Applications for the Planning stage closed on 21 August 2009.
Demonstration project of storm-water retention and usage project
Photo: R. Blakers and DEWHA
Guidelines for the second stage, Water Saving Initiatives, have now been released. Applications are open until 5pm EST, Friday 6 November 2009.
This stage of the program supports projects to improve urban water security through water saving initiatives that reduce demand on potable supplies in the MDB.
Local government bodies and urban water service providers whose area intersects with the catchment boundary of the MDB are eligible to apply for assistance under these guidelines. However, to receive assistance projects must be located within the boundary of the MDB. Applications can be submitted by an individual local government, a consortium of local governments, or an established regional organisation of councils.
A proposed project must:
- Be located in a city or town within the MDB
- Have total costs of at least $500,000, with at least 50 per cent contribution provided or obtained by the applicant
- Be part of, or support, the long-term water supply plan for the city or town, and
- Be completed by 30 June 2012.
Eligible activities may include, but are not limited to:
- Recycling and reuse
- Leakage and pressure reduction
- Smart metering
- Efficient urban irrigation technologies
- Stormwater capture and reuse schemes
- Desalination, and
- Water sensitive urban design initiatives.
Projects which are not permitted include those that increase net extraction from groundwater or surface water resources such as bores, dams or transfer pipelines, or activities that are not supported by sound water supply planning.
Applicants will be assessed on merit using the following criteria:
- Level of contribution to water security by reducing overall demand for potable water within the water supply area
- Technically sound and able to deliver the proposed outcomes with a high degree of certainty
- Value for money
- Net environmental and social benefits and/or impacts, and
- Likelihood of completion within the funding period.
Applicants are able to use program guidelines to assist them in preparing their application and these are available from the Department's website at:
www.environment.gov.au/water/programs/basin-communities/index.html
More information
For more information phone 1800 218 478 (toll free) or email SBC@environment.gov.au.
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