State of the Water Sector Report 2014 released

The State of the Water Sector Report 2014 was released today by Deloitte and the Australian Water Association (AWA) at the National Water Policy Summit. AWA Chief Executive Jonathan McKeown said the report is based on a survey of over 1000 professionals working across Australia’s water industry, both urban and rural.

The report reveals the top three issues for the industry are:

• Operational efficiency (according to 46% of respondents - up from 35% in 2013)
• Maintaining and augmenting infrastructure (according to 45% of respondents)
• Water security and supply (according to 41% of respondents)

Concern about operational efficiency is said to reflect the growing need to control costs for the benefit of consumers and demonstrate value for money within the sector. McKeown said there is therefore a strong need for continued investment and leadership in the water sector.

“The water industry is challenged today and will be challenged in coming years, when it comes to balancing price and affordability for consumers and industry against the need to maintain and augment existing infrastructure - which comes at a cost,” McKeown said. “It is timely to ask how the water industry is going to fund the required investment.

“At today’s National Water Policy Summit we are discussing opportunities for where exactly these funds are going to come from and, given that our state governments have limited financial resources and competing demands, we need to look at the option of increasing private sector investment.”

Deloitte National Water Leader Matt Williams added that extreme weather events remain a concern for those working in the water sector, with climate change identified as “posing a significant or moderate risk to the sustainable management of water by 86% of respondents”.

There is therefore an opportunity to “look at diverse sources of water supply to ensure we are prepared for all climatic conditions”, Williams said, with an overwhelming majority of the water sector believing desalinated, recycled and urban stormwater to be suitable for drinking water.

The full report can be found here.