Northern Territory Government water demand management strategy

The Northern Territory Government has released its water demand management strategy to improve water efficiency and reduce demand in 16 different agencies across government.

The new strategy will initially focus on Northern Territory Government water use in the greater Darwin region, before being expanded across the Territory.

Demand management plans will be developed for each of the government’s 16 largest water-use agencies and will outline water reduction targets, water savings measures, roles and responsibilities, and monitoring, evaluation and reporting frameworks.

The key policy measures that will support the development of the agency-specific demand management plans include:

• a global baseline target to reduce NT Government water use by 20% by 2027-28
• mandated annual reporting for agencies in their annual reports
• embedding water efficiency into government procurement practices
• accelerating the rollout of smart water meters
• providing comprehensive water efficiency training for all key agency staff.

The Office of Water Security, in partnership with Power and Water Corporation will work with government agencies to develop and implement agency-specific demand management plans to deliver these policy measures.

Quotes attributed to Nerida Horner, Executive Director, Office of Water Security:

“The Northern Territory Government water demand management strategy has been developed in collaboration across agencies, as part of a suite of priority actions that the government is implementing to deliver the Territory water plan, which was launched last year.”

“A key feature of the plan is increasing accountability and transparency in water management.

“That’s why we will monitor progress against these policy measures and report on our progress through the Territory water plan annual progress report.

“Improving the amount and way in which we use water is vital for this precious resource, and demonstrates leadership in water management.

“The strategy focuses government water savings initially on the Darwin region to match savings already made by the wider community’s efforts as part of Power and Water’s Darwin Water Smart Program.”

Read more about how the Territory water plan is delivering water security for all Territorians.