Celebrating 100 years of catchment protection

Special Areas cover 364,778 hectares of land that surrounds and protects water supply storages for more than 5 million people of Sydney and the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Goulburn and Shoalhaven regions.

WaterNSW manages the Special Areas to reduce risks to water quality, protect and prevent the environmental degradation, and conserve cultural values.

More Special Areas followed the successful creation of the Metropolitan Special Area in 1923 (amended 1933): Woronora Special Area (established 1941), Warragamba (1942), Shoalhaven (1970), Fitzroy Falls (1973), Wingecaribee (1973), Blue Mountains (Blackheath, Katoomba, Woodford, 1991), and Prospect (2008).

“WaterNSW is proud to jointly manage the Metropolitan and other Special Areas that protect Greater Sydney’s drinking water catchments, in partnership with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, and our neighbours and stakeholders,” WaterNSW Executive Manager Strategy & Performance, Fiona Smith, said.

The Special Areas are part of a multi-barrier approach to address risks to water quality throughout the whole of the water supply chain, from the raw water source in the catchment, water storages and transfer systems through to treatment plants and delivery systems to customers’ taps.

“The multi-barrier approach recognises that while each individual barrier may not be able to completely remove or prevent contamination all of the time, they collectively provide greater assurance that the water supply will be safe,” Fiona said.

The Special Areas also protect a rich and diverse range of Aboriginal heritage sites and values in a relatively undisturbed landscape setting, and historic heritage features such as early infrastructure associated with roads, water supply, farming and mining.

The health of Sydney’s Drinking Water Catchment is independently audited every three years. While the latest audit found that recent climate-driven events, including severe drought, bushfires and subsequent heavy rainfall events have had a negative influence on catchment health, the audit also found that actions taken by agencies such as WaterNSW in partnership with industry and the community have reduced many hazards to catchment health. These actions include restoration and rehabilitation of the natural environment, and policy and decision-making backed by sound evidence.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the declaration of the Metropolitan Special Area on July 13, 1923.

Although the catchment areas were secured by other legislation from 1888 by the Board of Water Supply and Sewerage (1888-1892) and Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage (1892-1925), there was no formal protection until 1923.

On 13 July 1923 the NSW Government Gazette No. 79 proclaimed:

METROPOLITAN WATER AND SEWERAGE ACTS. 1880-1922. Catchment Area.

PROCLAMATION.

I, Sir Walter Edward Davidson, the Governor of the State of New South Wales and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia, in pursuance of the provisions of the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Acts, 1880-1922, do, by this my Proclamation, revoke and cancel the Proclamation of the Metropolitan Catchment Area, published in pursuance of section twenty-seven of the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Act. 1880, in the Government Gazette of sixth July, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, and do hereby proclaim and define the boundaries as described in the Schedule hereto to be the boundaries of the Metropolitan Catchment Area for the purpose of supplying water for the City of Sydney and its suburbs and places and districts served from such supply.

[Misc. 1923-2,477]

Signed and sealed at Sydney, this twenty-seventh day of June, 1923.

By His Excellency's Command,

R.T. BALL.

GOD SAVE THE KING!

Schedule.

All that piece or parcel of land in area about 347 and a half square miles, situated in the parishes of Appin, Wedderburn, and Southend, county of Cumberland, and parishes of Bargo, Banksia, Dendrobium, Wilton, Wallandoola, Wonona, Cordeaux, Kembla, Wongawilli, Burke, Calderwood, Kangaloon, Mittagong, and Colo, county of Camden, State of New South Wales, as defined on plan catalogued Ms. 2,286 Sy. (eight sheets) deposited at the Department of Lands, Sydney.