New Water Policy and Practice Volume 1, Number 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 76

Water Industry (Law) Reforms

effectiveness of others. The second of the major components to the framework—system
analysis and management relates to the risk management process. It contains the
following elements:
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Element 2—Assessment of the drinking water supply system.
Element 3—Preventative measures for drinking water quality management.
Element 4—Operational procedures and process control.
Element 5—Verification of drinking water quality.
Element 6—Management of incidents and emergencies.

Although being built on HACCP, the framework approach aims to be a fully
comprehensive management system, unlike HACCP which was designed to integrate into
existing management practices (good manufacturing practices and quality management
systems, termed “HACCP Supporting Programs”), thus limiting its scope (Deere et al.
2008). The framework integrates additional (and yet important) factors of commitment,
stakeholder involvement, emergency response, employee training, community
consultation, and research and development. In that sense both the frameworks (and
incidentally the Water Safety Plans) are the equivalent of the Food Safety Plans required
for food suppliers which must consist of both HACCP and the Supporting Programs.

Additionally, the revised guidelines moved away from a specific targets approach
to water quality, and while maintaining existing standards, recognised that some targets
(i.e., zero failures) may be difficult to achieve by the different and varied water suppliers
throughout Australia, it provided the framework to enable management system to be
adaptive, wherein targets are viewed as an aspiration goals to be iteratively achieved
over time. This is another significant shift in that the target values (related to some
elements of the framework) are not viewed as hard and fast, but are presented so as to
encourage and incentivise the water industry to aspire to deliver on these goals, and
could be modified in relation scale, location, source, and cost of supply.

While water management organisations have long recognised the importance
of a multiple barrier, risk management approach to protecting drinking water
quality from contaminants (Deere et al. 2008), the introduction of the Water Quality
Framework for water management set out guidelines, targets, and aspirational goals.
The inclusion of the framework as a part of the AWDG, and spurred on by the National
Water Reform agenda, resulted in additional efforts to reorganize and manage the
delivery of drinking water in WA since 2004.

4 - Water ‘Law’ Reforms in Western Australia

T

he water reforms of note in WA over the last 20 years began after the signing
of the COAG Agreements in 1994. The creation of entities to manage water
supplies and water sources from the existing public utilities (e.g., Public Works
Department (PWD), Water Boards16) enabled the formation of the Water Corporation
to manage urban water supplies and the WRC to manage the state’s water resources
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