The New South Wales Government is investing $650,000 to help councils across western New South Wales strengthen the reliability and resilience of local water and sewer services through a series of collaborative pilot projects.
The funding will support two voluntary pilot programs involving groups of regional councils working together to address shared water infrastructure and service delivery challenges.
One pilot will involve members of the Western Councils Water Alliance, along with Moree Plains and Narrabri councils, while a second group includes Balranald, Carrathool, Hay, Lachlan and Wentworth councils.
The two-year pilots will explore practical approaches to regional collaboration, including sharing specialist staff and coordinating infrastructure planning and delivery across council areas.
The New South Wales Government said the initiative aims to improve service quality, strengthen drought resilience and make better use of available funding without requiring structural changes to existing local water utilities.
The pilot projects will also be informed by strategic planning reviews currently being undertaken by most western New South Wales local water utilities, delivered free of charge by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water.
The reviews are intended to identify future costs, risks and infrastructure priorities to help ensure the pilot projects target local operational challenges.
The initiative forms part of the NSW Government’s broader reform agenda for regional water services following recommendations from the Productivity and Equality Commission’s Review of Funding Models for Local Water Utilities.
The review found greater collaboration between councils could improve long-term service delivery and operational sustainability for regional communities.
New South Wales Minister for Water, Rose Jackson, said the pilots would help councils trial locally driven solutions while broader sector reforms continued.
“Our Government is committed to ensuring regional communities have access to safe, reliable and affordable water services,” Jackson said.
“We know the current funding model for local water utilities is not working, and we are progressing reforms to improve the system.
“Water utilities across western New South Wales have consistently said they want collaborative approaches rather than structural change, and these pilots will allow them to demonstrate the value of working together.”
A broader reform plan for local water utility funding is expected to be released in 2027.
Other recent stories:
