Friday, March 08, 2013

'WATER RULES' ARE OUT SAYS CITIZENS' ADVISORY PANEL

The Citizens’ Advisory Panel that has been guiding the development of the proposed ‘Community Water Rules’ in Alice Springs has responded to the community’s call to change the name.

The new name for the set of voluntary guidelines is the 'Alice Water Smart Guide'.

The Alice Water Smart Guide will include the top six water use actions to help residents become more water efficient, and will be launched on World Water Day, 22 March, at a community breakfast on the Council lawns, 7-9am.

Panel spokesperson Michelle Cooper said “It was a unanimous decision. The name Alice Water Smart Guide is the right fit with our hopes for this initiative. We heard the community’s call for the working title of ‘Community Water Rules,’ to be changed.”

“Our hope is that it helps Alice Springs residents understand how precious our water is, and how we can all play a part in reducing our water use through small simple actions.” said Michelle.

“We are positive that the outcomes of this Guide will be beneficial to the community particularly given the recent water tariff price rises”.

“We’d like the Guide to inspire new ideas and innovation about water – there’s always room for improvement and more to learn. The Guide will be a living document and we welcome feedback on the content when it is launched.”

To decide on the name and content of the Guide, the Panel considered feedback from public surveys and workshops conducted by Alice Water Smart, as well as from more than 850 Water Efficiency Consultations conducted in Alice Springs homes.

It will be widely distributed to everyone in town, including new residents, through real estate agents, cafes, hotels and as a magnet for everyone’s fridge door.

“We’d even like it included in tours of Alice Springs so visitors learn how we value water here in our desert oasis” says Ms Cooper.

Alice Water Smart is a comprehensive set of projects helping Alice Springs residents to save 1600 million litres of water over two years - equivalent to two months average water supply.

To ‘learn more about the Alice Water Smart Guide visit www.alicewatersmart.com.au

Alice Water Smart is supported by the Australian Government’s Water for the Future initiative.