ICLEI Water Campaign
What is the campaign?
The ICLEI Water Campaign is a voluntary capacity building program run by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) for local governments. The program aims to assist local governments to manage their water resources by reducing use and improving quality.
Councils undertake numerous activities which are usually highly visible to the community, such as watering of sporting fields. They therefore should provide leadership in the conservation of water. Local governments play a large role in provision of infrastructure and services to the community. Within these roles there are many opportunities to reduce water demand and consumption. Also, the way in which councils manage land use practices will influence the quality of water leaving the local government area.
The ICLEI program promotes the development of benchmarks in water efficiencies for irrigated open space, council buildings, recreational centres, swimming pools, childcare centres and residential use. . The Campaign has a performance based approach similar to that used in the Cities for Climate ProtectionTM (CCP) program, also run by ICLEI.
To participate in the program, councils must adopt a resolution to ensure there is political commitment within the council. There are then five performance milestones for council to complete. Within each milestone, there are three modules for councils to undertake.
The modules look at:
- what councils can control within their own operations
- what councils can influence in the community through land use planning, regulation and education
- how councils can work with other councils and stakeholders in the catchment to achieve long term improvements in water quality
Some examples of activities participating councils are undertaking include:
- Retrofitting recreational centres with water efficient devices in toilets, showers and basins.
- The use of steam application on weeds to reduce herbicide use.
- The automated and moisture sensor use of irrigation systems to efficiently water public open space.
- Introduction of land use policies that promote water sensitive urban design.
- Introduction of policies that support rainwater tank installation in new and refurbished residences.
- Installation and maintenance of gross litter trap devices.
- Street cleaning practices that rely on suction of dry matter.
- Selection and planting of drought tolerant plant species for feature roundabouts.
The Campaign promotes council involvement at a catchment level consistent with the objectives of the NRM Regional Investment Strategies for their catchment.
Data from councils already participating in the Campaign show that the greatest use of water by councils is in watering council open space and playing fields, with swimming pools being the third highest council water users.
The Water CampaignTM allows councils to measure their own consumption of water, along with that of their community, and identify practices to reduce water consumption and improve water quality. Councils can set goals to reduce water consumption and improve water quality and identify actions to meet those goals.
Case studies
The following councils are participants in the Campaign. At the time of writing, there were 56 councils participating in the initiative. The links provide information on each council's involvement in the Campaign and the initiatives they have adopted.
- City of Stonnington in Victoria
- Hastings Council in NSW
- City of Boroondara in Victoria
- City of Mandurah in WA
- City of Mitcham in SA
