Water Forum 26 February 2007

A Water Forum has been organised for tomorrow night at Newcastle City Hall from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

We have a right to have a say in the direction of our water future.

Speakers include Ian Cohen MLC chair of an Upper House inquiry into water, yours truly water professional and co-author of Talking Water: An Australian Guidebook for the 21st Century, Dr Simon Fane from the Institute for Sustainable Futures, Sam McGuinness Sustainable Cities Campaigner from the Nature Conservation Council and others. The forum will be chaired by Bev Smiles, Upper Hunter candidate, following the accident over the weekend of Ken Rubeli.

In related news, at this weekend's Greens State Conference held in Newcastle, one of the resolutions unanimously passed was the following Newcastle motion:

a. Support the call for a water recycling target of 50% by 2020 in the Hunter and Central Coast,

b. Oppose the proposed Tillegra Dam and Central Coast saltwater desalination plant and propose instead for the money to be spent on water recycling, rainwater tank rebates, greywater initiatives and water efficiency measures as a more reliable way of securing our water future, especially in light of climate change.