High profile speakers at 'Down Under' conference

An impressive aspect of the Australian Water and Wastewater Association is the high level support it receives. The Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane who is also Patron of the Association, told the annual convention in April, that Australia was the driest inhabited continent, but had the smallest population, largely concentrated in cities. The recent scare with Cryptosporidium and Giardiasis in Sydney had reminded everyone how important water is. He also commented that UN studies suggest that 1.4 billion people around the world lack safe drinking water and that water related diseases kill five to seven million people annually.

Peter Laughton, Anderson Associates (left), and Rod Holme, Earth Tech (Canada) at AWWA Convention in Adelaide.

The City of Adelaide hosted an opening reception that was attended by the Premier of South Australia, John Olsen, whose activities that day also included a tandem parachute jump and attendance at the Australian Grand Prix.

Rod Holme, who ended his term as AWWA President in Chicago shortly afterwards, had the privilege of sharing the podium with the Governor General and speaking on behalf of all the international delegates. The Australian-born Rod emphasized the greater need for cooperation between existing international water associations, and later in the conference, he said he was pleased when the broad group of associations that were present agreed to form a new "virtual" association, tentatively titled Water Associations Worldwide. This entity will be better able to share information about upcoming events (and thus avoid conflicts), as well as exchange intelligence on new developments and legislation.

In Australia, water is state jurisdiction, not federal, and the federal government has been working to resolve differences between states on water sharing involving both groundwater and major river systems. This is also tied into State responses to the Australian National Productivity Commission, wherein their receiving future grants are tied into their cooperation on such issues.

For more information, visit the Association's web-site: www.awwa.asn.au or E-mail: info@awwa.asn.au.