With the heavens opening on Sydney this afternoon, it reinforces Labor’s failure over 12 years to embrace large scale stormwater harvesting and recycling, NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam said today. 

“With Sydney set to take a drenching of rain this afternoon, it only serves to highlight Labor’s 12 years of failure to invest in stormwater harvesting and recycling,” Mr Debnam said.

“While all this stormwater rushes out to sea, Morris Iemma and Labor remain wedded to its $2 billion greenhouse gas guzzling desalination plant,” he said.

“The NSW Liberal/Nationals plan includes:

• A 'New Water' Network to use recycled water from the South West and North West of Sydney to boost drinking water supplies when dam levels fall below 20% that will produce almost twice the water at half the cost of Labor’s desalination plant at Kurnell;

• Recycling the ocean outfalls beginning with one ocean outfall in our first term;

• A $1 billion Drought Proofing Infrastructure Fund for NSW, to be funded in part from the sale of State Lotteries;

• A $120 million Stormwater Harvesting Community Trust to deliver infrastructure projects that harvest stormwater across NSW;

• Regional Water Plans for the Central Coast, Goulburn/Southern Highlands, Queanbeyan/Monaro, and North West NSW;

• Increasing the rainwater tank rebate to $1500, where they are connected to the toilet or washing machine, right across NSW – not just Sydney; and

• A $400 rebate for existing owners of rainwater tanks to have them connected to the toilet or washing machine.

"Work begins on the 'New Water' Network on day one, so within two years we can ‘flick the switch’ and supplement our dam water with purified recycled water if needed. In the meantime we will use the new water for environmental flows and industry.