Water Affecting Activities Permit System
A common challenge for Natural Resources Management (NRM) is to interpret and act upon legislative requirements. This is certainly the case with 'Water Affecting Activities' (WAA) and the related permits. The Eyre Peninsula NRM Board was identified in its regional NRM Plan as the body responsible for some WAA, which meant that the Board needed to develop a permit system for receiving, assessing and determining WAA permit applications.
URPS assisted the Board by interpreting and translating the legislative requirements as set out by the NRM Act and the Regional NRM Plan into an efficient, effective and user friendly permit system. The project culminated in the preparation of an instruction manual which explains the administrative procedures associated with receiving permit applications, assessing applications, and issuing (or refusing applications for) permits. URPS also recognised the need for an ongoing 'refresher' of the permit system and self-administered training for new staff members and so we developed a narrated PowerPoint presentation for this purpose. The presentation explains the information contained within the manual and steps to take through the WAA permit system.
The Board is a relatively small organisation and it was therefore necessary to ensure the WAA permit system used staff efficiently and matched skills and expertise to the tasks at hand. The WAA permit system was therefore developed in a way that will maximise the use of time and expertise of all staff, ranging from administrative staff and assessment officers through to the general manager.