NRS-12852 | Stormwater drainage files (SW files)

The Department of Public Works has had many responsibilities in relation to the storage, control and distribution of water and wastewater, including the Department's significant role in the provision of stormwater drainage. As in the case of water supply and sewerage works, local government authorities had the primary responsibility for the provision of stormwater drainage schemes. The Department of Public Works however, undertook resumptions, survey and design work, technical advice, and until the 1950s, construction, before the works were vested in local authorities who became responsible for maintenance. While most stormwater drainage schemes were located in the Metropolitan and Newcastle areas, some were also undertaken in country towns. Stormwater drainage was handled successively by the Rivers, Water Supply and Drainage Branch until 1908, and thereafter the Irrigation and Drainage Branch until 1914. After 1914 it became the responsibility of the newly formed Water Supply and Sewerage Branch until the 1960s when the role of the Branch was to finalise the vestment of the remaining works in the Newcastle and Metropolitan areas and to provide technical advice to Councils in other regions.The public records in this series are files registered between 1938 and 1972, but some provide a record of works undertaken from the first decade of the 20th century. Most files relate to stormwater drainage schemes in the Metropolitan area and reflect the expanding limits of urban settlement. The files concern resumptions for easements, bank erosion, siltation and cleaning, proposed schemes, transfers and vestment of works, construction and maintenance, reclamation and drainage, stagnant water, covering of drains, supply of materials and plant, and the investigation and development of schemes in country areas.

公共工程署（Department of Public Works）承担着诸多与水及污水（water and wastewater）储存、管控、调配相关的职责，其中也包括在雨水排水（stormwater drainage）供给方面发挥的重要作用。与供水及污水管网工程（sewerage works）的权责划分一致，地方政府当局原本承担雨水排水系统建设的首要责任。但公共工程署仍需开展土地征收、勘测设计、技术咨询等工作，且在1950年代前负责工程施工，后续再将建成设施移交至负责运维的地方政府当局。尽管多数雨水排水系统集中分布于大都会区与纽卡斯尔区域，但部分工程也在乡村城镇中实施。雨水排水管理工作先后由以下部门负责：1908年前为河流、供水与排水处（Rivers, Water Supply and Drainage Branch），1908年至1914年为灌溉与排水处（Irrigation and Drainage Branch）。1914年后，相关职责转由新成立的供水与污水管网处（Water Supply and Sewerage Branch）承担，直至1960年代。该处在此阶段的核心任务是完成纽卡斯尔及大都会区剩余工程的移交工作，并为其他区域的地方议会提供技术支持。
本系列公共档案为1938年至1972年登记备案的卷宗，但部分卷宗可追溯至20世纪第一个十年间实施的工程记录。多数卷宗围绕大都会区的雨水排水系统展开，直观反映了城市定居范围的不断扩张。卷宗内容涵盖地役权征收、岸坡侵蚀治理、淤积清理、拟建排水方案、工程转让与移交、施工与运维、填海造地与排水整治、积水治理、暗渠覆盖、物资与设备供应，以及乡村区域排水系统的勘测与开发工作。