Barwon Water releases draft of 50-year strategy

THE Geelong region needs to find or save up to five billion litres of water every five years for the next five decades, according to a just-released draft strategy by Barwon Water.

The next phase in the Water for our Future program, which is now open for public comment, was informed by more than 600 ideas shared during community engagement, where more than 5,000 community members participated in the program to help find new sources of water and be more efficient with the water we have.

The draft strategy outlines the ways Barwon Water will meet the water needs of its community as the population grows and inflows into local reservoirs continue to decrease due to the long-term trend to a hotter and drier climate.

Barwon Water managing director Tracey Slatter said it was a positive next step for Water for our Future, in which Barwon Water’s customers and community said they wanted to protect the environment and support healthy rivers.

“Our modelling shows we need to find or save up to 5 billion litres of water – over and above the 35 billion litres our region currently uses – every five years for the next 50 years.

“A hotter, drier climate means our reservoirs are already receiving much less water on average from rainfall in our catchments.

“This means we will need to gradually shift to sources of water that are more climate resilient. This strategy outlines how we will support our growing region to be prosperous, with enough water for all our needs, while protecting our environment.”

She said the draft strategy set out Barwon Water’s plan to meet demand for the next 50 years and comprises 24 actions over the next five years that will save water, source new water, reuse water and return water to the environment.

Across the five distinct supply systems that Barwon Water manages in the region, Barwon Water proposes a combination of integrated water management, greater use of recycled water for non-drinking purposes, increasing the use of the Melbourne-Geelong pipeline (MGP), and encouraging smarter water use to meet demand in all supply systems over the next five years.

“In a really exciting aspect of our planning, increasing the use of the MGP would allow water to be returned to the Moorabool River for Traditional Owner cultural values and environmental needs, which aligns with the Victorian Government’s recently announced discussion draft Central and Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy (SWS).”

Ms Slatter said that in the longer-term view out to 50 years, Barwon Water was likely to gradually transition to more climate independent sources of supply, which also aligned with actions set out in the draft SWS.

“Thanks to our engagement with more than 5,000 customers and the vision created by the Water for our Future Community Panel, we have a good idea of what our customers and community want for our region’s water future.”

The draft Water for our Future Strategy will be finalised and submitted to the Minister for Water at the end of March 2022.

To read the strategy, head to Barwon Water’s website.