Barwon Water updates review of Anglesea borefield

BARWON Water has laid out the next steps in its bulk entitlement review of the Anglesea Borefield in its latest community update to the borefield’s dedicated web page.

The bulk entitlement, issued by the Victorian Government to Barwon Water for operation of the borefield, stipulates the volume of water Barwon Water is able to extract.

A review of the bulk entitlement and Monitoring and Assessment Program (MAP) is due to the Minister for Water in 2024 – five years from the date that groundwater extraction restarted.

The borefield, which draws water from the Lower Eastern View Formation, was put in standby maintenance mode on July 1 last year after being turned on to supplement Geelong, Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula supplies in November 2019 following a record hot and dry start to that year.

“We are committed to the sustainable management of the Anglesea borefield and keeping the Anglesea community informed about its use,” Barwon Water chief executive officer Tracey Slatter said.

“Our bulk entitlement includes environmental triggers and an extensive monitoring and assessment program designed to protect groundwater-dependent ecosystems.”

Ms Slatter said the bulk entitlement review would include reviewing all data collected as part of the MAP – groundwater level and quality, surface water level flow and quality, vegetation and ecology, and more.

“We will also conduct a groundwater-pumping test to help ensure a robust review of the bulk entitlement.

“The pumping test will start this summer, and run for six months.”

She said running the groundwater pumping test at the same time as Alcoa’s pumping test, which is drawing water from a different groundwater source – the Upper Eastern View Formation – would provide further data to inform the bulk entitlement review and monitoring plan for the borefield.

“Using all available bores – as well as pumping concurrently with Alcoa – will ensure our groundwater model and forecasts are as robust as possible.”

For more information on the operation of the Anglesea borefield, head to the Barwon Water website.