Barwon Water to consult community about Anglesea borefield

RECORD dry and hot conditions to start the year have left the region’s water storages hanging in the balance, so Barwon Water is preparing to consult the community about using the Anglesea borefield to supplement the region’s summer water
supplies.

Geelong’s water storages are at 41.8 per cent, about 9 percentage points lower than this time last year, despite good rainfall during May and June.

Barwon Water acting managing director Jo Murdoch said Barwon Water and the state government had made significant investments in alternative water sources, including the Melbourneto- Geelong pipeline (MGP), which was now delivering up to 20 million litres of water each day to Geelong’s northern suburbs, but a trigger point could be reached later this year where water fromthe Anglesea borefield was needed to supplement Surf Coast supplies.

“Rainfall in the Otways is just one part of a broad mix of water sources we will need to use as we adapt to drier conditions and ensure a secure supply of water in all climate scenarios.”

She said the Anglesea borefield could provide up to 13 million litres of drinking water a day to Anglesea, Aireys Inlet, Torquay, the Bellarine Peninsula, and parts of southern Geelong.

“The Anglesea borefield is another critical part of our diverse water supply that, if activated, would improve water security in the region.

“We appreciate our community may not know a lot about this water source, so we encourage people to drop into an information session in Anglesea to hear more, including how it would be managed to the highest environmental standards.

“The community will be invited to provide ongoing oversight of environmental monitoring and Barwon Water will publish key data on its website.”

Ms Murdoch said the management of the Anglesea borefield was very different to the Barwon Downs borefield (see page 32), which did not include the same stringent measures to protect the environment.

Water Minister Lisa Neville said the Anglesea borefield would be used solely to augment Geelong’s water supplies – rather than for irrigation and industry purposes.

“We’ve also learnt from our previous borefield use in terms of volumes and timing, and will be applying strict environmental monitoring to the Anglesea borefield to ensure any extraction is done sustainably.”

The borefield will be activated if water storage levels do not rise to a sufficient level to meet demand over the 2019/2020 summer period.

Anglesea community information sessions:
Thursday July 25, 4pm – 7pm
Saturday August 3, 10am – 1pm
Tuesday August 20, 4pm – 7pm
All sessions will be held at the Anglesea Senior Citizens Club, 1 Macmillan Street, Anglesea.