G21 forum panels consider our water and waste futures

ONE of the panels at last week’s G21 Stakeholder Forum asked the community for its help in how to respond to the future challenges of a hotter, drier climate across the Geelong region.

Barwon Water used the forum to officially launch its Water for our Future program, which will see the water authority team up with regional leaders and the wider community over the next three years to develop a vision and ideas for how water will be sourced and managed.

Hosted by Barwon Water chair Jo Plummer, the panel discussion featured Barwon Water managing director Tracey Slatter, Dr Benjamin Henly from the University of Melbourne’s School of Earth Sciences and Kylie Cochrane from the International Association for Public Participation.

Ms Slatter said less rainfall across the Geelong region was having a multiplier effect, with a 32 per cent reduction in inflows to the West Barwon Reservoir since 1997.

“With less supply of traditional sources, and increasing demand as population grows, we know we are going to need an additional source of water for our population by 2029.”

Barwon Water will use the contributions made to Water for our Future as part of the development of the water authority’s next Urban Water Strategy.

For more information, including a list of community consultation events, head to waterfuture.barwonwater.vic.gov.au.

Another panel at the forum took a closer look at waste and resource recovery, and how to improve our response to Victoria’s recycling crisis.

The panel, featured PonyUp for Good founder Mardi Brown, Barwon Water general manager of infrastructure and technology Shaun Cumming, Corio Waste Management director Mat Dickens and Barwon South West Waste and Resource Recovery Group executive officer Ashley Pittard, who discussed the entire waste system and how it could be made better on both a personal and governmental level.

Mr Cumming said there was a lack of understanding that there was a cost to waste on several levels.

“People pay their waste charge, they put their bin out the front of their house and think ‘she’ll be right, mate’.”

Mr Dickens said the landfill levy was like the tobacco excise – “the higher it goes, the more people try to do the wrong thing”.