Henderson wades into borefield debate

CORANGAMITE federal member Sarah Henderson has waded into the debate about the Barwon Downs borefield, calling on the state government to immediately reveal how it will remediate the surrounding waterways.

In August, Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville issued a legally enforceable remediation plan to Barwon Water to protect the health of waterways affected by over-extraction of groundwater from the borefield.

Under the notice, Barwon Water must prepare a thorough remediation plan, given findings that past groundwater extraction have affected the pH of Boundary Creek, and must also discontinue any extraction activities (other than maintenance and emergency response) until the assessment and remediation work is complete.

The borefield provided as much as 70 per cent of Geelong’s drinking water during the 2007 drought, but no water has been extracted since 2016.

Barwon Water’s existing licence to extract water expires in June.

Ms Henderson and federal Environment Minister Melissa Price visited Boundary Creek at Yeodene last week.

Ms Henderson said the creek was technically “dead” as a result of acid sulphate contamination.

“The acid sulphate levels are so high that no fish can live in the water and the pylons which form part of the Gerangamete Bridge are being impacted.

“Barwon Water has only recently conceded that its license to extract as much as 20,000 megalitres of water from the Otways aquifer has compromised the health of these waterways.

“Ms Price has committed to investigate whether there have been any breaches of federal legislation such as the Environment Protection Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999.

“There is evidence of declining populations of platypus, a protected species.

“I have previously raised these matters which was met with denials by Barwon Water that there was any issue.

“I commend local landcare groups, including the Land and Water Resources Otway Catchment Landcare Group, for the incredible amount of work it has done to demonstrate the mismanagement of the waterways.

“Barwon Water CEO Tracey Slatter has apologised but this is not good enough. Barwon Water must withdraw its license application and Lisa Neville must urgently disclose her plan to remediate the waterways.”

In water-related news, the federal government faces increasing criticism over the impact of its Murray/Darling Basin Plan, including at least three major fish kill events.