FULL BORE AHEAD

Barwon Water prepares to tap Anglesea borefield as lack of rain, dry forecasts bite region

BARWON Water is preparing to tap groundwater via its bores at Anglesea if needed to guarantee water to the town as well as Aireys Inlet, Torquay, southern Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula this summer.

It comes after a dire lack of rain in the past year and forecasts of more dry weather in coming months.

If switched on later this year, the Anglesea bores would provide up to 13 million litres of drinking water a day.

BARWON Water is preparing for pumping from its bores at Anglesea to guarantee water supply to the town as well as Aireys Inlet, Torquay, southern Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula.

Very low rainfall in the past year coupled with forecasts of dry weather in coming months has prompted the decision.

The water authority says it has learned lessons from its work on the decommissioned Barwon Downs borefield, south of Colac in the Otways, which was linked to fish kills at Winchelsea in 2016.

Geelong’s water storages are at 41.9 per cent, about 10 per cent lower than this time last year.

There has been below average rainfall in seven of the past 12 months — and January was the lowest on record.

The Anglesea borefield will be activated if water storage levels do not rise to the level required to meet demand during the 2019-20 summer.

Barwon Water acting managing director Jo Murdoch said the borefield would provide up to 13 million litres of drinking water a day if switched on.

“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 the role the borefield plays in our region’s water security, and how it would be managed to highest environmental standards,” she said.

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

Barwon Water says management of the Anglesea borefield is remarkably different to procedures at the Barwon Downs field.

Barwon Downs was operated and managed under a groundwater licence fixed for 15 years and did not include the same stringent measures to protect the environment.

However, Graeme Stockton, from the Surf Coast Energy Group, said any decision to use the Anglesea borefield should be made by an independent body and not Barwon Water.

“My concerns are they will ignore their own advice and withdraw more than the aquifer can sustain,” he said.

“They’re the body that’s going to say whether it’s OK or not, but it’s not at arm’s length.

“The City of Greater Geelong is driving all this growth but what are the sensible limits beyond which our water catchments and nature suffers?

“In the end we all suffer because we will have to be on permanent water restrictions.”

Ms Murdoch said switching on the Melbourne to Geelong pipeline (MGP) in March was also delivering up to 20 million litres of water a day to Geelong’s northern suburbs.

“We are currently extending the reach of the MGP to service more customers in other parts of Geelong, with construction due to be complete later this year,” she said.

The Acting Premier, Water Minister and Bellarine MP, Lisa Neville, said the decision to prepare the Anglesea borefield was prudent.

“The Geelong area has experienced the lowest rainfall and inflows on record and we know these conditions are set to continue for a while,” she said.

“While we’re putting a number of strategies in place to help deal with this — such as turning on the Melbourne to Geelong pipeline and using recycled water for nondrinking uses — we need to ensure that the eastern and southern parts of Geelong also have water security.

“That’s why we’re taking this action now to start preparing the Anglesea borefield for use — so that we have this option available to us if it’s needed later in the year.”

There will be no additional cost to Barwon Water customers as a result of switching on the Anglesea borefield.

Current prices are locked in until June 2023, and are approved by the Essential Services Commission.