Taps won’t be running dry
Barwon Water assurance
BARWON Water has hosed down speculation that any of its towns could face water restrictions this summer.
It had been reported that Apollo Bay could go on Stage 2 water restrictions by February after recording its worst rainfall on record.
But in its latest Annual Water Outlook, Barwon Water says restrictions are highly unlikely over the next two years in the areas it services.
According to the outlook, all areas other than Apollo Bay would not face water restrictions even under worst-case climate scenarios and, even in the case of Apollo Bay, restrictions remain highly unlikely, it says.
Barwon Water managing director Tracey Slatter said the region’s water came from a variety of sources and good management of them — combined with customers being encouraged to follow permanent water saving rules — had storages well-placed to cope with summer demand.
“When the outlook was finalised, Geelong’s storages were at 70.9 per cent of capacity, with the Surf Coast, Bellarine and parts of southern Geelong’s supplies being supplemented by water from the Anglesea Borefield and suburbs of northern Geelong being boosted by water from the Melbourne-Geelong Pipeline,” Ms Slatter said.
“The smaller Colac, Lorne and Apollo Bay service areas were all nearly at 100 per cent of capacity, and while those systems, particularly the discrete systems of Lorne and Apollo Bay, face significantly increased use over the summer months, only under very dry conditions might water restrictions be required in Apollo Bay later this summer.”
Ms Slatter said Barwon Water was working with the Apollo Bay community on ways to save water.
“Our summer awareness campaign has already seen water saving information distributed to tourist accommodation this month and we’re planning community pop-ups throughout January to talk to locals and tourists about ways to save water,” she said.
Ms Slatter said everyone had a role to play to save water over summer. “In addition to following the permanent water saving rules, Barwon Water encourages people to look for ways to improve water efficiency in homes and businesses by checking for leaks and using water-efficient appliances,” she said.