Extra water source secured for Victorian region

Coliban Water has been successful in its application to increase the volume of its existing groundwater licence in Trentham, securing the future of drinking water for the community.

Executive General Manager Climate and Population Adaptation, Steve Healy, said Trentham is one of the fastest growing areas in the Hepburn and Moorabool Shire regions.

“It’s important we’re planning for population growth and climate adaptation across our network and securing this licence is good news for the Trentham community,” Mr Healy said.

The need to augment the supply at Trentham was highlighted in Coliban Water’s Urban Water Strategy, the organisation’s 50-year plan to secure water for future generations.

“We have been carrying out groundwater investigations since February 2018 to identify additional water resources for the Trentham township.

“After drilling a number of investigation bores we found a suitable bore site within our Trentham Water Treatment Plant on Lagoon Road.”

Coliban Water applied to Goulburn-Murray Water, the groundwater manager of the region, to increase its existing licence by 55 megalitres per year.

This volume will meet the regions short to medium term demand projections identified in Coliban Water’s Urban Water Strategy. 

If growth continues at the current rate in Trentham, Coliban Water will then need to augment the system further in the future.

“We tested the bore to ensure pumping will not impact surrounding groundwater users or the environment and to satisfy Goulburn-Murray Water licensing requirements,” Mr Healy said.

The artesian bore is more than 120m deep and is constructed in the underlying rock aquifer. 

While the water quality from the bore is good, the bore flow rate is low, which is typical for this type of aquifer.

“To improve the flow rate we plan to do some additional drilling at the site in early 2020 and establish a bore monitoring network so that we can measure any changes in groundwater levels and quality over time,” Mr Healy said.

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