This initiative played an important role in putting in place long-term strategic plans and processes to ensure water security and improved resilience of the water sector for Victoria’s future.
It delivered on key actions in Water for Victoria, including legislative and policy reforms to improve:
This project aimed to promote the sustainable management of water by developing a long-term, coordinated approach for improving water security across Victoria, including reforms to the water planning and management frameworks for the water sector and embracing new and innovative methods of service delivery and knowledge sharing.
Framework reforms contribute to the sustainable management of our finite water supplies under pressures of drought, climate change, rapid population growth and emerging pressures through a circular economy and renewable energy transition. The reforms provide robust, evidence-based planning for water supply investment decisions.
Since initial EC5 funding was allocated in 2020, the government’s climate action ambition has accelerated. In 2022, the Minister for Water directed the water sector to achieve net zero emissions by 2035, and the state’s net zero emissions target was brought forward to 2045. As government agencies, water corporations are also required to source 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
The impacts of climate change have also been keenly felt by the water system, with our Black Summer of bushfires over 2019–20, floods in 2022 and storms in 2024. The need for investment in community and environmental resilience to the cascading and compounding impacts of climate change has increased.
Robust advice is provided each year to support the Minister for Water to make decisions about how much desalinated water to order for the year ahead to secure Melbourne’s water supply for our growing population. Advice is provided in March each year based on the following considerations:
Timely advice was provided to the Minister each year throughout EC5 to inform water orders.
Urban water strategy guidelines were updated and released to urban water corporations in March 2021. Assessment of the urban water strategies against the guidelines ensures a coordinated approach to planning for the next 50 years of urban water security across the state, while clearly identifying actions over the next 5 years.
All urban water strategies, including the Greater Melbourne Urban Water & System Strategy were finalised and submitted to the Minister for Water in 2022. The final strategies can be accessed from each respective water corporation’s website. Water corporations must report each year on their progress towards delivering key actions in their urban water strategy through their Annual Water Outlooks published each December.
The department established the Water Sector Circular Economy Working Group in 2021. Members include water corporations, catchment management authorities (CMAs), cross-government portfolios, and water-industry bodies. Using a collective impact model, the working group aims to share learnings and supporting capacity building for circular economy opportunities.
Since 2022, the working group has developed an annual action plan, identifying key priorities to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy within the Victorian water sector. The department contributed $815,000 in seed funding to attract more than $1.9 million in water sector investment towards research and projects focusing on water sector needs in a circular economy transition over the EC5 period.
The Water Cycle Adaptation Action Plan (WCAAP) was released in 2022, as was a new Statement of Obligations (Emission Reduction). The statement commits Victorian water corporations to net zero emissions by 2035.
Together, these initiatives promote innovation and learning across the water cycle system that accelerates low-carbon adoption and progress Victoria’s transition to a circular economy.
Sustainable water strategies are long-term plans required under the Water Act 1989 to secure the water future of Victoria’s regions.
The strategies identify and manage threats to the supply and quality of a region’s water resources and identify ways to improve waterway health.
The Central and Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy (CGRSWS) was finalised in response to public and stakeholder feedback and was released in September 2022.
The strategy outlines priorities for saving water and investing in more manufactured water supplies to meet water needs, and to free up river water to return to the environment and Traditional Owners.
Delivered a collaborative planning process with water corporations, CMAs, the Victorian Environmental Water Holder, Registered Aboriginal Parties in the region and other government departments to prepare the CGRSWS discussion draft. This addressed section 22C requirements of the Water Act 1989, including responding to the findings of the 2020 Long-Term Water Resource Assessment for southern Victoria.
Met the requirements of section 22D(e) of the Water Act 1989 by undertaking an 8-week public consultation process on the CGRSWS discussion draft. Due to COVID restrictions, the community were provided with a myriad of ways to engage online, including community information sessions, webinars, a virtual consultation room and tailored forums with environmental groups and irrigators. There was a lot of interest from the community, with well over 2,000 people visiting the engagement sites, 225 people responding to a short survey and 58 detailed submissions.
Met the requirements of section 22F of the Water Act 1989, with an independent panel considering feedback provided through public consultation and reporting to the Minister.
Incorporated feedback received from stakeholders and the community during public consultation into the final CGRSWS.
Alongside the public release of the CGRSWS in September 2022, an accompanying Central and Gippsland Region Implementation Plan was published. The Traditional Owner Partnership – that enshrined a self-determined approach in the way SWSs are developed and delivered in the region – has continued into the implementation phase.
Funding was provided in State Budget 2022-23 and State Budget 2023-24 to support implementation of priority work following the CGRSWS. As this work aligns to other programs, the deliverables are covered on their related EC5 webpages.
The first CGRSWS Progress Report confirmed that 79 of 96 actions have started, and 9 actions have already been completed.
Funding was provided under Phase One Implementation of the Central and Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy to start work on Victoria’s first Water Cycle Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan (WCAAP). This project assisted the water sector with considering climate change in all of its decisions, working toward the state’s net zero emissions target whilst maintaining safe, secure and reliable water services.
This project supported new ideas to cut emissions and build water cycle resilience to the impacts of climate change, by establishing the Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge. It also conducted trials into a framework to understand future changes in algal risks across Victorian water bodies, and to calculate the energy and greenhouse gas emissions benefits of efficient showerheads. Guidance was also published to help Victoria’s water sector deliver carbon offset projects with social, environmental, and economic benefits.
Victoria’s water sector was provided with the opportunity to share their views on the challenges and opportunities of climate risk management through this project, and tailored capacity building programs were established as a result. These programs invested broadly in water cycle resilience priorities identified by the water sector and partners, with great potential for impacts to grow over time. Projects are included below.
This project improved the long-term resilience and safety of Local Government Authority (LGA) managed small dams, and made the recreational areas and public amenities safer for the community to enjoy.
It also provided the government with a level of assurance that these structures are managed according to current standards and practices, improving emergency preparedness and response and thereby reducing the burden on emergency agencies.
The project also addressed the cost-of-living pressures through reduced risk of future liability for LGAs in relation to their dams, and, therefore, any future impacts to ratepayers.
The current program provided grant funding as contributions to Central Goldfields Shire Council, Frankston City Council and Latrobe City Council. The LGAs put the funds towards upgrading Goldfields dam, Baxter Park dam and Traralgon Railway Reserve large dam. All 3 projects commenced early 2021 and were completed by 30 June 2024.
The project Evaluation of DELWP drought response (2018-2021) contributed to the state’s strategic planning and management framework for the water sector to continue to meet the ongoing challenges of climate change.
The project sought to improve drought preparedness and response across the sector by reviewing the DELWP/WCG drought response package (2018-2021) against WCG Drought Framework principles. This work is essential to identify necessary refinements in the department's preparedness and response policy to future droughts.
In year one of environmental contribution 5 (EC5) of the DELWP Drought Response (2018-21), a comprehensive program evaluation was successfully delivered.
Key evaluation findings will be implemented and include the projects below.
The objective of this project was to continue the delivery of Water for Victoria Action 10.13 by overseeing the implementation of initiatives funded by the Environmental Contribution, tracking delivery of Water for Victoria and monitoring, evaluating and reporting on progress and achievements.
The project provided oversight of the Environmental Contribution and delivery of Water for Victoria through:
Page last updated: 22/10/24