Promoting sustainable use of water

This ongoing action promotes proactive demand management by supporting water corporations to continue to pursue water conservation and efficiency measures at various levels. The Millennium Drought highlighted the importance of water conservation, water use efficiency and robust planning of water supply and demand.

Many initiatives and processes have since been developed, either along with or as a result of the GRSWS, and the Victorian Government continues to support them. They include voluntary water efficiency programs across Victoria, sustainable irrigation programs and irrigation development rules at the CMA level, and water supply and demand planning for urban water corporations.

Sufficient progress implementing the intent of this action has resulted in it being assessed as achieved.

To ensure the intent of the action is retained, there are some components that are still ongoing (such as the development of reasonable domestic and domestic stock use guidelines.).

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This action is linked to Water for Victoria Action 9.7, which is in progress and expected to be completed in 2021.

The department has commenced market effectiveness case studies for selected systems in order to better understand opportunities for improving trade in groundwater and unregulated systems across the state.

SRW is working with the department on an aquifer-based management framework to enable trading over larger connected systems.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Progressing through Water for Victoria

Delivery period: NA

This action was to help explore more-adaptive water-extraction options through the extraction of high flows outside the winter-fill period (July–October).

The five-yearly assessment linked this action to WfV Action 8.3 Investigate increased flexibility for taking water under winter-fill licences. WfV Action 8.3 is now reported as complete.

The Water Plan represents the more recent consideration of this issue and the Progress report supports its findings: Investigation completed and concluded that it would be a highly unreliable source of water. Guidelines are proposed to permit high-flow extraction on a case-by-case basis.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and completed

Delivery period: 2018

This action is to provide guidance and clarity for section 67 storage construction licence applicants and assessing authorities.

At the time the GRSWS was published, applicants for section 67 works licences had to undertake various investigations and environmental assessments, which were often burdensome.

The Progress report confirmed that this action is progressing.

The department will publish guidance to RWCs about the assessment required for licence applications and to improve the application process.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Partly or not yet achieved

Delivery period: NA

This action focuses on exploring the use of fit-for-purpose alternative water supplies to provide benefits to communities and reduce demand on potable water supplies.

Shortly after the GRSWS was published, water supply demand strategy guidelines to consider alternative water supply were published and such consideration continues to be a part of water corporations’ most recent urban water strategies.

Policies for the assessment and approval of local desalination systems and for brine disposal management were released in 2013.

Stormwater allocation is being discussed across Victoria in integrated water management (IWM) forums.

The Water Plan maintains the use of alternative water supplies to achieve secure water supplies as a priority.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: NA

This ongoing action contributes to cost-effectively increasing water reliability and reducing the risks to water reliability by dry conditions. Expanding the reticulated water supply network is a cost-effective way to improve water reliability for communities close to existing supply networks that do not yet have access to those networks.

While there is not a consistent approach to managing the expansion of water supply systems, the intent of this action has been achieved, evidenced by the extensions to systems that have been proposed or approved (such as the Warragul-Moe water supply interconnect).

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This ongoing action contributes to promoting additional online resources for dryland farmers to manage water sustainably and mitigate climate risks. Historically, there has been less guidance for dryland farmers then for irrigators about efficient and sustainable water use.

Since 2015, Agriculture Victoria has published guidance for farmers and will continue to do so.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This action contributed to effective and comprehensive water supply and demand planning to ensure the reliability of supply for urban and industrial users. The GRSWS articulates requirements to ensure urban water corporations’ water supply-demand strategies follow planning best practices.

These requirements, which the department set out in WSDS guidelines, include exploring alternative water sources, making agreements about service levels that meet community expectations and completing annual water supply outlooks.

Urban water corporations have developed water supply-demand strategies for their regions, consistent with the department's 2011 WSDS guidelines.

Urban water corporations continue to undertake strategic supply and demand planning. They revised their water supply-demand strategies as urban water strategies in 2017, as required by WfV.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and completed

Delivery period: 2011 to 2012

This action contributed to a better understanding of and more consistent guidance about Victorian water restrictions during drought and water scarcity. The Millennium Drought saw widespread water restrictions which had major consequences for Victorians.

A review to better manage those impacts in the future was completed in 2011.

The review’s main recommendations — simple permanent water savings rules, a revised set of four-stage water restrictions and a model water restriction by-law — have been implemented.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and completed

Delivery period: 2011

This ongoing action encourages adaptive, innovative and productive water management as well as the use of alternative water sources (such as stormwater, desalinated water and recycled water). Integrating land use and water planning can improve the cost-effectiveness and adaptiveness of water resource management.

Water supply-demand strategy guidelines issued in 2011 require water corporations to work with local governments to integrate their planning, and the provision of water services is included in regional growth plans. The Gippsland Regional Growth Plan was published in May 2014.

Integrated water management forums have been established in the GRSWS region.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This ongoing action contributes to improved collaboration with Traditional Owners to identify water-dependent sites of cultural importance, to strengthen connection to Country. As part of the action, barriers to access were identified and steps taken to remove them.

The West Gippsland Waterway Strategy 2014-2022 and the East Gippsland Waterway Strategy 2014-2022 established the foundations to continue building on the action. The West Gippsland strategy lists priorities for Traditional Owners, including protecting cultural heritage. Traditional Owners were consulted as part of developing the waterway strategy.

Given this progress, and the intent of the action being incorporated into the waterway strategies, this action is considered achieved, although there is still work to be done in identifying sites of cultural importance.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This ongoing action provides the opportunity for increased Aboriginal involvement in water management through activities that support capacity building and participation.

Traditional Owners have managed the state’s water resources for millennia but in post-settlement times lack of resources and expertise has disadvantaged their capacity to do so.

The GRSWS details capacity building programs for young Aboriginal leaders through universities, water corporations, CMAs and the department.

These programs occurred as planned, but Traditional Owner groups and Aboriginal Victorians still need to be involved in the management of water resources, beyond their involvement in consultation processes, through partnerships and employment. Chapter 6 of WfV also addresses this issue.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This ongoing action contributes to better coordination of regional Aboriginal reference groups. The 2 Registered Aboriginal Parties (RAPs) in the Gippsland Region are the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLAWAC) and the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BLCAC).

The RAPs are the primary point of contact for Traditional Owner involvement in water management: they are formally recognised and can speak for Traditional Owners in their declared areas. Chapter 6 of WfV encourages Traditional Owner involvement, which has helped increase engagement and participation.

The RAPs work collaboratively with CMAs, DELWP and Parks Victoria. As such, this action is considered achieved.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This ongoing action contributes to creating benefits for consumptive users, the environment and local communities through innovative water system planning. Releases of water for consumptive use can be timed to also provide benefits for the environment, recreational uses and others (so long as timing alterations do not disadvantage consumptive users).

The VEWH annual seasonal watering plan addresses the use of consumptive water en route to provide environmental benefits. For example, water delivery in the Latrobe River from Blue Rock Reservoir to diverters and return flows from power companies improve environmental outcomes.

This is further supported by the increasing focus on recreational values (achieving shared benefits) as outlined in Chapter 6 of WfV.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

Stock grazing and invasive weeds pose a continuous risk to riverine and riparian ecosystems. This ongoing action helps to protect waterway health and water quality by ensuring that riparian land is managed appropriately through activities such as fencing, revegetation, weed management and vegetation enhancement.

Managing riparian land is a priority for CMAs, and specific management goals and targets in each region are set out in the regional waterway management strategies. To accelerate the implementation of riparian works, the state government launched the Regional Riparian Action Plan in 2015.

The action has ensured continued Environmental Contribution funding for works on a large scale to ensure there is ongoing provision of cost-effective, off-stream, stock watering infrastructure.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This ongoing action promotes adaptive management by ensuring that a process is in place to alter environmental objectives in response to long-term changes in water availability. Climate change will most likely make Victoria drier, and adapting to the changed conditions will probably need severe actions.

The 2013 Victorian Waterway Management Strategy includes a framework for assessing and changing management objectives in regional waterway strategies, which CMAs develop, and which will inform the 15-year long-term water resource assessment due in 2019.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and ongoing

Delivery period: Ongoing

This action contributed to improved knowledge of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) and their integrated management. The GRSWS acknowledged there was insufficient understanding of GDEs when it was published, and it recommended a risk-based approach to manage impacts on GDEs including monitoring and risk assessments when addressing licensing decisions.

Ministerial guidelines for groundwater licensing and the protection of high-value GDEs were published in 2015 and outline the approach licensing authorities should take to consider risks.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved and completed

Delivery period: April 2015