Barwon Water plans to start a groundwater pumping test this month to inform a review of its bulk entitlement and associated monitoring program to ensure ongoing sustainable management of the Anglesea borefield.

Barwon Water Managing Director Tracey Slatter said the pumping test would start in late January 2022, and run for six months with strict environmental protection controls in place.

The bulk entitlement, which the Victorian Government issued to Barwon Water for operation of the borefield, stipulates the volume of water Barwon Water is able to extract.

The borefield, which draws water from the Lower Eastern View Formation, was put in standby maintenance mode on 1 July 2020 after being turned on in November 2019 to supplement drinking water supplies for the Geelong, Surf Coast, and Bellarine Peninsula region, following a record hot and dry start to that year and low water storage levels.

The review is a requirement under the bulk entitlement.

“We are strongly committed to the sustainable management of the Anglesea borefield and keeping the Anglesea community informed about its use,” Ms Slatter said.

“Our priority is to protect the environment while providing high quality, affordable drinking water to our customers.

“Conducting the pumping test will help ensure a robust review and confirm how much water we can continue to take sustainably. The test will also help ensure the protection of groundwater-dependent ecosystems into the future.

“Our bulk entitlement includes environmental triggers and an extensive monitoring and assessment program designed to protect groundwater-dependent ecosystems.”

Ms Slatter said the bulk entitlement review would include reviewing all data collected as part of the monitoring program. This includes groundwater level and quality, surface water level flow and quality, vegetation and ecology, and more.

Ms Slatter said that while Barwon Water’s bulk entitlement and Alcoa’s groundwater licence are independent processes, Barwon Water is committed to sharing data with Alcoa and incorporating data from Alcoa’s pumping test, which is drawing water from a different groundwater source – the Upper Eastern View Formation – to inform the bulk entitlement review and monitoring plan for the Anglesea borefield.

“Using all available information – as well as factoring in other groundwater users – will ensure our groundwater model and forecasts are as robust as possible.”

Barwon Water is proactively briefing local community and environment groups and is hosting a series of community conversations and online ‘drop-in’ sessions to share information and answer any questions the community may have about its pumping test.

Background:

The Anglesea borefield was completed in 2009 following the millennium drought. It is one of several water sources that can supplement the existing Greater Geelong water supply system when needed.

Barwon Water operated the Anglesea borefield from 1 November 2019 until 30 June 2020 to supplement drinking water supplies. The borefield is currently in a standby maintenance mode.

The borefield consists of seven production bores across two sites that tap into the Lower Eastern View Formation - a vast underground aquifer around 700 metres below the surface, stretching from the Otway foothills to the Southern Ocean.

Groundwater extraction amounts during the pumping test will be dependent on a range of data, including (but not limited to) surface water storage levels and rainfall forecast, and will be in line with the environmental protections under the bulk entitlement. Groundwater extracted will be used to supplement supplies for Barwon Water customers