Water storages are healthier than this time last year, and we have commenced planning for moving the borefield into a standby maintenance mode from 1 July 2020.

View the latest water storages and how they compare to last year here.

As part of the standby mode, we will continue to extract a small amount of groundwater - at reduced rates and/or intermittently - to ensure the pumps remain operational, and are ready for future use should we need them.

For example, we understand Alcoa has applied to Southern Rural Water to undertake a pump test of the Upper Eastern View Formation aquifer, and Barwon Water may be requested to operate our pumps in the Lower Eastern View Formation aquifer for part of this test.

The operation of the borefield in standby mode will be reviewed once further information is available on climate and storage projections, as well as consideration of any potential requests from Alcoa.

Future use of the borefield

We constantly monitor water storage levels to ensure there is enough water to meet demand.

Future use of the Anglesea borefield to supplement supplies for customers will be based on a number of factors, including time of year, volumes of water in our various water storages, climate forecasts and conditions of the water supply catchments.

We are committed to keeping the community informed about the borefield and our monitoring program, and this will continue when the borefield is in standby mode.