We regularly move water across our water supply network. Water from West Barwon Reservoir supplies the township of Forrest and also gets transferred via the 57-kilometre Wurdee Boluc Inlet Channel. It is then treated at the Wurdee Boluc Water Treatment Plant then distributed throughout our water network for customers across the greater Geelong, Bellarine and Surf Coast region.

The Wurdee Boluc Inlet Channel relies completely on gravity so it can take up to five days for the water to travel the 57-kilometers, and can only be transferred one way.

Our operations teams carefully plan how much water is to be transferred each day to ensure we continue to maintain water security across our region. This planning also takes into account the minimum flows that need to be maintained in the rivers as required by our operating licence (Bulk Entitlement).

The Wurdee Boluc Inlet Channel also receives water from creek and river diversions to supplement supplies from West Barwon Reservoir. There are five diversions that supply the Wurdee Boluc Inlet Channel:

1. East Barwon River
2. Callahans Creek
3. Dewing Creek
4. Matthews Creek
5. Pennyroyal Creek

What is a diversion?

A water diversion is where water is moved from its natural flow path to a new flow path. Barwon Water harvests water from the Barwon River Catchment via the West Barwon Reservoir and a series of small diversion weirs on some of the creeks that flow into the Barwon River. Water from the reservoir and the creeks are diverted into the Wurdee Boluc Inlet Channel which transfers the water to the Wurdee Boluc Reservoir.

Our operations teams are responsible for managing the diversion of water in our network in accordance with our operating licence (Bulk Entitlement) issued by the State Government. There are a number of factors that are taken into account when diverting water including rainfall, stream flows, storage levels, water quality, gate operations, safety and regulatory requirements such as passing flows and maximum diversion limits.

In addition to providing a high quality and affordable source of critical drinking water, our diversions can also be used to help transfer environmental flows from West Barwon Reservoir to the East Barwon River in accordance with the seasonal watering proposals for the Upper Barwon Environmental Entitlement that is managed by the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.