water supply demand strategy - north east water · water supply demand strategy 2012 ii executive...

2012

North East Water

Water Supply Demand Strategy

Balancing supply and demand for 50 years

FINAL

Water Supply Demand Strategy 2012

Table of Contents

Glossary ................................................................................................................................................................... i

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................ ii

1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Scope ........................................................................................................................................................ 1

1.2 Objectives of the WSDS ............................................................................................................................ 1

1.3 Overview of North East Water ................................................................................................................. 2

1.4 Overview of systems and supply sources ................................................................................................. 3

1.5 Strategy documentation ........................................................................................................................... 4

1.6 Water supply planning context ................................................................................................................ 5

1.7 Principles for WSDS development ............................................................................................................ 5

1.8 WSDS development process ..................................................................................................................... 6

2 Challenges we face ............................................................................................................................................ 8

2.1 Dealing with uncertainty .......................................................................................................................... 8

2.2 Experience of drought and Floods ............................................................................................................ 8

2.3 Sources of uncertainty ............................................................................................................................ 10

2.4 Sources of supply uncertainty ................................................................................................................ 11

2.5 Sources of demand uncertainty ............................................................................................................. 16

2.6 Approaches to decision-making under uncertainty ............................................................................... 20

2.7 Lessons from recent experience and achievements .............................................................................. 21

3 Methodology for analysing the supply and demand balance ......................................................................... 29

3.2 Determining Levels of Service ................................................................................................................ 30

3.3 Forecasting demand ............................................................................................................................... 31

3.4 Forecasting supply .................................................................................................................................. 37

4 Decision-making framework for guiding action .............................................................................................. 39

4.1 Water supply planning............................................................................................................................ 39

4.2 Identifying potential need for action ...................................................................................................... 41

4.3 Possible options ...................................................................................................................................... 44

5 Ensuring reliability of supply ........................................................................................................................... 50

5.1 Provision of Minimum and Agreed Level of Service ............................................................................... 50

5.2 Approaches to provide Agreed Levels of Service ................................................................................... 52

5.3 Evaluation of options .............................................................................................................................. 52

5.4 Delivery system performance ................................................................................................................. 53

5.5 Demand management ............................................................................................................................ 54

5.6 One Resource .......................................................................................................................................... 56


5.7 Using Water Markets .............................................................................................................................. 58

5.8 Secure Water Source .............................................................................................................................. 63

6 Implementing the Strategy ............................................................................................................................. 66

7 Stakeholder engagement ................................................................................................................................ 70

8 References ...................................................................................................................................................... 71

List of Figures

Figure 1: North East Water’s area of operation ..................................................................................................... 2

Figure 2: Overview of WSDS documentation ......................................................................................................... 4

Figure 3: Water Supply Planning Framework in north east Victoria ...................................................................... 5

Figure 4: Overview of process to develop WSDS .................................................................................................... 7

Figure 5: Long-term annual rainfall at Beechworth (station 082002) .................................................................... 9

Figure 6: Long-term annual inflow to Lake Buffalo ................................................................................................ 9

Figure 7: Climate change impacts on runoff for the Upper Murray river basin ................................................... 13

Figure 8: North East Water bushfire affected water supply catchments ............................................................. 14

Figure 9: Change in catchment runoff after bushfire ........................................................................................... 15

Figure 10: Example historical per connection demand (Wodonga metered demand) ........................................ 17

Figure 11: Example historical per connection demand (Wodonga estimated unrestricted demand) ................. 18

Figure 12: Example historical trend in commercial/industrial demand (Wodonga) ............................................ 19

Figure 13: Distribution of North East Water customer connections by type ....................................................... 29

Figure 14: Distribution of North East Water customer demand consumption by type ....................................... 29

Figure 15: Typical factors influencing urban water demand (from Turner et al. 2010) ....................................... 32

Figure 16: Example demand regression fitted to treated water data (Benalla) ................................................... 33

Figure 17: Revised arrangements for outdoor watering (VicWater, 2011) .......................................................... 35

Figure 18: Example supply projection (Benalla) ................................................................................................... 38

Figure 19: North East Water’s decision making framework for action ................................................................ 40

Figure 20: Yield and demand over the planning horizon (example only) ............................................................. 41

Figure 21: Reliability and demand over the planning horizon (example only) ..................................................... 42

Figure 22: North East Water’s One Resource framework ..................................................................................... 48

Figure 23: Populated One Resource framework for a large community on the Murray System ......................... 49

Figure 24: Forecast Supply-Demand Balance with Augmentation (Corryong system) ......................................... 51


List of Tables

Table 1: Overview Water Supply System Plans and Townships Serviced ............................................................... 3

Table 2: Shifts in seasonal rainfall during the Millennium Drought at Beechworth ............................................. 10

Table 3: Period of water resource assessment to account for long-term climate variability ............................... 11

Table 4: Change in climate under future climate change scenarios relative to historical conditions .................. 12

Table 5: Climate under “return to dry” climate change scenario ......................................................................... 12

Table 6: Summary of supply system changes under Water Plan 2007 and associated outcomes ....................... 23

Table 7: Summary of Education Activities Recently Completed (2007/08 to 2010/11) ....................................... 25

Table 8: Summary of Studies to support Supply Augmentations ......................................................................... 27

Table 9 Headworks and distribution water losses adopted for purposes of WSDS ............................................. 34

Table 10: Forecast water savings (reduction in losses) in headworks and distribution ....................................... 36

Table 11: Classification of supply enhancement and demand reduction initiatives ............................................ 45

Table 12: Success of demand reduction initiatives to date compared with 2007 ................................................ 45

Table 13: Potential “bounce back” of Residential Demands for Scenario Planning compared with 2007 ........... 46

Table 14: Provision of Minimum and Agreed Level of Service ............................................................................. 51

Table 15: Summary of Delivery System Performance Options ............................................................................. 53

Table 16: Summary of Demand Management Options ........................................................................................ 55

Table 17: Summary of One Resource Options ...................................................................................................... 57

Table 18: Common Forms of Entitlement to Water used in Victoria ................................................................... 59

Table 19: Flexibility to Trade Water ..................................................................................................................... 60

Table 20: Summary of Using Water Markets Options .......................................................................................... 61

Table 21: Summary of Secure Water Source Options .......................................................................................... 63

Table 22: Application/Priority of options to meet the Levels of Service .............................................................. 67

Table 23: Region-wide volumetric summary of supply, demand and opportunities to achieve a balance .......... 69

Appendices

Appendix 1: Project Team and Water Plan 3 Reference Group


i

Glossary

Term Description

$M Million dollars – 1,000,000 dollars.

Average Annual Demand The water demand for a system varies depending on the climatic conditions for any given year. The average annual demand is the amount of water used in a year under average conditions. The required demand can vary by as much as ±20%.

Bounce back The possibility that residential usage may demonstrate a “bounce back” in demand if wetter conditions persist and some users revert to their water use behaviour from prior to the 2006/07.

Bulk Entitlement (BE) The right to water held by water and other authorities defined in the Water Act 1989. The BE defines the amount of water that an authority is entitled to from a river or storage, and may include the rate at which it may be taken and other conditions.

CIV Commercial, Industrial and Vacant land customers.

DSE Department of Sustainability and Environment.

ESC Essential Services Commission.

EWR Environmental Water Reserve – water set aside to meet environmental water requirements defined in the Water Act 1989.

ML Megalitre (1 million litres).

Non Revenue Water (NRW)

Non revenue water is defined as the difference between the amount of water diverted from the source and the amount of water delivered to our customers.

Potable Suitable for drinking.

Qualification of Rights The Minister for Water may grant a temporary qualification of rights to water in extreme circumstances to ensure critical water needs are met. For example, granting North East Water access to water on the Murray System when no allocation is available.

Reclaimed water Effluent from wastewater treatment plants that is fit for the substitution of potable water, where appropriate (e.g. irrigation of public open space areas).

Regulated supply A surface water source that has an on-stream storage of sufficient size to regulate the flow of water to downstream customers and even out variation in catchment runoff from year to year. The most notable example locally is the Murray River that has Lake Hume and Dartmouth Dam.

Return flow credits Reclaimed water discharged to stream that can be used to credit extraction downstream, or potentially traded to another raw water customer.

Unregulated supply A surface water source without an on-stream storage of sufficient size to regulate the flow of water to downstream customers. Supply in these systems is dependent on seasonal catchment runoff. Water availability is typically lowest in summer when demand is highest.

Unrestricted demand Average annual demand for water without any restrictions.

Water Plan North East Water’s five year plan (approved by the Essential Services Commission) containing its approved pricing for services and capital works program.

WSDS Water Supply Demand Strategy.

WTP Water treatment plant.


ii

Executive Summary

North East Water is a regional urban water corporation that provides water and wastewater services to a

population of approximately 115,000 across north east Victoria.

North East Water’s Water Supply Demand Strategy (WSDS) seeks to identify the best mix of measures to

maintain a balance between the demand for water in urban supply systems and available supply now and into

the future. The WSDS incorporates the principles of scenario-based planning, considering the actions needed

to meet increased demand for water arising from population and industry growth, together with the possible

effects of climate change and other environmental factors. This document is our five-yearly revision of the

strategy, as required under our Statement of Obligations. This strategy will inform supply augmentation and

capital investment requirements for consideration in North East Water’s next Water Plan.

In the context of this WSDS, level of service refers to the long-term security of supply of a water supply system.

Security of supply is measured by the frequency, severity and/or duration of water restrictions, as well as the

ability to maintain a minimum supply during drought. Security of supply is often used interchangeably with

the term reliability of supply, which has an equivalent meaning in this WSDS. There are two aspects to North

East Water’s level of service; an agreed level of service and minimum level of service.

North East Water’s levels of service have been developed in consultation with the community. North East

Water’s agreed level of service reflects community expectations about the environmentally, socially and

economically responsible use of water, and its minimum level of service reflects the appropriate use of water

in times of drought or water shortage. The agreed level of service is often limited by the nature of the supply

system and increasing level of service can impact on water prices.

North East Water’s agreed level of service provides a 90% likelihood that customers will not be asked to

reduce water consumption in any given year, based on forecast community needs for water over the 50 year

planning horizon.

North East Water’s minimum level of service meets the demand for unrestrictable in-house and

commercial/industrial use. This component of demand is what would be provided to customers under Stage 4

restrictions, as outlined on our website (www.newater.com.au).

North East Water has the capacity to maintain the minimum level of service to all of its customers

(approximately 6,500 ML/yr) under anticipated drought conditions, and is planning to provide the agreed level

of service to all of its customers subject to the integration of the proposed 520 ML storage into Bright water

supply system and augmenting Goorambat’s supply (subject to inclusion in Water Plan 3).

North East Water’s customers have benefited from considerable investment in augmenting supplies and

significant reduction in customer demand across the region in recent years. On average, the demand for water

has reduced by approximately one third across the region, which has significantly improved supply reliability

(level of service) for many systems across the region, and has deferred the need for augmentation in many

towns such as Benalla.

Customer water savings have been complemented by North East Water improving the efficiency of its water

supply systems, where water losses in headworks and distribution have reduced by one third in recent years.

Further potential savings have been identified that can defer supply augmentations, such as Corryong water

supply system where projected annual savings of approximately 30 ML/yr could defer any augmentation by

approximately 20 years.

http://www.newater.com.au/


iii

The Victorian water market is a very effective method for balancing supply and demand in North East Water’s

communities that are supplied by the regulated River Murray system. The development and implementation

of water management tools such as annual carryover and wastewater return flow credits have reduced the

additional water entitlement required for River Murray supplied systems down to 113 ML over the next

50 years. North East Water will continue to use water markets to cater for future growth and to manage the

annual variation in demand during times of drought or water shortage and operate its urban water trading

scheme should the need arise again.

To ensure North East Water remains prepared, augmentation requirements have also be identified for

communities with a reliability of supply between 90% and 95%. Supply augmentation investigations will be

underpinned by North East Water’s One Resource approach, which takes a holistic approach to water resource

management and has also been used to develop the WSDS Alternative Water Atlas. The One Resource

approach reflects a strategic goal of the Corporation to deliver sustainable water services that meet the

outcomes sought by customers, that is, delivering water that is fit-for-purpose.

North East Water’s water supply systems have been tested across a spectrum of climatic conditions in recent

years. This experience has improved the robustness of North East Water’s drought response planning,

demonstrated the benefits of diversified supplies and highlighted the need for an Annual Water Security

Outlook tool. The Annual Water Security Outlook tool has been developed as part of this WSDS and will be

used to review the supply demand balance in November each year, informing an annual re-evaluation of short

and long term needs and determine whether there is a need to defer or accelerate planned activities if

conditions change from what is anticipated.

North East Water’s WSDS has been developed in consultation with the community and its Board. This included

working with North East Water’s Water Plan 3 Reference Group throughout the strategy’s development,

engaging with local councils, presentations to community groups, such as the Benalla Rotary Club, and seeking

feedback from the general public on the draft strategy. The final WSDS was issued to the Honourable Peter

Walsh MP, Minister for Water, for noting in March 2012.


Page 1

1 Introduction

North East Water’s Water Supply Demand Strategy (WSDS) seeks to identify the best mix of measures to

maintain a balance between the demand for water and available supply in urban supply systems now and into

the future. The WSDS:

Has a 50 year timeframe.

Considers the total water cycle, consistent with the principles of integrated urban water management

and North East Water’s One Resource approach.

Balances social, environmental and economic costs and benefits.

Take account of the risks and uncertainty associated with population growth and climate variability.

Is reviewed on a five-yearly basis in accordance with any guidelines issued by the Department of

Sustainability and Environment.

1.1 Scope

The WSDS provides strategic direction for the planning and management of water services at the whole of

business level and for each individual system. The scope of the WSDS is confined to communities that North

East Water currently provides water services. Although it does not provide direction for unserviced areas

(e.g. small towns without a reticulated potable water service), these opportunities are being considered by

North East Water through its Strategic Initiative to Work with unserviced communities to explore

fit-for-purpose water solutions.

1.2 Objectives of the WSDS

The objectives of the WSDS are to facilitate efficient and effective urban water planning and investment across

north east Victoria, to:

Ensure safe, secure, reliable and affordable water supplies that meet society’s needs.

Enable customers to have access to desired water products and services, and to choose to use water

for activities they value highly.

Encourage the use of all water resources, such as rainwater, stormwater and reclaimed water, in ways

that are efficient and fit-for-purpose, ensuring that public and environmental health are protected.

Encourage water projects to also enhance the liveability, productivity, prosperity and environment of

our cities and towns – wherever possible.

Ensure that water needs of environmental assets are transparently considered and delivered.

Ensure that water planning is subject to a transparent and rigorous decision-making process, with

clear roles and responsibilities and accountabilities, which can adapt to the changing environment.


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1.3 Overview of North East Water

North East Water is a regional urban water corporation that:

Provides water and wastewater services to an estimated population of 115,000 people across north

east Victoria, as shown in Figure 1.

Provides water services to 39 communities and nearly 46,000 connections.

Produces up to 18,000 ML/yr of drinking water through 21 water treatment plants.

Provides wastewater services to 24 communities and nearly 40,000 connections.

Produces approximately 9,000 ML/yr of reclaimed water through 19 wastewater treatment plants.

Figure 1: North East Water’s area of operation

North East Water sources water from various locations. Diversion of water from the River Murray supports a

high portion of North East Water’s customers. The Murray system includes the major water supply reservoirs

of Lake Hume and Lake Dartmouth, which also provide water supply to towns, rural water users and the

environment in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Bulk water supply to North East Water in the

Lower Ovens and King river valleys is sourced from Lake Buffalo and Lake William Hovell, which are managed

by Goulburn-Murray Water who also supplies rural water users from the same source. Supply systems on the

Kiewa River are influenced by hydropower generation on the Upper Kiewa River, which is managed by AGL.

Other supply systems include large raw water reservoirs managed by North East Water, extraction from run of

the river systems and groundwater supply systems.


Page 3

1.4 Overview of systems and supply sources

The WSDS is complemented by system plans for each of the water supply systems. An overview of the

21 water supply system plans, respective townships serviced and average annual demand is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Overview Water Supply System Plans and Townships Serviced

Water Source System Plan Township Serviced Average Annual Demand (ML/yr)

Broken Benalla Benalla 1,284

Groundwater Goorambat Goorambat 19

Kiewa

Beechworth Beechworth 396

Mount Beauty

Mount Beauty

324 Tawonga

Tawonga South

Yackandandah Yackandandah 111

King

Moyhu Moyhu 27

Oxley Oxley 60

Whitfield Whitfield 14

Mitta Mitta Dartmouth Dartmouth 31

Eskdale Eskdale 12

Murray

Bellbridge Bellbridge 56

Tallangatta Tallangatta 159

Wahgunyah/ Rutherglen

Wahgunyah 566

Rutherglen

Wodonga

Wodonga

5,245

Baranduda

Bonegilla/Ebden

Kiewa

Tangambalanga

Barnawartha 75

Chiltern 138

Springhurst 18

Yarrawonga

Yarrawonga

1,214 Tungamah

St James

Devenish

Bundalong 18

Ovens

Bright

Bright

586 Porepunkah

Wandiligong

Harrietville Harrietville 56

Myrtleford Myrtleford 560

Wangaratta Wangaratta 3,066

Glenrowan 59

Upper Murray Corryong

Corryong 200

Cudgewa

Walwa Walwa 21


Page 4

Table 1 also shows the source of water supply for each of the systems. Further details, such as Bulk

Entitlements, storage information, key water treatment and delivery infrastructure and general comments on

waterway health are included in the respective system plan.

Many systems use alternative water sources (e.g. reclaimed water or stormwater) to achieve outcomes

traditionally sought by potable water. This WSDS introduces the Alternative Water Atlas, which provides an

overview of alternative water use in the region. The Alternative Water Atlas is discussed in Section 4.3.4 and

specific detail of current and potential alternative water use is provided in each of the respective system plans.

1.5 Strategy documentation

Documentation prepared as part of WSDS development includes a summary WSDS document, a WSDS

document (this document), and water system plans for each of the 21 specific water systems which North East

Water is responsible for. An overview of the WSDS documentation structure is shown in Figure 2. This

three-tiered approach allows the reader to access detail in an efficient and easy manner.

Figure 2: Overview of WSDS documentation

- 21 system plans

- System details

- Alternative Water Atlas

- System-specific approaches

- Annual Water Security Outlook

- Detailed WSDS

- Proposed Levels of Service

- Decription of WSDS approach

- Details of strategic approach

- Overview of WSDS

- Proposed Levels of Service

- Overview of strategic approach

Water Supply Demand Strategy - Summary

Water Supply Demand Strategy

Water System Plans

Water System Plans

Water System Plans

Water System Plans

(this document)


Page 5

1.6 Water supply planning context

An overview of the water supply planning framework in north east Victoria is represented diagrammatically in

Figure 3. The purpose of this diagram is to demonstrate the link between North East Water’s Corporate Plan,

Water Plan, Strategies and relevant State Government legislation and strategies. It highlights the position of

the Water Supply-Demand Strategy in relation to the broader policy and legislative frameworks.

Figure 3: Water Supply Planning Framework in north east Victoria

1.7 Principles for WSDS development

The WSDS has been developed using the following principles:

Water supply systems are designed to provide a minimum level of service in terms of quantity, quality

and service provision, commensurate with customers’ willingness and ability to pay for that service.

Planning is based on the best available information about current and future water resources.

Planning is scenario based, incorporating uncertainty in supply and demand, and is also integrated

with future economic development and land use planning.

Water is managed on a whole-of-water-cycle basis and the full portfolio of water supply and demand

options should be considered, including fit-for-purpose uses.

All water supply and demand options are assessed on a robust and transparent basis, examining the

social, environmental and economic costs and benefits and taking into account specific water system

characteristics.

Pricing and markets are used to help balance the supply and demand for water, where it is efficient

and feasible to do so.

Plans and strategies can be adapted as necessary to reflect additional information and knowledge as

it comes to hand, as well as changing circumstances.

Value of individual options to the overall supply-demand portfolio recognises supply characteristics

(e.g. reliability and flexibility) as well as how much water they can produce.

Local Government

Act Water Industry

Act

North East Water

Wastewater Strategy

Regional Catchment

Strategy (River Health )

North East Water

Water Supply Demand

Strategy

North East Water

5 year Water Plan

North East Water

Annual Corporate Plan

Northern Region Sustainable Water

Strategy

State Environmental Protection

Policies

Water Act Conservation and

Land Protection

Act


Page 6

1.8 WSDS development process

North East Water’s previous WSDS was prepared in 2007. Since that time, North East Water has been tracking

progress against the actions proposed in that strategy, with an update provided each year in its annual report.

The current WSDS is a continuation of this ongoing water resource planning that is being undertaken by North

East Water.

This WSDS has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Department of Sustainability

and Environment (DSE, 2011). An overview of the process used to develop the WSDS is shown in Figure 4. In

summary, developing the WSDS involved:

Setting the context for the strategy by identifying lessons from recent experience and the key

challenges likely to be encountered over the next 50 years (Section 2).

Analysing the supply and demand balance, including setting levels of service, forecast demand and

forecast supply (Section 3).

Developing a decision making framework by which to assess whether there is a need for action in

each supply system (Section 4).

Presenting the outcomes of applying that decision making framework with a list of options where

action is likely to be required over the next 50 years (Section 5).

Summarising a timeline for implementation of actions (Section 6).

Describing how North East Water engaged with customers and other stakeholders to finalise the

strategy (Section 7).

The WSDS is a living strategy which will be updated each year through North East Water’s Annual Water

Security Outlooks. A full review and update of the WSDS is scheduled to occur every five years, which gives

North East Water the opportunity to adjust and refine its course of action if conditions change from what can

currently be anticipated.


Page 7

Figure 4: Overview of process to develop WSDS


Page 8

2 Challenges we face

2.1 Dealing with uncertainty

The WSDS incorporates principles of scenario-based planning and adaptive management as part of a

framework for decision-making under uncertainty. North East Water has to make investment decisions in the

face of considerable uncertainty about the future demand for, and availability of, water. Future demand

depends on population growth and water consumption trends and future water availability predominantly

depends on short and long term climate variability, such as droughts, floods, shift in rainfall patterns and

subsequent stream flow impacts. Scenario-based planning coupled with adaptive management enables water

resource managers to make prudent investment decisions in the face of this uncertainty.

2.2 Experience of drought and Floods

Droughts and floods are a natural feature of the climate in north east Victoria. Major droughts lasting several

years have occurred in the early 1900s (the Federation Drought), from the mid-1930s to mid-1940s (the World

War II Drought) and the Millennium Drought recently experienced from 1997-2009. Severe single year

droughts such as in 1967/68 and 1982/83 have also occurred at regular intervals. These droughts have been

interspersed with floods, such as that recently experienced in February 2011. Other significant flood events

occurred in February 1898, March 1906, April 1959, March 1985 and December 1988.

Drought and floods can also impact upon water quality which can affect the capacity to deliver safe drinking

water. General water quality risks at a system level have been identified in respective Water System Plans.

North East Water’s Drinking Water Quality Risk Management System addresses water quality risks in more

detail.

2.2.1 Millennium drought – from 1997 to 2009

Long-term rainfall behaviour for a representative rainfall gauge (at Beechworth) in North East Water’s supply

area is shown in Figure 5. The figure indicates that north east Victoria has experienced several periods of

below average rainfall in the past, notably in the early 1900s (the Federation drought) and from the mid-1930s

to mid-1940s (the World War II drought).

In North East Water’s supply catchments, as in Victoria in general, the 13 year period from 1997 to 2009 was

particularly dry, with rainfall totals that were very much below average. At Beechworth, located centrally

within the supply region, the average annual rainfall in the 10 year period from 1999 to 2008 was 13% less

than the long-term average. This is similar to the reduction in rainfall during the World War II drought

(1936-1945).


Page 9

Figure 5: Long-term annual rainfall at Beechworth (station 082002)

While the magnitude of the reduction in average rainfall over this 13 year period was not greater than in

earlier drought periods, the corresponding impact on streamflows was much worse than previously observed.

Figure 6 shows the long-term streamflow for a representative site (inflow to Lake Buffalo) in north east

Victoria. It can be seen in this figure that despite several years of above average rainfall over the Millenium

Drought, only one year of above average streamflow was recorded over this period. Streamflows over the

period July 1997 to June 2009 were in the range of 30% to 40% below the long term average for the region.

Figure 6: Long-term annual inflow to Lake Buffalo

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

An

nu

al r

ain

fall

(mm

)

Year

Long term average Rolling 10-yr average

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

An

nu

al s

trea

mfl

ow

(GL)

Year

Long term average Rolling 10-yr average


Page 10

There are a number of key differences between the Millennium Drought and previous drought events. The

Millennium Drought was characterised by a sharp reduction in Autumn rainfall. Autumn rainfall has been

found to be important across Victoria for wetting catchments to generate streamflow in the following

Winter/Spring period (DSE, 2011). The shift in seasonal rainfall at a representative rainfall gauge in north east

Victoria (at Beechworth) is shown in Table 2, where it can be seen that Autumn rainfall declined by 27%, whilst

rainfall at other times of the year only reduced by 5-9%.

Table 2: Shifts in seasonal rainfall during the Millennium Drought at Beechworth

Season Seasonal average rainfall (mm) Change in season

average (%) 1900/01 to 1996/97 1997/98 to 2009/10

Summer 165 155 -6%

Autumn 227 168 -27%

Winter 345 313 -9%

Spring 260 246 -5%

Total 997 882 -12%

Relative to earlier droughts, the reduction in streamflow in the Millennium Drought was further exacerbated

by higher temperatures across Victoria. Demand for water from other water users upstream of some of North

East Water’s offtakes may have also been higher than in the past, with possible increased interception of

runoff in farm dams and diversion of water for irrigation.

2.2.2 Floods – 2010 & 2011

In contrast to recent trends, the summer of 2010/11 was the wettest in Victoria since records began. Almost

two-thirds of the State received rainfall totals very much above the long-term average in 2010. The wet

conditions experienced in 2010/2011 replenished all of North East Water’s supply systems and resulted in low

demands for water.

Whilst natural climate variability is expected in north east Victoria, it is unclear whether the recent climate

behaviour of shifting from extreme drought to extreme flood is likely to be a permanent feature of our future

climate. Research by the Bureau of Meteorology (2011) suggests that greater rainfall variability is a feature of

recent global climate conditions and is expected to be a signature of greenhouse gas induced climate change.

However that research is not yet able to identify with certainty whether this recent extreme weather

behaviour will continue. North East Water will continue to monitor the outcomes of climate research and

adapt its program as appropriate.

2.3 Sources of uncertainty

There are many sources of uncertainty in any water planning exercise. Some of the major sources of

uncertainty for North East Water include:

Future climate uncertainty and its impact on surface and groundwater availability.

The potential impact of past and future bushfires.

Future population growth rates.

Future customer behaviour.

Input data and model uncertainty.

Each of these potential sources of uncertainty and how North East Water has responded to this uncertainty in

this WSDS are presented below.


Page 11

2.4 Sources of supply uncertainty

2.4.1 Climate variability

North East Water’s WSDS has taken into account the natural climate variability of the region. Water

availability for each of North East Water’s supply systems has been assessed using long-term water resource

models that cover a range of both drought and flood events, as shown in Table 3. Importantly, the analysis in

this WSDS includes consideration of the Millennium Drought, which fully tested the drought resilience of North

East Water’s supply systems. The only exception to this is for towns in the Kiewa River Basin, because DSE’s

water resource model of this area did not extend to the end of the Millenium Drought. Supply availability for

towns in the Kiewa River Basin has nevertheless still been assessed over several severe droughts.

Table 3: Period of water resource assessment to account for long-term climate variability

Supply system Period of assessment in long-term water resource model

Murray 1895 - 2010

Ovens 1891 – 2009

Kiewa 1965 – 2006

Benalla 1960 – 2009

Corryong 1955 - 2010

2.4.2 Climate change projections

Despite the recent advances that have been made in our understanding of climate science, our climate future

remains uncertain. North East Water has tested the behaviour of its supply systems in this WSDS under a

range of climate change scenarios. This is in accordance with the latest guidance from DSE (2011) on this

issue. Potential future changes to rainfall, evaporation and streamflow assumed for north east Victoria were

sourced from the most recent research available from the South East Australia Climate Initiative (SEACI), which

is a collaborative research initiative between DSE, CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology, the Murray Darling Basin

Authority and the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

The DSE WSDS Guidelines recommended assessing the "wet", “median” and "dry" climate futures. The

terminology used to describe these possibilities is indicative of their relative position within the range of

available results from the various available Global Climate Models (GCMs) under the same global warming

scenario (known as the A1B scenario):

“Wet” Scenario: where the forecast increase in temperature and reduction in rainfall relative to

baseline are exceeded in 90% of results obtained from the available GCMs.

“Median” Scenario: where the forecast increase in temperature and reduction in rainfall are exceeded

in 50% of results obtained from the available GCMs.

“Dry” Scenario: where the forecast increase in temperature and reduction in rainfall are exceeded in

10% of results obtained from the available GCMs.

The factors applied to evaporation, rainfall and streamflow in this WSDS are shown in Table 4. By way of

example, runoff into streams above North East Water’s offtakes in the Ovens River Basin would be expected to

decrease under climate change by 2-20% by the year 2030 and by 4-38% by the year 2060.


Page 12

Table 4: Change in climate under future climate change scenarios relative to historical conditions

Climate scenario

Historical 2030

dry

2030

median

2030

wet

2060

dry

2060

median

2060

wet

Ovens River Basin

Change in evaporation 0% +2% +2% +3% +3% +4% +6%

Change in rainfall 0% -7% -6% 0% -14% -11% 0%

Change in streamflow* 0% -20% -13% -2% -38% -23% -4%

Goulburn-Broken River Basin (Benalla)


Change in rainfall 0% -7% -5% 0% -14% -11% 0%

Change in streamflow* 0% -21% -12% -3% -38% -21% -5%

Upper Murray River Basin (includes Kiewa catchment)


Change in rainfall 0% -8% -5% +1% -16% -10% +2%

Change in streamflow* 0% -19% -9% 0% -36% -16% 0%

*Natural catchment runoff into streams

A further climate scenario was investigated for “return to dry” climate conditions based on a continuation of

conditions during the Millennium Drought from 1997 to 2009. This scenario was developed by scaling the

historical climate and streamflow records such that long-term climate and streamflow conditions displayed the

same characteristics as those during the Millennium Drought. Table 5 shows that pre-1997 streamflow data

would need to be reduced by 34-40% to match the streamflow conditions observed during the Millennium

Drought. Table 5 also indicates that the “return to dry” scenario results in a long term reduction in runoff

equivalent to the 2060 dry climate change predictions. The similarity of the two flow scenarios has meant that

the results obtained for the 2060 dry climate change scenario presented in this WSDS are considered to be

representative of the “return to dry” scenario.

Table 5: Climate under “return to dry” climate change scenario

River Basin Runoff reduction in pre-

1997 period (% of historical runoff)

Change in runoff due to 2060 Dry scenario (%)

Goulburn-Broken -34% -38%

Ovens -40% -38%

Upper Murray -40% -36%

The information from the above climate scenarios is reproduced in Figure 7 to illustrate how streamflow is

assumed to change over time under each climate scenario. This information is shown for the Upper Murray

river basin, however behaviour is assumed to be similar for all of North East Water’s supply catchments.


Page 13

Figure 7: Climate change impacts on runoff for the Upper Murray river basin

2.4.3 Bushfires

Most of North East Water’s water supply catchments have been subject to bushfires over the last decade, with

major bushfires occurring across the region in 2003, 2006 and 2009. Some areas burnt in the 2003 fires were

re-burnt in either the 2006 or 2009 fires. A map of the extent of these previous fires relative to North East

Water’s supply catchments is shown in Figure 8.

For water supply systems, bushfires have a short-term operational impact at the time of the fire, with

restricted access or damage to water supply assets. This is followed by water quality impacts when ash and

sediment from the fires washes into streams during rainfall events in the first few months or years after the

fires. Such water quality impacts caused North East Water to adjust some of its water treatment practices, for

instance by temporarily not diverting water during the first flush of a catchment after rainfall commences.

The effect of the bushfires most relevant to this long-term water plan is the anticipated reduction in

streamflow in North East Water’s catchments over the coming decades. This is caused by greater uptake of

water by plants as they regrow after the fires. This effect is shown in Figure 9, where it can be seen that runoff

into streams increases in the first few years immediately after a bushfire, because the vegetation that normally

intercepts rainfall has been destroyed. Runoff into streams then decreases as plants that were burnt in the

fire start to re-grow vigorously. The maximum reduction in streamflow typically occurs around 2-3 decades

after a fire, depending on various factors such as the fire intensity, vegetation age, plant species and rainfall

conditions.

-40%

-35%

-30%

-25%

-20%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

Ch

ange

in m

ean

an

nu

al r

un

off

(%

)

Year

Wet

Median

Dry

Return to dry


Page 14

Figure 8: North East Water bushfire affected water supply catchments


Page 15

A preliminary analysis of the effects of bushfires on runoff into streams in north east Victoria was undertaken

in a study for DSE (SKM, 2009). This study showed that the reduction in streamflow arising from the plant

regrowth after the fires was expected to peak by around 2021 to 2026. The anticipated reduction in mean

annual flow ranged from a negligible change (e.g. for the King River) to a peak reduction of 10% of pre-fire

mean annual streamflow in the catchment upstream of Dartmouth Dam. The Ovens, Kiewa and Upper Murray

River catchments were estimated to experience a peak reduction in streamflow of around 5-6% of pre-fire

mean annual flows.

The water supply systems considered most likely to be affected by these anticipated future reductions in

streamflow are Beechworth, Yackandandah, Bright, Harrietville, Myrtleford, Wangaratta and Corryong.

There are many factors which could influence whether the anticipated impact is actually realised in the future.

If North East Water’s supply catchments were to burn again, as many of them have already, then the process

of regrowth restarts and the time to reach the peak reduction in streamflow would be delayed beyond the

mid-2020s. Equally, if the years of peak water uptake by plants correspond to wet climate years, then the

effect of the additional water use by plants is unlikely to be noticed at North East Water’s offtakes. There are

many input data and modelling uncertainties in the broadscale assessment undertaken to date, so advice from

DSE (2011) is to defer specific actions until the next WSDS when more information is known about the likely

long-term catchment response to the fires. North East Water will keep a watching brief on further

developments by DSE in this area, which has the potential to affect water supply availability across the State

and not just to North East Water.

Figure 9: Change in catchment runoff after bushfire

Increase in runoff

Decrease in runoff


Page 16

2.4.4 Groundwater yield

Groundwater is currently used by North East Water to supply Goorambat. It is also used as a drought response

measure at several other towns. The availability of groundwater is reasonably well known in strictly managed

Groundwater Management Areas and Water Supply Protection Areas, but less well known in Unincorporated

Areas that are not actively managed.

The future availability of groundwater under climate change is uncertain. It is known from the Millennium

Drought that groundwater supplies are generally more reliable than surface water supplies in extreme

drought. However under prolonged dry conditions, rainfall recharge to groundwater aquifers reduces at the

same time as the volume of water extracted from those aquifers increases.

For this WSDS, North East Water has proposed further investigations and monitoring at Goorambat to better

understand some of the uncertainties associated with groundwater supply to the town. At other towns

(e.g. Wangaratta), North East Water has assumed that groundwater would provide a reliable supply during

drought where previous technical investigations have indicated that this is the case. This would be subject to

any management rules imposed on extraction from groundwater bores by the licensing authority Goulburn-

Murray Water.

2.4.5 Input data and model uncertainty

The analysis in this WSDS relies on various input datasets and water resource models. North East Water has

utilised the most recently available data for this WSDS.

The water resource models used in this study were developed at various times by the DSE, Goulburn-Murray

Water and North East Water and are deemed to be fit for purpose for application in long term water

management planning. Some of these models have previously been independently audited for their use in

Murray-Darling Basin Cap compliance assessments, the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields study and the

Guide to the Basin Plan (Podger et al., 2010 and Van Dijk et al., 2008). In some cases no suitable water

resource model was available. This was the case for Dartmouth, Walwa and Goorambat. In these instances,

assessments of water supply availability were made on the basis of how these supply systems behaved during

the Millenium Drought, which was the worst drought on record for most of North East Water’s supply region.

2.5 Sources of demand uncertainty

2.5.1 Population growth

Uncertainty about population projections contributes to the uncertainty in urban water demand projections.

Therefore, they are an important input to the development of urban water demand projections.

Population projections are subject to uncertainty since they are dependent on assumptions about migration

rates, birth rates, mortality rates and other demographic, economic and social trends that will affect the

growth and redistribution of population on a regional basis.

Victoria in Future (VIF) 2008 (DPCD, 2011) has been used as a basis for forecasting population growth rates,

with consideration given to local knowledge, growth trends and other relevant information. The uncertainty

of population forecasting in regional areas is increased due to:

The finest scale VIF projections being on a municipality scale, which may comprise multiple towns

with varying growth rates.

Municipal scale VIF projections only extending to 2026, resulting in the Victorian regional growth rate

being applied.


Page 17

The risk associated with population growth uncertainty is offset by relatively modest and generally stable

growth rates in north east Victoria, with the exception of Yarrawonga and Bundalong where higher than

regional average growth rates have been experienced over the recent census period. Feedback was sought

from local councils on population forecasts to reduce the uncertainty risk. The influence of tourism on growth

in these towns also contributes to the uncertainty in forecasting growth in these towns.

2.5.2 Residential water consumption trends

Residential water demand levels fluctuate from year to year in response to climate variability and underlying

trends in water use behaviour and population growth. The WSDS has established a baseline demand that

represents current water use behaviour. The historic residential water consumption for a representative

supply system (Wodonga) is shown in Figure 10 to illustrate how residential demand varies from year to year.

It can be seen in this figure that metered water consumption in the last three years has been considerably

lower than prior years, however some of this data is affected by severe water restrictions, which can distort

any trend in water use.

Figure 10: Example historical per connection demand (Wodonga metered demand)

Demand levels were standardised to account for climate variability and the impacts of restrictions. In the

example shown in Figure 11 for Wodonga, it can be seen how per connection demand has been steadily

declining since 2004/05. It is estimated that long-term average residential per connection demand has

decreased by around one third from 2004/05 to 2009/10. This trend is of a similar magnitude across all towns

in North East Water’s region.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Re

sid

en

tial

co

nsu

mp

tio

n p

er

con

ne

ctio

n (

kL/y

r)

Year

Years of significant water restriction across North East Victoria


Page 18

Figure 11: Example historical per connection demand (Wodonga estimated unrestricted demand)

With 2010/11 being much wetter than average, it is anticipated for the purposes of this WSDS that this

reduction in demand trend will not persist past 2009/10 as the immediate urgency of saving water diminishes.

The baseline level of residential demand is hence taken in the WSDS as being the year 2009/10 levels of

residential water usage.

There exists however the possibility that residential usage may demonstrate a “bounce back” in demand if

wetter conditions persist and some users revert to their water use behaviour from prior to the 2006/07

drought. The capability of the supply systems to cater for this “bounce back” situation has been addressed in

this strategy through a sensitivity analysis of supply system behaviour at the 2007/08 level of demand. This

assumes that at least some of the savings in residential water use since 2006/07 will be permanent. On

average across the system, this potential future “bounce back” represents an increase in demand of

approximately 25% over 2009/10 levels.

2.5.3 Commercial and industrial consumption

Commercial and industrial consumers currently account for around one third of North East Water’s total

demand for water. This demand has reduced significantly in recent years. Across the North East Water supply

region, commercial and industrial annual water demand has reduced from 5.8 GL to 4.1 GL between 2006/07

and 2010/11. This is due to a combination of large water users either no longer continuing their businesses in

north east Victoria, switching to North East Water’s recycled water supply, or improving their water usage

efficiency.

A typical illustration of the trend in commercial and industrial demand over the last 14 years is provided for

Wodonga in Figure 12. This figure shows that commercial/industrial demand fluctuated between

2,000-2,500 ML/yr in most years up to 2006/07. After the severe drought in this year, commercial/industrial

demand dropped to less than 2,000 ML/yr.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Re

sid

en

tial

co

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mp

tio

n p

er

con

ne

ctio

n (k

L/yr

)

Year


Page 19

Figure 12: Example historical trend in commercial/industrial demand (Wodonga)

For most supply systems, industrial, commercial (and vacant land) demand was assumed to be equal to the

metered consumption in 2010/11 for each customer group. However specific allowance has been made in this

WSDS for potential large industrial water customers that may be connected in the near future. Additional

demands have been included in the estimate of baseline demand for their respective towns.

2.5.4 Environmental requirements

The environmental water reserve (EWR) is the water set aside by under the Water Act to meet environmental

water requirements. It includes:

Statutory environmental entitlements (such as a volume of water held in storage for the

environment).

Conditions on bulk entitlements, licences and permits (such as passing flows below a storage).

The establishment of limits to diversions (such as permissible consumptive volumes and the Murray-

Darling Basin Cap).

North East Water contributes to this EWR through its management of minimum passing flows at each of its

water supply offtakes. North East Water is required to report its compliance with these minimum passing

flows to DSE on an annual basis as a legal obligation under our bulk entitlements. This WSDS assumes that the

passing flows in North East Water’s bulk entitlements will continue to be provided for the environment into

the future. Management of passing flows for the environment below the major on-stream storages on the

Murray, Ovens/King and Kiewa Rivers are managed by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Goulburn-Murray

Water and AGL respectively.

Regional River Health Strategies have been developed for the Goulburn-Broken and North East Regions to

provide broad level strategic direction for the future management of waterways in north east Victoria. In the

North East Region, the majority of rivers were classified as being in moderate to good condition, with less than

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Co

nsu

mp

tio

n (M

L/yr

)

Year


Page 20

15% of rivers (by river length) considered to be in poor or very poor condition (NECMA, 2006). In the Broken

River catchment in the Goulburn-Broken Region, 49% of rivers (by river length) were considered to be in poor

or very poor condition (GBCMA, 2005). Each river health strategy identifies river reaches across the region

which are high value for environmental, social or economic reasons. Each strategy also outlines a significant

investment program to maintain or enhance these values. North East Water has been cognisant of these

actions by the regional catchment management authorities to improve river health when examining any future

supply enhancement options. Water savings achieved by North East Water and its customers contribute to

river health outcomes across the region. Regional River Health Strategies are due to be revised in 2011/12,

which may or may not see changes in investment priorities for rivers in the region.

River and streamflow from north east Victoria contribute to river health along the length of the River Murray.

The current volume of water for key ecological assets along the River Murray is widely regarded as inadequate,

as outlined in the Guide to the Basin Plan (MDBA, 2010). Water recovery for the River Murray environment

has occurred to date through initiatives such as the Living Murray program and the buy-back of entitlements

by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. Similarly, a range of water recovery actions were

proposed in DSE’s Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy (DSE, 2009) to recover water for the

environment, including the establishment of the Victorian Environmental Water Holder which occurred in

2011. These programs have not affected North East Water’s operations to date and are not expected to affect

operations in the future.

The largest policy uncertainty for North East Water with respect to environmental flow requirements was the

proposed Basin Plan. At the time of preparing the draft WSDS, only the Guide to the Basin Plan was available,

and the draft plan had not yet been released. However, the Proposed Basin Plan (MDBA, 2011) was released

prior to the WSDS being finalised. In contrast to the Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan (MDBA, 2010), the

Proposed Basin Plan (MDBA, 2011) does not identify specific changes to surface water or groundwater

availability in the north east region of Victoria. If approved, the Plan will come into effect in 2019, with a

review of sustainable diversion limits in 2015. This timeframe provides North East Water with a lead time to

adjust to any proposed changes in environmental flows.

2.6 Approaches to decision-making under uncertainty

2.6.1 Scenario planning

The discussion in the previous section of this WSDS highlighted the numerous uncertainties which could affect

future demand and/or water availability in north east Victoria. Based on the advice in DSE’s WSDS guidelines

(DSE, 2010), North East Water has undertaken a combination of scenario planning and adaptive management

to address these uncertainties.

North East Water adopted a baseline demand and supply scenario over the next 50 years using:

Victoria in Future population projections for residential population growth.

Expected changes in industrial/commercial demand in individual supply systems.

Median climate change conditions.

The demand and supply projection under these conditions forms the baseline scenario for North East Water’s

assessment of the future supply and demand balance.

Conditions may however be different to those adopted in the baseline scenario. To account for this, North

East Water has also quantified the supply and demand balance under alternative climate change and demand

scenarios, as well as assessing the effectiveness of actions proposed under the WSDS under these alternative

conditions. This enables North East Water to assess how sensitive its current supply system is to future

uncertainties, along with how robust its proposed solutions are to future changes in demand and supply. For

example, if a proposed action needed to be brought forward under population growth conditions that were


Page 21

higher than the assumed baseline, then North East Water has checked the lead time for the preferred action

to ensure that it can still be implemented in time. Similarly, actions to secure more water from one source

may be more resilient to climate change than from another source. This is evident if there are significant

changes in the anticipated increase in supply available from an option under dry or wet climate change

conditions versus median climate change conditions. This measure of robustness is taken into account when

deciding on a final set of actions in the strategy.

2.6.2 Adaptive management

Adaptive management is a systematic process of continually improving management policies and practices by

learning from management actions and using that learning to improve the next stage of management (Holling,

1978). Adaptive management is required in water planning because our knowledge of future conditions is

uncertain. This includes changes to natural systems, the regulatory environment in which North East Water

operates, and shifts in community preferences and behaviour over time.

North East Water uses an adaptive management approach for its water planning. This WSDS recommends

actions to collect further information in supply systems where supply availability is uncertain. This defers

potentially costly or unnecessary infrastructure investments until more is known about likely future supply

system conditions. DSE has recommended this approach in response to potential changes in supply from past

bushfires, as discussed in Section 2.4.3. Reductions in per capita water use, discussed previously in Section

2.5.2, have also highlighted that long-term actions proposed in the previous WSDS may be deferred or no

longer be required in some supply systems because of this change in customer behaviour.

Being ready for these changes in conditions is important. North East Water is committed to progressing its

program of investigations and design outlined in this WSDS so that demand reduction and supply

enhancement measures are ready to implement if future conditions change. Equally, North East Water will

defer large capital expenditure where small improvements in knowledge over time could have a large bearing

on the timing and magnitude of that expenditure.

2.7 Lessons from recent experience and achievements

North East Water’s water supply systems have been tested by the entire spectrum of climatic conditions since

implementing its first WSDS in 2007, which has included one of the driest and wettest years on record. This

experience allowed North East Water to test previous assumptions and as a result the corporation has a higher

level of certainty around appropriate drought response trigger levels and actions.

North East Water’s lessons from recent experience and achievements can be grouped into the following six

themes, which are discussed in the following sub-sections:

1. Drought response.

2. Supply augmentation.

3. System water savings.

4. Demand reduction and management.

5. Use of water markets.

6. Further studies.


Page 22

2.7.1 Drought response

North East Water’s Drought Response Plan (2006) was used extensively in the preceding five years. In many

parts of the region, North East Water experienced the worst drought on record before flooding rains in 2010.

Many drought response actions were found to be equally effective during flood periods. Key emergency and

contingency actions taken during extreme water shortages included:

Water restrictions were used as North East Water’s primary demand reduction tool in periods when

water availability was low. All of North East Water’s towns experienced water restrictions to varying

degrees at some stage during the drought. In most cases, water restrictions were enacted prior to

reaching the restriction trigger levels contained in the previous Drought Response Plan. This was due

to the severity of the drought and the uncertainty of conditions in respect to the modelled trigger

levels. These lessons were used to inform the development of updated trigger levels in the Drought

Response Plan 2011.

In the regulated Murray System, North East Water enacted severe water restrictions when opening

allocations were low and a Qualification of Rights was in place with no access to carryover from the

previous year. This ensured that extractions remained within the allocated entitlement. In accordance

with North East Water’s Ovens Bulk Entitlement, severe water restrictions were enacted in Ovens and

King System towns when the resource manager imposed irrigation bans on the Ovens and King rivers.

Severe water restrictions were also enacted at towns supplied from smaller unregulated waterways

with limited or no storage such as Glenrowan, Springhurst, Bright and Whitfield. Water restrictions of

all levels were generally embraced by customers, but there was some variation in restrictable demand

between towns.

North East Water temporarily supplemented supplies from alternative sources at several of its towns

when regular sources of water were physically unavailable or of reduced quality. Periods that water

was trucked ranged from trucking water for a single through to several months at a time. Water

carting was generally limited to small towns due to the logistics involved for larger towns. However, in

2007 when low flows occurred in the Ovens River, a water carting contingency plan was developed for

Wangaratta, but never implemented. Severe water restrictions were generally enacted in conjunction

with water carting to limit demand.

Musk Gully Creek at Whitfield ceased flowing in 2007 and the storage dropped rapidly. North East

Water sought a Qualification of Rights from the Minister to allow extraction of water from the nearby

King River. The Qualification of Rights was approved just days after a significant rain event that saw

the creek commence flowing again and water was never extracted from the King River.

North East Water supplemented the Ovens River supply at Bright by intermittently pumping from the

Harrietville dredge holes from January to March 2007. During this period, approximately 100 ML was

pumped at a rate of up to 5 ML/day. High losses limited the effectiveness of this action, but pumping

of the dredge holes contributed to prolonged stream flows in the Ovens River at Bright and secured

the water supply for Bright which otherwise may have failed.

Several of North East Water Bulk Entitlements make provision for the use of alternative water supply

sources. At Harrietville, the supply source was temporarily changed to the Ovens River from Simmons

Creek as flows began to cease, which allowed Harrietville to be supplied throughout the drought.

Similarly, at Dartmouth, the supply source was changed from Lake Tabor to the Mitta Mitta River due

to poor water quality conditions caused by bushfires.


Page 23

2.7.2 Supply augmentation

The 2007 Water Supply Demand Strategy identified a number of augmentation options that have been

implemented or implementation will have commenced prior to 2012. In addition a groundwater augmentation

option was implemented for Wangaratta in response to extreme water shortages in the Ovens Basin during

the 2006/07 summer. Supply augmentations and associated outcomes are summarised in Table 6.

Table 6: Summary of supply system changes under Water Plan 2007 and associated outcomes

Community Change in system configuration or change in system management

Outcomes

Barnawartha Local groundwater supply source replaced with piped supply from Wodonga system. (July 2009)

Increased supply reliability

Fully treated supply replaced disinfection only groundwater source

Reduced water quality risks

Provision of fluoride

Bright, Porepunkah, Wandiligong

Design of 520 ML off stream storage with proposed amendment of Bulk Water Entitlement. (expected 2014)



Increased environmental passing flows for Ovens River

Bundalong Local surface water supply augmented with piped supply from Yarrawonga system. (expected December 2012)


Dual supply pipework providing potable and raw water


Chiltern Local groundwater supply sources replaced with piped supply from Wodonga system. (April 2009)



Glenrowan Local Fifteen Mile Creek supply source replaced with piped supply from Wangaratta system. (May 2011)




Porepunkah Replacement of Buckland River supply source with piped supply from Bright system. (September 2008)


Filtered supply


Springhurst Local catchment and shallow groundwater supply sources replaced with piped supply from Wodonga system. (expected December 2011)




Wangaratta Augmentation of Ovens River supply source with ground water supplies. (March-April 2007)


Alternative source for use in low flow conditions

Whitfield Local Musk Gully Creek supply source replaced with supply from King River. (expected June 2012)


Fully treated supply to replace disinfection only treatment



Page 24

2.7.3 System water savings

North East Water has implemented a program to improve the efficiency of its delivery systems, which has

resulted in system water losses being reduced by one third since its inception. This program has involved:

Auditing delivery systems to identify areas of high loss.

Annual meter verification program to ensure all data captured is accurate.

Active leak detection to identify and repair main breaks.

Recycling backwash water from water treatment plants.

Investigating zoned metering within larger towns to enable leaks to be located earlier.

Investigating pressure reduction options within towns that have excessive breaks to reduce leakage.

2.7.4 Demand reduction and management

North East Water has observed a significant reduction in demand for water across all sectors in recent years.

Water consumption data has shown that demand per residential connection has been steadily declining since

2004/05. In Wodonga it is estimated that long-term average residential per connection demand has

decreased by around one third from 2004/05 to 2009/10, which is a trend of similar magnitude across all

towns in North East Water’s region. Reduced demand has resulted in improved supply reliability (level of

service) for many systems across the region, including Benalla and Beechworth, and defers the need for supply

augmentation.

Demand reduction has been achieved through changes in customer behaviour, increased water prices and

regulation (e.g. water restrictions). Customer behaviour change has been driven by a range of factors,

including community and education programs, which is discussed in Section 2.7.5.

Commercial and industrial consumers currently account for around one third of North East Water’s total

demand for water. This demand has reduced significantly in recent years. Across the North East Water supply

region, commercial and industrial annual water demand has reduced from 5.8 GL to 4.1 GL between 2006/07

and 2010/11. This is due to a range of factors, including North East Water facilitating the implementation of

the Victorian Government’s waterMAP initiative.

Major industrial, commercial and institutional water-using customers that consume more than 10 ML of water

from an urban water supply in a financial year must develop a water Management Action Plan (waterMAP).

This requirement is outlined in North East Water's Permanent Water Savings Plan 2008 created under the

Water Act 1989 and Water Industry Act 1993 and is therefore mandatory. Developing a waterMAP involves:

Assessing current water use.

Identifying inefficiencies and opportunities for water savings.

Submitting an action plan to implement water conservation and efficiency actions identified.

Report annually on implementation of water conservation and efficiency actions.

The mandatory process requires industrial, commercial and institutional customers to complete a series of

seven templates and submit these to their water corporation (i.e. North East Water).

Non-residential customers that triggered the 10 ML threshold account for approximately 15-20% of

consumption across North East Water. Government sponsored programs, such as waterMAP have been

responsible for promoting responsible use of water by industry and the activities are seen as an integral part of

the North East Water’s demand management activities in the non-residential sector.


Page 25

2.7.5 Community and education programs

North East Water’s commitment to Community Education saw the appointment of an Education Officer in

August 2007 to develop and enhance the corporation’s commitment to community awareness of sustainable

water use. Working in accordance with the Corporations Strategic Intent and the WSDS the main objectives of

the North East Water education program are to:

Increase community awareness of sustainable water use.

Develop and provide tools and resources to empower communities to conserve water.

Promote North East Water and its operations.

Key activities that have completed under this initiative include:

Building and maintaining partnerships with regional community educators and agencies to develop

regional specific school curriculum resources and joint community programs and events, such as

North East Catchment Management Authority’s Waterwatch program and assisting in the

development and delivery of the School Environment Education Directory (SEED) north east project.

Participation in community events to promote residential water conservation events, such as

Wodonga Children’s Fair, Bunnings' World Environment Day Display, and Benalla Safeway Farmers

Day.

Development of an interactive web-based education resource about water treatment at our facility at

Huons Hill, Wodonga.

Creation of a pilot partnership between North East Water and the Rutherglen Garden Club to

promote good gardening practices and water conservation.

Community presentations on North East Water’s WSDS and promotion of residential water

conservation practices and initiatives.

Coordination and delivery of the ‘Swap and Save’ showerhead exchange program to reduce

residential water use, as a part of the WSDS 2007 initiatives, which has resulted in the exchange of

1,945 showerheads.

A summary of education activities that have been completed since implementation of the WSDS in 2007 is

shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Summary of Education Activities Recently Completed (2007/08 to 2010/11)

Activity Activities Participants involved

Presentations to community groups 21 502

Representation at expos and fairs 32 4,814

Education programs with schools, childcare facilities and teacher professional development

94 4,556

Treatment plant tours for community and school groups 42 992


Page 26

2.7.6 Use of water markets

North East Water used water markets during the drought to provide an appropriate level of water security to

its customers during periods of low allocation on regulated systems and low water availability in unregulated

systems. Key activities involving the use of water markets included:

North East Water purchased (permanent) water shares for Benalla, Eskdale, Moyhu, Wodonga and

Yackandandah during the drought. Small volumes were purchased to increase existing bulk

entitlements or allocate to a new licence in the case of Benalla and Eskdale. Additionally, water was

also purchased opportunistically as it became available on the market. Larger volumes were

purchased in the Murray and Ovens and King systems to allow for future growth and provide

customers with greater choice in how they use their water during periods of low water availability.

Water was purchased on the regulated Broken System to provide a contingency supply for Benalla in

the event that the regular supply was unavailable.

Large purchases of seasonal allocations (temporary) up to 4,362 ML were made for the River Murray

Bulk Entitlement to provide customers with a higher level of service than would otherwise be possible

during periods of low allocation on the Murray System.

Carryover of unused entitlement from the previous year was used to provide Murray System

customers with an increased level of service than would otherwise have been possible at 0%

entitlement allocation early in the season. Qualification of Rights was in place in 2008/09 and 2009/10

which allowed North East Water to supply customers at Stage 4 water restriction demand prior to

carryover becoming available in each season. Temporary purchases supplemented these tools to

allow North East Water to enact less severe water restrictions on customers.

North East Water made a number of temporary trades during the drought. These were generally

small volumes to cover shortfalls in Bulk Entitlements. In 2007, 100 ML was traded internally to the

Wangaratta drought relief bores which at that time had no entitlement associated with their licences.

This trade enabled pump tests to be conducted on the bores and maintain them as a contingency

supply for Wangaratta. Carryover was traded less often with only small volumes of carryover in excess

of North East Water’s needs traded out to the water market.

New groundwater supplies were developed at Wangaratta and Bright. During 2007 when the Ovens

River began to fail at Wangaratta, two additional bores were drilled. These bores were completed just

as the Ovens River responded to rainfall and hence were not required that year. Wangaratta now has

three bores and dedicated treatment to integrate groundwater into the existing water reticulation in

the event that the regular source of water from the Ovens River is unavailable. A drought relief bore

was drilled at Bright in 2010 for contingency purposes but has yet to be used.

North East Water’s Urban Water Trading Scheme operated from 2007/08 to 2009/10. The scheme

provided water to customers that would otherwise be limited in their water use due to urban water

restrictions. Customers included schools, sporting associations, wineries and local shires. During this

time we delivered approximately 174 ML to 36 customers. The scheme was a success and is likely to

operate in the future in the event that dry conditions return.

North East Water worked with Goulburn-Murray Water and DSE from 2008 onwards to develop the

Protocol for Crediting Return Flows from West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment Plant. The protocol

was implemented as a pilot in July 2010 and allows North East Water to claim monthly return flow

credits from the West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment Plant against the River Murray Bulk

Entitlement. A total of 804 ML of return flows were credited to the River Murray Bulk Entitlement in

2010/11. North East Water continues to operate under the protocol.


Page 27

Proposed change to Bulk Entitlement at Bright, due to inclusion off-stream storage, will result in

increased reliability of supply for customers and increased passing flows for the environment. In this

regard, the proposed 520 ML off stream storage will be filled during periods of high river flow and

reservoir will be able meet demand during periods of critical low river flows without the need to

divert from the river. The storage will provide the agreed level of service for customers.

2.7.7 Further studies

Several studies have been undertaken to identify the preferred option for augmenting the supply of systems

identified in the 2007 WSDS. Some of these have been successful in attracting funding and are subsequently

being implemented, while other studies will be used to inform future Water Supply Demand Strategies and

capital upgrade requirements, and are summarised in Table 8.

Table 8: Summary of Studies to support Supply Augmentations

System Study Description Outcome

Springhurst Business case evaluation of options for supply augmentation and funding application.

Resulted in successful funding application under the government Small Town Water Quality fund for a piped supply from the Murray River. This pipeline will be completed in December 2011.

Whitfield Business case evaluation of options for supply augmentation and funding application.

Resulted in successful funding application under the government Small Town Water Quality fund for a secure supply from the King River. The new supply will be completed in mid 2012.

Yackandandah Functional design for supply augmentation from Wodonga system.

Supply augmentation from Wodonga option, scoped and costed for future consideration.

Yackandandah Prefeasibility assessment of availability of groundwater to augment supply for Yackandandah.

Provided base information and cost estimates to progress a groundwater exploration and development program. The investigation program will be considered as funding becomes available.

Goorambat Business case evaluation of options for supply augmentation and funding application

Whilst the funding application under the government Small Town Water Quality fund was unsuccessful, the preferred option was identified, scoped and costed for implementation in the future.


Page 28

System Study Description Outcome

Harrietville Business case evaluation of options for provision of safe drinking water and funding application

Whilst the funding application under the government Small Town Water Quality fund was unsuccessful, the preferred treatment component option was identified, scoped and costed, which can be used in conjunction with augmentation in the future.

Benalla Benalla supply options investigation and subsequent functional design to augment supply from Broken River.

Preferred option identified, scoped and costed for augmenting supply for Benalla in the future.

Wangaratta Ovens Valley Water Resource Appraisal Investigations led by Goulburn-Murray Water.

Several studies funded by State and Commonwealth governments to investigate the availability and interconnection of surface water and groundwater in the Ovens Valley.

Bright and Harrietville Upper Ovens River Water Supply Protection Area Water Management Plan led by Goulburn-Murray Water.

The plan was prepared following the declaration by the Minister of the Upper Ovens Basin as a water supply protection area. The plan proposes common management arrangements for surface water and groundwater to achieve increased environmental flows.

Wodonga and Yackandandah One Resource pilot project conducted for Yackandandah and Wodonga.

Shared understanding with the community alternative water sources available to achieve outcomes sought by the community and ultimately achieving improved supply reliability (level of service).


Page 29

3 Methodology for analysing the supply and demand balance

3.1.1 Types of demand

North East Water supplies water to a wide variety of customers who use that water for many different

purposes. The majority of North East Water’s customers are residential customers, who account for almost

90% of total connections to North East Water’s supply system, as shown in Figure 13. Commercial/industrial

customers account for around 10% of total connections, with the remaining 1% of connections to vacant land.

Figure 13: Distribution of North East Water customer connections by type

In contrast, the distribution of water demand by customer type is shown in Figure 14. This figure indicates

that commercial/industrial customers account for just over one third of total water demand and residential

water use accounts for just under two thirds. This is based on customer meter data in 2010/11 and may vary

slightly from year to year in response to climate conditions.

Figure 14: Distribution of North East Water customer demand consumption by type

10% of total

89% of total

1% of total

Commercial/industrial

Residential

Vacant Land

37% of total

63% of total

0% of total

Commercial/industrial

Residential

Vacant Land


Page 30

The population serviced by North East Water is approximately 115,000 people. The larger towns in the region

that are supplied by North East Water include Wodonga, Wangaratta, Benalla and Yarrawonga.

Water supply from North East Water supports various industries. These industries are important for both the

regional and State economy, and include international export industries. Some of the major water users

supplied by North East Water include food processing industries (e.g. food, soymilk and pet-food

manufacturers, livestock saleyards, abattoirs and local wineries), manufacturing (e.g. timber processing, fibre

production), recreational facilities (e.g. golf courses) and government facilities (e.g. hospitals, correctional

facilities).

3.2 Determining Levels of Service

3.2.1 What is meant by Levels of Service?

In the context of this WSDS, level of service refers to the long-term security of supply of a water supply system.

Security of supply is measured by the frequency, severity and/or duration of water restrictions, as well as the

ability to maintain a minimum supply during drought. Security of supply is often used interchangeably with

the term reliability of supply, which has an equivalent meaning in this WSDS. There are two aspects to North

East Water’s level of service; an agreed level of service and minimum level of service.

An agreed level of service reflects a desired maximum frequency of restrictions for a supply system in the

long-term. If this level of service is not met, then customers would expect to experience restrictions more

frequently than desired. North East Water has planned to be able to maintain this level of service in the long-

term under anticipated future climate change conditions.

Restrictions can vary for different customer segments, refer to North East Water’s website

(www.newater.com.au) for more information on water restriction details.

The level of service in this WSDS is assessed using long-term water resource models of each supply system.

The actual level of service experienced by customers at any time over the next 50 years may differ from the

long-term modelled estimate, as occurred from 1997-2009 when a series of unforeseen consecutive dry years

resulted in a high frequency of restrictions. The level of service (reliability of supply) will be higher during

prolonged and/or severe wet climate periods and lower during prolonged dry climate periods.

The agreed level of service can be affected by a number of factors, and is often limited by the nature of the

supply system. The agreed level of service can be changed if customers are willing to pay for a different level

of service. If the best available demand reduction or supply enhancement option is relatively inexpensive,

then a higher level of service can be readily achieved with little or no impact on water prices. On the other

hand, if the best available option is expensive, then it may result in a substantial increase in water prices, and a

lower level of service may be preferable.

A minimum level of service reflects North East Water’s commitment to maintain supply for in-house

residential water consumption and commercial/industrial demand. North East Water has capacity to supply

this volume during a repeat of the worst historical drought on record, adjusted for future climate change.



Page 31

3.2.2 Minimum Level of Service

North East Water’s minimum level of service meets the demand for unrestrictable in-house and

commercial/industrial use. This component of demand is what would be provided to customers under Stage 4

restrictions, as outlined on our website (www.newater.com.au).

The magnitude of this demand will change over time with changes in population, in-house water use efficiency

and the nature of commercial/industrial demand. North East Water has the capacity to deliver the minimum

level of service to all of its customers, which is approximately 6,500 ML/yr based on the current (2010/11)

level of demand.

3.2.3 Agreed Level of Service

North East Water’s agreed level of service provides a 90% likelihood that customers will not be asked to

reduce water consumption in any given year, based on forecast community needs for water over the 50 year

planning horizon.

North East Water is planning to provide the proposed agreed level of service to all of its customers, subject to:

Integration of 520 ML storage into Bright water supply system (expected 2014).

Augmentation of the Goorambat water supply system included in Water Plan 3 (2013 – 2018).

3.3 Forecasting demand

3.3.1 Factors influencing demand

There are numerous factors which can influence future demand for water from North East Water’s customers,

as outlined in Figure 15. These influences can be distilled into uncertainties around future climate, water use

behaviour, demographics, technological development and the state of the economy. North East Water has

focussed on estimating the changes in future demand which are readily quantifiable and which could have a

significant impact on the water resource planning decisions in this WSDS. These include:

Uncertainties around future climate and potential changes in customer demand.

Changes in water use behaviour due to price increases, education and uptake of alternative water

supplies (e.g. roof water or grey water).

Changes in demographics due to population growth and changes in occupancy rates.

Technology developments that enable reduced water losses at water treatment plants and

advancements in leak detection and remediation methods to reduce losses in North East Water

reticulation systems.

Changes in the economic environment that can result in a change in industrial or commercial

demand, due to the expansion, contraction or additional businesses in the area.



Page 32

Figure 15: Typical factors influencing urban water demand (from Turner et al. 2010)

3.3.2 Approach adopted to forecast demand

North East Water has used a sector based approach to forecast demand. Historical demand from residential,

industrial, commercial and vacant land connections in each supply system were separately analysed and

forecasted. Raw and treated water losses were also separately forecasted. The components of demand by

customer type at the current level of demand were estimated using the sum of recent customer meter data.

Demand was estimated as a function of input climate, but also gave regard to changes in population and water

use behaviour over recent years. Residential demand was a function of baseline demand and population

growth (refer to Sections 3.3.3 and 3.3.4, respectively), whereas industrial, commercial and vacant land

demand was assumed to be equal to the year 2010/11 for most systems.

Unlike residential demand, industrial, commercial and vacant land demand was assumed to be constant

throughout the year. An allowance was made for distribution losses downstream of the treatment plant, with

the remainder being assigned to residential water use. The exceptions to this procedure were at towns with

seasonally variable commercial water use such as at Bright, Beechworth, Myrtleford, Yackandandah,

Dartmouth, Eskdale and Rutherglen. In these towns commercial demand was assumed to vary seasonally in a

similar manner to residential demand, rather than being constant throughout the year.


Page 33

3.3.3 Baseline demand

The baseline water demand for each supply system has been derived by fitting demand models to metered

bulk water usage from North East Water’s treatment plants. Data collected over periods of water restriction

were excluded from the demand model fitting procedure. The form of the demand model used was to

estimate demand as a function of climate conditions and time, where the time variable was used to represent

trends in population and water use behaviour that were not directly attributable to climate variability.

An example demand regression is shown in Figure 16, which shows that the demand model performs

reasonably well in estimating historical demands, with only minor over- or under-fitting of demands in some

months. The fit statistics were good, with a monthly coefficient of determination (R2) typically greater than 0.9

and a standard error of estimate less than 10%.

In the demand regression example shown in Figure 16, the dashed light blue line represents the historical

demand over the period, the solid pink line shows the modelled demand based on climatic conditions fitted for

that system. When estimating demands at the current (2010) level of population and water use behaviour,

shown as the dashed purple line, the time variable was set to equal to 1 July 2010,.

In the example shown in Figure 16 for Benalla, the demands at the current level of population and water use

behaviour are lower than the historical demands in 2005/06, which reflects the reduction in per capita water

use in Benalla since 2004/05. This example was fairly typical for the demand models fitted to each supply

system.

Figure 16: Example demand regression fitted to treated water data (Benalla)

The last step in the process to estimate total raw water demand was to make an allowance for losses in North

East Water’s headworks (between raw water offtake and the treatment plant outlet). This was done by

comparing historical metered raw and clear water data over the last few years. The adopted headworks and

treatment and distribution losses used in for the WSDS are presented in Table 9.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Wat

er

Co

nsu

mp

tio

n (

ML/

mo

nth

)

Clear Water Clear Water Demand @ 2010 LOD Historical Est. Clear Water Demand


Page 34

Table 9 Headworks and distribution water losses adopted for purposes of WSDS

Town Water losses in Headworks (% of clear water demand)

Water losses in Distribution (% of clear water demand)

Beechworth 10% 8%

Bellbridge 22% 5%

Benalla 10% 7%

Bright 28% 5%

Bundalong 14% 5%

Corryong 18% 5%

Dartmouth 45% 5%

Eskdale 10% 5%

Goorambat 10% 5%

Harrietville 18% 5%

Mount Beauty 22% 5%

Moyhu 10% 12%

Myrtleford 10% 5%

Oxley 61% 14%

Springhurst 10% 5%

Tallangatta 10% 5%

Wahgunyah 10% 6%

Walwa 22% 5%

Wangaratta 10% 8%

Whitfield 10% 5%

Wodonga 10% 5%

Yackandandah 10% 5%

Yarrawonga 12% 6%

3.3.4 Approach adopted to forecast population growth

Population and residential connection forecasts have been developed for each of North East Water’s current

water supply systems by considering the following data:

North East Water residential water connection data (1998 -2011).

Victorian Government’s Towns in Time population data (1981 – 2006).

Victorian Government’s Victoria in Future population projections (2008).

North East Water’s 2007 WSDS and Water Plan 2 population and occupancy forecasts.

The approach adopted to determine the population and connection forecasts for each of NEW’s current water

supply systems involved:

1. Identifying historical population, connection and occupancy data.

2. Forecasting population and connections using existing projections, such as Victoria in Future, and

considering other relevant atypical information.

3. Comparing forecast and historical trends and selecting a forecast based on an appropriate fit.

4. Verifying selected population forecasts with local councils.


Page 35

3.3.5 Consideration of water restrictions on demand

Water restrictions are implemented by North East Water to conserve water supply during times of limited

supply, particularly during drought. This helps to ensure that customers receive their minimum level of service

during these periods. Water restrictions are a relatively low cost, infrequently used measure that is applied to

avoid expensive investment in water supply system infrastructure (except when supply is limited by allocation,

such as systems supplied by the regulated River Murray) . As discussed in Section 2.7.1, temporary water

purchases were made for the River Murray Bulk Entitlement to provide customers with a higher level of

service than would otherwise be possible during periods of low allocation on the Murray System and this

practice will continue in future when it is appropriate.

North East Water adopted the four stages of restriction in the Victorian Uniform Water Restriction Guidelines

(VWIA, 2005) for modelling purposes. This includes the permanent water saving measures that require

customers to use sensible water saving practices at all times, such as the use of trigger nozzles on hoses. The

anticipated reduction in restrictable demand at each stage of restriction in this WSDS is 14%, 44%, 67% and

98%, as specified in these guidelines. Under Stage 4 restrictions only unrestrictable in-house and

commercial/industrial demands are assumed to be supplied to customers.

The Victorian Water Restriction Guidelines were updated after the draft WSDS was completed and prior to the

WSDS being finalised. The updated guidelines take into account the experience of urban water utilities across

Victoria in implementing the previous guidelines and aim to simplify the rules at each stage of restriction so that

they are easier for customers to understand and so that there is a more even progression of actions from mild to

severe restriction stages. A summary of the revised rules for outdoor garden watering is shown in Figure 17. The

reduction in demand anticipated at each stage of restriction is expected to be relatively consistent with the

previous guidelines. Therefore this change is not expected to alter any outcomes in this WSDS.

Figure 17: Revised arrangements for outdoor watering (VicWater, 2011)


Page 36

3.3.6 Consideration of System Water Savings on Demand

North East Water has achieved significant water savings in its delivery systems in recent years through the

implementation of a program to improve their efficiency, which is discussed in Section 2.7.3. Further water

savings (reduction in losses) in North East Water’s delivery systems are outlined in Table 10. These savings

have been used in the supply-demand balance assessment and to determine supply augmentation timing.

Table 10: Forecast water savings (reduction in losses) in headworks and distribution

Supply system/Town

Forecast water savings

(percentage of total water losses

in distribution/headworks) Comment

Headworks Distribution

Beechworth 40% 50% Headworks losses require investigation.

Additional meter required to assess leakage.

Bellbridge 0% 0% Relatively new system, therefore negligible

savings.

Benalla 20% 50% Additional meter required to assess leakage.

Bright 0% 80% Significant losses in distribution due to

infrastructure age and high pressure.

Leak detection survey required.

Bundalong 0% 0% Relatively new system.

Corryong -10% 65%

New WTP will increase losses in headworks.


New WTP will reduce flushing in distribution due to improved water quality conditions.

Dartmouth -10% 50% New WTP will increase losses in headworks.


Eskdale 0% 0% Relatively new system.

Glenrowan 0% 50% New metering has indicated significant

savings in distribution can be achieved.

Goorambat 0% 0% Negligible losses in the system.

Harrietville 0% 50% Additional meter required to assess leakage.

Mount Beauty 0% 80%

Significant losses in distribution due to infrastructure age and high pressure.


Disaggregated system increases losses.

Moyhu 0% 50% Additional meter required to assess leakage.

Myrtleford 0% 50% New WTP will reduce flushing in distribution

due to improved water quality conditions.


Oxley 40% 50% Headworks losses require investigation.


Wahgunyah/Rutherglen 20% 50% Additional meter required to assess leakage.

Springhurst 0% 75% Additional meter required to assess leakage.


Page 37

Supply system/Town

Forecast water savings

(percentage of total water losses

in distribution/headworks) Comment

Headworks Distribution

Tallangatta 0% 70% Additional meter required to assess leakage.

Walwa 0% 75% Leak detection survey required.

Wangaratta 0% 50%

Distribution needs to be broken into designated management areas (additional meters in distribution) to identify leakage.


Significant losses in distribution due to infrastructure age.

Whitfield -10% 0% New WTP will increase losses in headworks.

Wodonga 0% 50%

Significant losses in distribution (e.g. 100 ML/yr lost at Bears Hill).

Distribution needs to be broken into designated management areas (additional meters in distribution) to identify leakage.

Yackandandah 0% 50% Meter accuracy at low flows needs to be

verified to properly assess leakage.

Yarrawonga 0% 50% Additional meter required to assess leakage.


3.4 Forecasting supply

Water supply system yield is the amount of water that can be reliably harvested from a supply system. Yield

can be affected by several factors, such as the amount of rainfall in North East Water’s supply catchments, the

mix of water sources in each supply system, the available storage, operational rules that North East Water

must follow for extracting water and passing environmental flows, and North East Water’s target levels of

service. Yield is defined by the Water Services Association of Australia as “the average annual volume that can

be supplied by a water supply system subject to an adopted set of operational rules and a typical demand

pattern without violating a given level of service standard” (Erlanger and Neal, 2005).

For this WSDS, water resource models for each supply system have been used to estimate how much water

could be supplied over a long-term climate sequence (40+ years) without experiencing restrictions more

frequently than desired under the agreed level of service, whilst also maintaining the minimum level of service

in the most severe drought over that climate sequence. Yield at any point over the planning horizon is defined

for this strategy as the average annual demand at which these level of service objectives are just met. Using

the average annual demand to define yield allows direct comparison with the future demand projections to

determine when demand exceeds available yield.

North East Water has considered yield at two levels of service, namely at 90% annual reliability, which is the

trigger for demand reduction or supply enhancement measures, and 95% annual reliability, which is the target

level of service for the supply system when these measures are first implemented. A 90% annual reliability

corresponds to a likelihood of 90% that North East Water’s customers will not be restricted in any given year in

the long term.


Page 38

Sources of supply uncertainty were previously discussed in Chapter 3 of this WSDS. The main source of

uncertainty incorporated into the analysis was the effect of potential future climate change.

Figure 18 shows an example supply projection, in this case for Benalla. This graph shows that at an annual

reliability of 90%, North East Water could supply an average annual demand close to its bulk entitlement limit

of 2,324 ML/yr. At this level of service, North East Water’s bulk entitlement limits extraction rather than water

availability from the supply source. Climate change could slightly reduce the available yield by the year 2060,

as shown by the dry climate change (CC) scenario. At the higher level of service of 95% annual reliability,

North East Water could only reliably supply around 1,750 ML/yr before restrictions would start to occur more

frequently than desired.

Figure 18: Example supply projection (Benalla)

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

2000

2100

2200

2300

2400

2500

2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 2055 2060

Vo

lum

e (M

L)

Yield at 95% reliability (Wet CC) Yield at 95% reliability (Median CC) Yield at 95% reliability (Dry CC)

Yield at 90% reliability (Wet CC) Yield at 90% reliability (Median CC) Yield at 90% reliability (Dry CC)

Bulk Entitlement


Page 39

4 Decision-making framework for guiding action

4.1 Water supply planning

This section of the WSDS outlines the role of North East Water’s short- and long-term water planning tools and

how they interlink. North East Water has three key water planning tools which form its integrated decision

making framework:

1. WSDS – a proactive tool used to identify requirements over the long term.

2. Drought Response Plan – an operational tool that informs appropriate responses in the short term.

3. Annual Water Security Outlook – a tool that informs the re-evaluation of short and long term needs.

The WSDS sets out when particular actions might be needed over a 50 year planning period to maintain

minimum and agreed levels of service. In contrast, the Drought Response Plan sets out the short-term actions

that could be needed during drought in order to maintain the minimum level of service, particularly if climate

conditions reduce yields and increased demands exceed supply. These short-term actions include temporarily

using alternative supply sources or temporarily introducing water restrictions, as occurred across north east

Victoria in recent drought years such as 2006/07. Drought response actions can be implemented quickly in

response to an immediate need, but may not necessarily be the most cost effective solution in the long-term.

North East Water’s WSDS presents a timetable to implement demand reduction and supply enhancement

measures over the next 50 years. When faced with a drought that threatens supply security, North East Water

has a choice about whether to bring forward a planned long-term action, or to implement a short-term action,

thereby deferring a long-term action until it is more likely to be utilised on an ongoing basis. By integrating the

planning processes for the WSDS and Drought Response Plan, North East Water is able to directly compare

short- and long-term options to make the best decision about which actions to implement at any given time.

The Annual Water Security Outlook provides an understanding of likely supply system behaviour over the

coming 12 months. It informs a re-evaluation of short and long term needs by considering current supply

system conditions and projects how the supply system would behave under wet, average, dry and very dry

climate conditions. The Annual Water Security Outlook identifies whether security of supply is likely to be

threatened, and if so, how long it is likely to be until demand reduction or supply enhancement measures are

required.

4.1.1 Update of Drought Response Plan

North East Water updated its Drought Response Plan in 2011 in parallel with the update of its WSDS. Common

elements of the two plans include:

Common supply system descriptions.

A common set of demand models.

Common level of service targets.

Utilisation of the same water resource models to assess supply system performance.

The Drought Response Plan was prepared in accordance with DSE’s Ministerial Guidelines for Developing and

Implementing a Drought Response Plan (1998). For each supply system, the Drought Response Plan discusses

the short-term actions available during drought and provides triggers for implementing those actions as

climate conditions progressively worsen. Lessons learnt by North East Water about the viability of alternative

supply options are documented in the Drought Response Plan, and have also informed the assessment of

alternative supply options in the WSDS.


Page 40

4.1.2 Decision making framework to aid integration

The role of these three water planning tools in North East Water’s integrated decision making framework for

action are shown in Figure 19. North East Water will implement the timetable of actions in this WSDS, but may

either defer or bring forward actions depending on the climate conditions or changes in demand in any

individual year.

Figure 19: North East Water’s decision making framework for action

When faced with a possible future water shortage, North East Water considers a number of factors before

deciding whether to implement a temporary drought response measure or a long-term measure identified in

the WSDS. These include:

Lead indicators of drought – Supply systems which can display early warning signs of drought allow

WSDS response options with long lead times to be implemented. For example, low allocations for

towns supplied from the River Murray are generally known well in advance, whilst low river flows for

towns supplied from local tributaries are sometimes only known a few weeks in advance.

Duration of drought – Longer duration droughts allow WSDS response options with long lead times to

be implemented. Forecast supply system behaviour and the Bureau of Meteorology’s seasonal

climate forecasts provide a broad indication of likely drought duration.

Lead time for response action – An action in the WSDS must be able to be implemented quickly if it is

to be an effective drought response measure. If the lead time is longer than the time available until

reliability of supply to customers is threatened, then the action will not help to maintain North East

Water’s minimum level of service during the drought.

Cost of implementation – Depending on the likely duration of drought, the cost of implementing a

WSDS measure may be more or less than the cost of implementing a measure from the Drought

Response Plan.

Annual Water Security Outlook-Likelihood of drought occurring-Likely lead time until security of supply is threatened-Likely severity and duration of drought

Water Supply Demand Strategy-Most cost effective long-term actions-50 year implementation timetable

Drought Response Plan-Rapid drought response actions-Seasonal triggers to implement actions

Implement WSDS timetable of actions but:-Defer action if:(i) Annual Water Security Outlook indicates no likely threat to

security of supply; and (ii) Lead time to implement WSDS action is shorter than outlook

forecast period-Bring forward action if: (i) Annual Water Security Outlook indicates likely threat to

security of supply; and (ii) Lead time to implement WSDS option is shorter than the

likely time available until the threat is realised; and(iii) The WSDS action is more cost effective than the best available

DRP action given the likely drought duration and severity

North East Water’s Planning Tools North East Water’s Actions


Page 41

4.2 Identifying potential need for action

4.2.1 Long-term assessment of system performance under different scenarios

The long-term assessment of system performance in this WSDS is largely based on a comparison of supply

system yield and supply system demand over the 50 year planning horizon. The supply and demand

projections were derived as described in Section 0 of this WSDS. An illustration of an example supply and

demand curve over the planning horizon is shown in Figure 20. When projected demands exceed the available

yield, it does not imply that North East Water will no longer be able to supply its customers. For most supply

systems it means that the frequency of restrictions would be expected on average over the long-term to be

more frequent than desired by North East Water’s customers. Small deviations below the agreed level of

service are likely to be imperceptible to customers. For example, it is unlikely that customers would be able to

perceive a difference if mild restrictions occurred on average in the long-term 1 year in 9 (89% supply

reliability) rather than 1 year in 10 (90% supply reliability). Customers would however be likely to perceive a

difference if restrictions were to occur 1 year in 5, which would be roughly double the agreed frequency of

restrictions.

Figure 20: Yield and demand over the planning horizon (example only)

For some supply systems, such as Harrietville, the drought response triggers for implementing restrictions are

based on available streamflow at North East Water’s supply offtakes. For these supply systems, changes in

demand over the 50 year planning horizon will have no impact on the frequency of restrictions experienced by

North East Water’s customers, unless demand is near the Bulk Entitlement limit. It is only the changes in river

flow under future climate change which will impact on the frequency of restrictions (or reliability of supply)

experienced. The method of presenting results for these supply systems is illustrated in Figure 21, which

shows demand presented separately to the changes in annual reliability of supply.

Average annual volume

Time

2010 20602020 2030 2040 2050

Demand

Yieldfrom water resource

modelling over a long-term climate

sequence

Demand for water increases as

population growsYield from supply systems

decreases with climate change

Year in which demand exceeds yield (restrictions start to occur more frequently than agreed

level of service)

Supply to customers will be regularly restricted in these years without supply

enhancement or demand reduction measures

Supply to customers will rarely be restricted in these

years

Time


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Figure 21: Reliability and demand over the planning horizon (example only)

4.2.2 Short-term assessment of system performance under different scenarios

The short-term assessment of system performance under different scenarios was based on North East Water’s

Annual Water Security Outlook. Compared with other areas of Victoria, inflows to North East Water’s storages

are high relative to their storage capacity and demand. This means that North East Water’s supply system

storages can quickly be drawn down during drought and equally recover quickly once the drought has broken.

The period over which a short-term assessment of system performance can reasonably be assessed by North

East Water is not longer than around 12 months.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s short term (three month) forecast of climatic conditions was used as a basis to

determine the most likely climate scenario for the region, and an Annual Water Security Outlook was

developed for each of North East Water’s different supply system types. The method by which the outlook for

towns supplied from local rivers with storage, local rivers without storage, the Goulburn-Murray Water

managed Ovens and King system, the regulated River Murray system and groundwater, have each been

described in turn below.

An example of Annual Water Security Outlook for each system is shown in its respective system plan.

Towns supplied by local rivers with available storage include Benalla, Beechworth, Corryong and Myrtleford.

An outlook has been prepared from the start of November 2011 to the end of September 2012 in this WSDS,

and will be updated annually thereafter. North East Water’s storages in these systems were full at the start of

November 2011, which is the assumed start storage volume for the outlook.

Annual reliability of supply

Time

2010 20602020 2030 2040 2050

Demand

Time

Demand for water increases as

population grows

Yield from supply systems

decreases with climate change

Year in which target reliability of supply is no longer met (restrictions start to

occur more frequently than agreed level

of service)

Supply to customers will be regularly restricted in these years without supply

enhancement or demand reduction measures

Supply to customers will rarely be restricted in these

years

Time


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The analysis consists of estimating the predicted behaviour in each supply system under representative low

inflow sequences of various degrees of severity. The low flow sequences have been selected to correspond

with historic climate periods when North East Water’s available storage would have been drawn down to meet

current demands. These periods were selected using data available in existing water resource models. The

method used to derive these inflow sequences is as follows:

Select the year with the largest maximum drawdown and years with a maximum drawdown that

would be exceeded in 5%, 10% and 25% of years.

Use the inflows in these years to determine the likely drawdown given the starting condition provided

by North East Water, i.e. full storage as at 1st of November 2011.

The largest maximum drawdown occurs when the volume in storage is at its lowest and corresponds to

anticipated supply system behaviour in a repeat of the worst drought on record. This event has a 1-2% chance

of occurring in any given year based on historical climate behaviour. The 5th

, 10th

and 25th

percentile maximum

drawdown mean that there is a 5%, 10% and 25% chance respectively that the maximum drawdown will be

greater than these values over the coming twelve months. Alternatively, this information can be interpreted

as a 95%, 90% and 75% chance that the volume in storage will not drop below these values over the coming

twelve months. These likelihoods are approximately only, because other than the starting storage position,

they do not take into account catchment soil and groundwater moisture conditions in North East Water’s

supply catchments when assigning likelihoods to inflow sequences.

Towns supplied by local rivers without available storage include Harrietville, Bright1, Walwa, Mount Beauty

and Yackandandah. For these supply systems the Annual Water Security Outlook is developed based on

streamflow conditions leading up to and as at 1st

November 2011. Streamflow volumes are correlated with

historical data to ascertain the trend direction and current flow scenario. The majority of these systems were

experiencing around average stream flows up to 1 November 2011. The seasonal rainfall outlook and seasonal

streamflow forecasts for south east Australia issued by the Bureau of Meteorology have been used to forecast

likely streamflow conditions up until the end of December 2011.

A three month outlook has been prepared from 1 November 2011 to 1 February 2012 in this WSDS, and will be

updated annually at a minimum thereafter. The forecast for each system is expressed qualitatively based on

actual data and predictions. Due to the inherent variability in these systems additional controls are in place to

ensure that resources are managed appropriately throughout the year including daily streamflow monitoring.

It is proposed that the Annual Water Security Outlook be updated when further information becomes available

or with any notable change in system status.

Towns supplied by groundwater only include Goorambat. For this supply system the Annual Water Security

Outlook is developed based on groundwater level and customer consumption patterns leading up to and as at

1 November 2011. Groundwater levels and consumption patterns have been compared with historical data to

ascertain the current trend type and groundwater level status. The seasonal rainfall outlook for south east

Australia issued by the Bureau of Meteorology has been used to develop a three month forecast up until

1 February 2012 in this WSDS and will be updated annually thereafter. The forecast for this system is

expressed qualitatively based on actual data and predictions. Due to the inherent variability in this system

additional controls are in place to ensure that resources are managed appropriately throughout the year

including daily groundwater level monitoring. It is proposed that the Annual Water Security Outlook be

updated when further information becomes available or with any notable change in system status.

1 The short-term assessment of the Bright system performance will remain under the “Towns supplied by local

rivers without available storage” until the new off-stream storage is completed.


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Towns supplied by the Goulburn-Murray Water managed Ovens and King system include Moyhu, Oxley,

Whitfield and Wangaratta. For these supply systems the Annual Water Security Outlook is developed based on

advice issued by Goulburn-Murray Water (the resource manager for the Ovens and King systems). Monthly

forecast restriction curves for Lake Buffalo and Lake William Hovell issued for November 2011 have been used

to forecast operating conditions for the Ovens and King Rivers up until 1 February 2012 in this WSDS and will

be reviewed annually at a minimum thereafter. The forecast for each system is expressed qualitatively based

on actual data and predicted conditions. Other controls in place to ensure that resources are managed

appropriately throughout the year in these systems include daily storage and stream flow monitoring. It is

proposed that the Annual Water Security Outlook be updated when further information becomes available or

with any notable change in system status.

Towns supplied by the River Murray regulated river system include Eskdale, Bellbridge, Tallangatta,

Yarrawonga, Rutherglen/Wahgunyah, Wodonga and surrounding towns. A nine month Annual Water Security

Outlook has been developed from 1 November 2011 to 1 July 2012 in this WSDS and will be updated annually

at a minimum thereafter. Reliably forecasting beyond June is difficult because allocations announced by

Goulburn-Murray Water are only valid to the end of the current season in June. As all these towns are

supplied from one bulk entitlement on the Murray regulated system, a combined water reserve covering all

towns has been developed. The forecast water reserve volume available is determined by the following

factors:

Carryover volume from the previous year.

Entitlement volume.

Return flow credits.

Water purchases and/or trades.

Current and forecast irrigation allocations.

The water reserve is expressed quantitatively which allows North East Water to make operational decisions in

conjunction with trigger levels contained in the Drought Response Plan. Additional controls are in place to

ensure that resources are managed appropriately including daily monitoring of customer usage and storage

volumes. It is proposed that the Annual Water Security Outlook is updated when further information becomes

available or with any notable change in system status.

An annual water security outlook for Dartmouth has been developed from 1 November 2011 to 1 February

2011 in this WSDS and will be updated annually at a minimum thereafter. Dartmouth’s Lake Tabor storage was

full at the start of November 2011. The seasonal rainfall outlook and seasonal streamflow forecasts for south

east Australia issued by the Bureau of Meteorology have been used to forecast likely inflow conditions for the

following three months. A three month outlook has been prepared in this WSDS, and will be updated annually

at a minimum thereafter. The forecast for this system is expressed qualitatively based on actual data and

predictions. Due to the inherent variability in this system additional controls are in place to ensure that

resources are managed appropriately throughout the year including storage volume monitoring. It is proposed

that the Annual Water Security Outlook be updated when further information becomes available or with any

notable change in system status.

4.3 Possible options

4.3.1 Classification of Initiatives

A range of potential supply enhancement and demand reduction measures are available to North East Water.

These measures have been classified based on North East Water’s ability to manage the supply source, as

shown in Table 11. Any additional licensed water sources such as groundwater and surface water would be

managed by North East Water and therefore would add to North East Water’s available supply. Supply of


Page 45

recycled water from North East Water’s wastewater treatment plants is similarly managed by North East

Water and is considered to be a supply enhancement measure. On the other hand, household, industry or lot

scale initiatives cannot readily be managed or monitored by North East Water and therefore are considered to

reduce demand on North East Water’s managed supply system. The majority of initiatives in North East

Water’s Alternative Water Atlas serve to reduce demand on North East Water’s managed supply system.

Table 11: Classification of supply enhancement and demand reduction initiatives

Demand reduction measures Supply enhancement measures

Water efficient appliances

Water use behaviour change

Rainwater tanks

Reduction in system losses

Household, industry or lot scale stormwater harvesting

Household or industry greywater use

Water pricing

Groundwater

Surface water

Bulk water storages

Recycled water from NEW’s treatment plants

Centralised NEW stormwater harvesting systems

Using Water Markets

Water Carting

4.3.2 Demand Initiatives

North East Water’s customers have made significant water savings since the WSDS was last prepared five years

ago. Table 12 shows that North East Water’s long-term average demand, as estimated in the current (2012)

WSDS, is around 33% lower than the estimated demands in the previous (2007) WSDS. This is believed to

largely reflect changes in customer behaviour in response to North East Water’s current demand reduction

initiatives, as well as North East Water’s own water savings through improved management of leaks and

losses. The community response to the water shortages experienced during the dry years 2006 to 2008 was

also significant in reducing demand.

Table 12: Success of demand reduction initiatives to date compared with 2007

Long-term average clear water

demand estimate in 2007 WSDS

(ML/yr)



(ML/yr)

Water saving (% of 2007 estimate

of long-term average demand)

21,250 14,280 33%

North East Water has implemented a number of demand initiatives since the completion of the 2007 WSDS,

which are outlined in Sections 2.7.2, 2.7.4 and 2.7.5. The continuation of these demand reduction measures is

supported by the policy settings from the Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Plan for Water (2010), which

extends funding for existing rebates and encourages industry and developers to use and promote water

efficiency. Water restrictions are not a demand reduction initiative in the WSDS and have been reserved as a

drought response measure only in North East Water’s Drought Response Plan.

Given the success of North East Water’s demand reduction initiatives to date, the WSDS has assumed that no

further reduction in per capita demand is anticipated. North East Water will aim to hold the current ground

gained on water savings through its ongoing programs. Specific leak reduction measures in individual towns

are uniquely identified in the WSDS and will contribute to further demand reduction in those towns.

It is possible that consumers will partially revert to previous water use behaviour if relatively wet conditions

continue over the next few years. This would mean that some of the water savings achieved to date may be


Page 46

lost. This is because the impetus for customers to save water can be lower when there is no immediate threat

of drought. As part of its scenario planning, North East Water has allowed for some “bounce back” of

residential demands. The 2007 WSDS utilised demands equivalent to year 2004/05 levels of water use

behaviour. The 2012 WSDS assumes demands equivalent to year 2009/10 levels of water use behaviour. The

“bounce back” scenario assumes demands equivalent to the year 2007/08 levels of water use behaviour.

Table 13 shows that if consumers were to revert to water use behaviour similar to that in 2007/08, demand

would be expected to be approximately 15,550 ML/yr, or around 9% higher than the baseline 2012 WSDS

demand.

Table 13: Potential “bounce back” of Residential Demands for Scenario Planning compared with 2007



(ML/yr)



(ML/yr)


demand estimate with partial

“bounce back” to pre-drought

water use behavior (ML/yr)

21,250 14,280 15,550

4.3.3 Supply initiatives – Potable water services

North East Water has implemented a number of supply enhancement measures as a result of undertaking the

previous WSDS in 2007. Key changes to North East Water’s supply system that have been implemented since

2007 or approved by North East Water’s Board for implementation in the near future are outlined in

Section 2.7.2.

North East Water has also further developed some of the supply enhancement options identified in the 2007

WSDS so that these options are closer to being ready to implement if required in the near future. This further

work has also improved the level of information available for the current WSDS. This work is outlined in

Section 2.7.7.

The reduction in customer demand since 2007 has meant that a number of the supply enhancement options

previously contemplated in the 2007 WSDS can now be deferred or are no longer likely to be required over the

50 year planning horizon. For supply systems where supply enhancement options may still be required in the

future, North East Water has largely drawn upon the supply enhancement options that were examined in the

previous WSDS. North East Water has added greater consideration of alternative water supply sources as part

of its Alternative Water Atlas, which is discussed in greater detail in Section 4.3.4.

Each supply initiative outlined in this strategy contains a description of the initiative, likely volumes to be

provided from the initiative, the time required to implement the initiative and its social, environmental and

financial costs and benefits.

When assessing the viability of supply initiatives, consideration is also given to relevant government

regulations and policy that can affect the availability of water from individual sources. The most relevant

regulations affecting supply initiatives are listed as follows:

The Murray-Darling Basin Cap – limits the volume of surface water that can be diverted from each of the

Basin’s major rivers. Victoria does not issue any new entitlement or licences in northern Victoria. Additional

surface water entitlements for North East Water can only be accessed from water savings projects or

purchasing allocations or entitlements from other water users.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan – In contrast to the Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan (MDBA, 2010), the

Proposed Basin Plan (MDBA) 2011 does not identify changes to surface water or groundwater availability

specifically for the north east region of Victoria.


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Water supply protection areas (WSPAs) – can be declared where strict management is required to protect the

groundwater and/or surface water resources in the area. Once an area has been declared, a management plan

is prepared. A water supply protection area has been declared for the Upper Ovens River catchment. The

Upper Ovens River Water Supply Protection Area Water Management Plan was approved by the Minister in

January 2012 and released by Goulburn-Murray Water in February 2012. Any supply initiatives in the Upper

Ovens River are likely to be subject to the rules in this plan, once it is finalised.

Permissible consumptive volumes (PCVs) – are the maximum volume of water that can be used for

consumptive purposes for groundwater or surface water. PCVs are progressively being set for all groundwater

management areas and water supply protection areas. For these areas, licences are not issued if the PCV is

already reached or if licences would cause it to be exceeded. PCVs have been set for the Upper Ovens WSPA,

and the Lower Ovens, Barnawartha and Mullindolingong Groundwater Management Areas in north east

Victoria.

Heritage Rivers - The Heritage Rivers Act 1992 protects various rivers around Victoria by limiting the structures

that can be placed on those rivers. A list of each Heritage River and the activities that may or may not be

permitted is provided in the Heritage Rivers Act 1992. Sections of the Mitta Mitta River and Ovens River are

designated heritage rivers.

4.3.4 Supply initiatives – Alternative Water Services

North East Water has prepared an Alternative Water Atlas for each of its systems. It has been prepared to

inform future water supply decisions, providing information regarding relevant, achievable alternative water

resources related to specific geographic locations within the North East Water service area. The Alternative

Water Atlas is an inventory of alternative water supplies and the extent to which they are currently being used

by customers. It includes:

The volumes of stormwater, recycled water and other alternative water sources available within the

works of North East Water (including wetlands and retarding basins) and/or local council.

Provides information that will inform future opportunities for the use of treated stormwater, recycled

water and other alternative water sources in the control of either North East Water or local council.

The Alternative Water Atlas has identified a variety of opportunities for the substitution of potable water in

communities serviced by North East Water. The Alternative Water Atlas (inventory) is available in each of the

respective system plans.

4.3.5 North East Water’s One Resource framework

The requirement for an Alternative Water Atlas is consistent with North East Water’s One Resource approach,

which reflects a strategic goal of the Corporation to deliver sustainable water services that meet the outcomes

sought by customers, which is, delivering water that is fit-for-purpose. Accordingly, North East Water has used

the One Resource framework for the development of the Alternative Water Atlas.

The One Resource approach is based on the premise that customers do not buy water because they want

water, rather they desire the outcome that it provides and is underpinned by three strategic themes:

Efficiency: Encourage and optimise water efficiency.

Choice: Maximising choice in use, maximising choice in supply.

Security: Reliability of supply.

A key element of the approach has been the development of guiding principles and a conceptual framework

that are readily understood and communicated to enable customers to participate in the identification of

options can meet the water service outcomes that they seek.


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The One Resource approach applies seven guiding principles to enhance customer choice through access to a

range of products and service opportunities that meet agreed outcomes. These are:

A holistic approach to all water resources.

Fit-for-purpose products.

An appropriate risk profile.

Endurance – Sustainability across all areas.

A benefit to broader community - Customer choice and acceptance of product.

A value proposition – Efficient use of resources.

Recognition that North East Water does not have a monopoly on the provision of water services.

The guiding principles inform a conceptual framework that enables broad consultation and delivers outcomes

that meet shared expectations, which is presented in Figure 22.

Figure 22: North East Water’s One Resource framework

The customer-focussed approach of One Resource aligns the quality of water required by the customer with

the most efficient delivery infrastructure and the capacity of the environment to meet the outcome sought. It

is important to note that efficient delivery of the water service may utilise infrastructure that is owned by the

Corporation or a third party. The consistent application of the guiding principles enables the framework to be

applied across small and large communities.

Populating the One Resource framework, recognising the diversity of water resources used and the outcomes

sought by water users, is a key step in informing future water service delivery decisions. An example of the

One Resource framework populated for a large community on the Murray System is shown in Figure 23.


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Figure 23: Populated One Resource framework for a large community on the Murray System

Identification of opportunities to address actual or potential water use outcomes sought by end-users enables

each opportunity to be objectively evaluated. Importantly it enables both North East Water and communities

to discuss and accept or reject potential service delivery options based on agreed criteria.

The One Resource approach has been adopted by North East Water as a key step in the delivery of sustainable

water services. It forms the basis of consultation with customers and communities to identify future water

service delivery outcomes sought and is a key element informing subsequent business case development.

4.3.6 Water restrictions

Water restrictions are implemented by North East Water to conserve water supply during times of limited

supply, particularly during drought, as discussed previously in Section 3.3.5. Future water restrictions will be

implemented in accordance with the updated Victorian Water Restriction Guidelines. Refer to North East

Water’s website for further information www.newater.com.au.



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5 Ensuring reliability of supply

5.1 Provision of Minimum and Agreed Level of Service

The supply and demand balance was examined for each supply system over the 50 year planning horizon. This

analysis highlighted that with the reduction in demand achieved by North East Water and its customers in

recent years, many of the previously proposed supply augmentation options can be deferred or are no longer

required over the planning horizon. The agreed level of service is currently met for most of North East Water’s

supply systems, with the exception of Goorambat, where there is currently some uncertainty about the level

of demand that groundwater aquifer supplying the town can sustain.

Table 14 highlights the anticipated range of years at which the agreed level of service is expected to no longer

be met with the current supply system. The expected year at which the agreed level of service (reliability of

supply) would no longer be met is based on the projected demands with North East Water supply system

savings and median climate change projections. The earliest year corresponds to dry climate change

conditions and slightly higher projected demands, which is based on the possibility that residential customers

revert to their higher water use behaviour. The latest year corresponds to projected demands with system

savings and wet climate change conditions. The forecast supply-demand balance graph presented in Figure 24

illustrates when the agreed level of service would no longer be met under a range of scenarios for the

Corryong water supply system.

Towns where action may be required by North East Water before the year 2025 are highlighted in red.

Table 14 indicates that action is required at Goorambat, Harrietville and Corryong. Goorambat supply system

extracts water from a shallow groundwater bore which has insufficient yield to meet the agreed level of

service and supply augmentation is required immediately, as significant demand reduction has already been

achieved. For Corryong, some form of demand reduction or supply enhancement is expected to be required

by the year 2032 providing forecast water savings in the system are achieved, but could be as early as 2013 if

demand increases under the dry climate change scenario. For Harrietville, the level of service objectives are

expected to be met until around the year 2049, however if dry climate change conditions were to eventuate,

some form of demand reduction or supply enhancement could be required by the year 2020.

For all other towns, no action is expected to be required until after the year 2040. Under a higher demand and

dry climate change scenario, action would still not be required until after the year 2028. This gives North East

Water at least 15 years to plan for any actions in these supply systems, and hence our long-term planning

activities will be considered for these systems when their supply and demand status is revised in five years

time. Supply system behaviour will continue to be monitored and reported on in North East Water’s Annual

Water Security Outlook.


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Table 14: Provision of Minimum and Agreed Level of Service

Supply system

Is minimum

level of service

currently met?

Is agreed level

of service

currently met?

Range of years over planning horizon at

which agreed level of service would no

longer be met with current supply system

Expected Earliest Latest

Beechworth Yes Yes -

Bellbridge Yes Yes 2060 2028 >2060 Benalla Yes Yes -

Bright Yes Yes >2060 2040 >2060 Corryong Yes Yes 2032 2013 >2060

Dartmouth Yes Yes -

Eskdale Yes Yes -

Goorambat Yes No 2012

Harrietville Yes Yes 2049 2020 >2060

Mount Beauty Yes Yes -

Moyhu Yes Yes -

Myrtleford Yes Yes >2060 2037 >2060

Oxley Yes Yes -

Tallangatta Yes Yes 2060 2028 >2060 Wahgunyah/ Rutherglen Yes Yes 2060 2028 >2060 Walwa Yes Yes -

Wangaratta Yes Yes 2041 2029 2060

Whitfield Yes Yes -

Wodonga Yes Yes 2060 2028 >2060 Yackandandah Yes Yes -

Yarrawonga Yes Yes 2060 2028 >2060

Note: “-“ indicates that the level of service objectives are expected to be satisfied over the next 50 years with

the current supply system and existing operating rules.

Figure 24: Forecast Supply-Demand Balance with Augmentation (Corryong system)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 2055 2060

Vo

lum

e (M

L)

Balance Supply-Demand for Corryong

Average annual demand Demand with savings Yield with augmentation

Yield (Median CC) Yield (Dry CC)


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5.2 Approaches to provide Agreed Levels of Service

Approaches available to balance supply and demand may be categorised under demand management, supply

augmentation, or in some cases both. The approaches identified to ensure North East Water provides the

agreed level of service are consistent with, or in many cases an extension of the approaches delivered under

the 2007 WSDS. The five approaches include:

1. Delivery System Performance (demand management).

2. Demand Management (demand management).

3. One Resource (demand management/supply enhancement).

4. Using Water Markets (supply enhancement).

5. Secure Water Source (supply enhancement).

The recommended approaches and options within each approach are described in the following sections. The

application, or priority, of options within each approach across North East Water’s 21 water supply systems is

presented in Section 6.

5.3 Evaluation of options

5.3.1 Demand management options

The demand management options are not system specific and will in general be applicable to all systems. As

such demand management options have been assessed in a generic manner with a qualitative analysis of the

identified demand management options. It is also noted that the take up of many of demand management

initiatives is customer driven (i.e. dependent on customer attitudes and behaviour). For example installation

of water efficient appliances and rain water tanks.

5.3.2 Supply augmentation options

Supply augmentation can be required to ensure an Agreed Level of Service can be met and are system specific.

A sustainability assessment is provided for each supply augmentation option. The sustainability assessment

incorporates monetary and non-monetary aspects taking social, environmental and economic costs and

benefits into account. It is not the intention of the strategy to make a recommendation regarding alternative

options as this decision is best made after more detailed analysis of the options closer to when the

implementation of the option is required. Such detailed analysis is more properly carried out as part of the

business case for the particular investment. The sustainability evaluation however does provide a strategic

analysis of the identified options. Supply augmentation details are provided in respective system plans. A

summary of the options for towns with highest priority for augmentation is provided in Table 22.

5.3.3 Supply augmentation principles

Supply augmentations are required in the Water Plan 3 period where the Level of Service is currently, or is

forecast to drop, below the agreed Level of Service by 2018 (the end of the next Water Plan period).

Supply augmentation principles have been developed in accordance with the Agreed Levels of Service

(reliability of supply), and are detailed below.

1. No communities will have a reliability of supply of less than 90%, subject to funding availability for

required augmentations and inclusion in Water Plan 3.

2. Communities with a reliability of supply between 90% and 95%:

a. Understand options and cost (planning) to increase reliability of supply to 95%.

b. Consider increasing reliability to 95% if compelling need is demonstrated.


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5.3.4 Principles for assessment of supply augmentation options

All supply augmentation options have been scoped (and costed) to deliver safe drinking water and include

water treatment components, where required. Each option has been assessed to determine its impact on

social, environmental and economic sustainability. The assessment criteria are listed below.

Economic:

o Net Present Cost.

o Regional Gross Domestic Product.

Environmental:

o Greenhouse Gas.

o Environmental Flow.

o Water Quality.

o Effect on Ecosystems.

Social:

o Acceptability.

o Heritage/Recreational.

The Net Present Cost Assessment has been conducted using a discount rate of 5.1% over a 20 year evaluation

period. The economic criteria consider net present costs and potential impact on regional pricing.

5.4 Delivery system performance

5.4.1 Description and application

This approach aims to overcome any knowledge shortfalls, improve the understanding of water losses in each

delivery system, improve the management of these systems and ultimately reduce water losses. This

approach is a continuation of the Delivery System Performance Strategy recommended in the last WSDS and

aims to increase water savings already achieved in the delivery systems since its inception in 2007.

Achievements of this strategy are outlined in Section 2.7.4. The options embedded within this approach are

presented below in Table 15.

The target for the Delivery System Performance approach is to reduce system losses (non-revenue water)

across the region by approximately 660 ML. This will be achieved by reducing water losses from headworks

(between raw water offtake and the treatment plant outlet) by 5% (58 ML) and water losses in the distribution

by 60% (600 ML).

Corryong should be considered a priority for achieving delivery system performance improvements as this

could defer a supply augmentation (off-stream storage or groundwater supply) by approximately 20 years.

Table 15: Summary of Delivery System Performance Options

Code Option and Description

DSP-1 Delivery System Water Audits

Ongoing auditing of delivery systems to identify areas of high loss and opportunities for leakage reduction and recovering backwash water in fit-for-purpose applications.

An audit has already been completed for the Wodonga distribution network.


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DSP-2 Headworks Water Management

Investigate opportunities to reduce water losses in the headworks (between raw water offtake and the treatment plant outlet). Water savings may be achieved by recycling backwash water at water treatment plants or reducing water losses at offtakes, transfer mains and storages. This option could reduce water losses by approximately 60 ML/yr.

DSP-3 Leakage Control

Implement a leakage detection program to actively identify high water losses and follow up with actions to reduce leakage.

Install additional meter(s) in priority delivery systems to improve leakage assessments and focus leakage mitigation efforts.

DSP-4 Annual Meter Verification Program Annually check the operation of all water meters to ensure that they are working within manufacturer’s tolerances for accuracy.

DSP-5 Zoned Metering and Pressure Reduction Identify systems where zoned metering and pressure reduction measures would be feasible and cost effective to reduce water losses in the distribution.

5.4.2 Benefits

Implementation of the Delivery System Performance Theme:

Reduces the demand on its delivery systems which can defer supply augmentations and/or

purchasing additional Bulk Entitlement. This is especially highlighted in the Corryong delivery system,

where an augmentation can be deferred by nearly 20 years if forecast water savings in the delivery

system can be achieved.

Improves North East Water’s understanding of total demand in its delivery systems, providing the

Corporation with greater confidence and certainty in planning.

Reduces water losses, resulting in more efficient and cost effective delivery of supply to the customer.

5.4.3 Constraints

The main constraint is finding the appropriate balance between investigations and the necessary follow-up

work with resource capabilities. It can be difficult to identify leaks in large systems such as Wodonga.

5.5 Demand management


Given the success of North East Water’s demand reduction initiatives to date, this WSDS has assumed that no

further reduction in per capita demand is anticipated. North East Water will aim to hold the current ground

gained on water savings and minimise any “bounce back” in demand levels through its ongoing programs.

The Demand Management approach recommends customer education, pricing and regulation measures to

contain individual customers’ demand for water, which are outlined in Table 16. There is some overlap with

the One Resource approach but this latter approach is focused on delivery system scale options.


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Table 16: Summary of Demand Management Options


DM-1 Customer Education – Provision of advice and information Continue North East Water’s education program to develop and enhance the Corporation’s commitment to raising community awareness of sustainable water use. The main objectives of this program are to:

Increase community awareness of sustainable water use.

Develop and provide tools and resources to empower communities to conserve water.

Promote water conservation messages.

Mechanisms include:

Informative bills, guidelines, fact sheets, media.

Representation at expos and fairs.

Targeted programs such as tours of water treatment plants by school children and focus groups.

Participation in National Water Week.

Public forums, information sessions and meetings.

Working with councils and North East Catchment Management Authorities (e.g.

Waterwatch).

Building capacity in schools in programs such as the School Environment Education Directory

(SEED).

Partnerships with industry (e.g. Rutherglen Garden Club) to promote efficient gardening

practices and water conservation.

Customer information available on website.

Call centre Monday to Friday office hours – 8.30am to 5pm.

Refer to Section 2.7.5 for recent achievements.

DM-2 Incentives for Water Conservation Devices and Efficient Appliances

Continue to facilitate Government Water Rebate Programs. Living Victoria Water Rebate Program is the current Government scheme, which provides rebates for:

Water conservation audits.

Hot water recirculators.

Water efficient showerheads.

Dual flush toilets.

Permanent greywater systems.

Rainwater tanks.

Pool covers.

Efficient washing machines.

Other low cost water saving measures.

Supply and installation costs would be borne by owners with incentives being provided through government rebate programmes.

DM-3 Customer (non-residential) Water Conservation and Demand Reduction Continue to facilitate the Government’s waterMAP initiative that encourages industrial and commercial customers to develop a Water Management Action Plan to improve their water efficiency to achieve water and cost savings.

Due to the success of the waterMAP initiative, the Government has expanded the program on a voluntary basis to encourage industrial and commercial customers that consume more than 5 ML/yr from an urban water supply. North East Water will actively engage with these customers over the next 18 months to raise their awareness of the benefits of water conservation and assist them in securing funding for projects suitable under current grants schemes offered.


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DM-4 Customer (local government) Water Conservation and Demand Reduction Continue to work with Local Government Authorities to identify opportunities to reduce demand for potable water and utilise fit-for-purpose applications. Potential initiatives have been identified in each of the respective system plans.

DM-5 Pricing North East Water’s tariff structure empowers customers to manage their water costs (and consumption) by placing high reliance on the volumetric component of the tariff relative to the fixed component. This tariff structure should continue as a means of providing price signals for the use of water.

DM-6 Regulation – Water Restrictions Continue to apply restrictions in accordance with North East Water’s Drought Response Plan (2011) and the Victorian Government’s expectations. Refer to North East Water’s website for additional information www.newater.com.au.

DM-7 Innovative Technology Continue to work with the broader water industry (e.g. Intelligent Water Networks) to understand how new technology (e.g. smart water meters) could be used to manage demand.

5.5.2 Benefits

This approach has the potential to defer the need for a supply augmentation, as is evident for systems such as

Corryong, and can provide a permanent reduction in demand. A reduction in demand for potable water also

results in a reduction in treatment and energy costs, and reduced diversions from the environment.

Of particular benefit are options that reduce peak daily demand that is primarily for watering residential

gardens and public open space. Reducing the peak demand by switching to low-water use gardens could

provide multiple benefits and defer the need for infrastructure upgrades such as water treatment plants.

Using a ‘local’ source of non-potable water can also offer additional benefits to a greater or lesser degree

depending on the particular circumstances of the customer and the delivery system.

5.5.3 Constraints

North East Water has observed a significant reduction in demand for water across all sectors in recent years

and there are many customers that practice water conservation. There is a risk that increased water supplies,

and hence less restrictions, may result in consumption per capita creeping upward. The success of this

approach is largely in the hands of the customers, and hence from a risk management perspective North East

Water could not solely rely on this approach to keep demand in balance with supply and will use its Annual

Water Security Outlook to monitor supply and demand on an ongoing basis.

5.6 One Resource


North East Water provides water services through 21 discrete water systems, each of which present different

opportunities and challenges to deliver outcomes sought by the community. The WSDS does not identify

preferred alternative water options for each of its systems, instead it uses the One Resource framework to take

a holistic approach considering all initiatives that reduce demand on North East Water’s supply system, such as

rainwater tanks and greywater use, and initiatives that enhance its supply, such as raw water irrigation

schemes. Refer to Table 11 for a list of potential supply enhancement and demand reduction initiatives. The

customer-focussed approach of One Resource aligns the quality of water required by the customer with the

most efficient delivery infrastructure and the capacity of the environment to meet the outcome sought.



Page 57

The One Resource framework has been developed by North East Water as a strategic tool guiding future water

service delivery decisions. It has been prepared to inform future water supply decisions, providing information

regarding relevant, achievable alternative water resources related to specific geographic locations within the

North East Water service area. The One Resource framework has been used to prepare an Alternative Water

Atlas for each of its systems, refer to Section 4.3.5 for more information.

An overview of One Resource options identified in WSDS is shown in Table 17.

Table 17: Summary of One Resource Options


OR-1 Use One Resource approach for Supply Augmentations assessments

Use the One Resource approach for all future supply augmentations assessment to ensure the efficient water service delivery of outcomes sought by the community by taking a holistic approach to water resource management.

OR-2 Populated One Resource Frameworks

Work with councils and communities to populate One Resource frameworks for each of the 21 water delivery systems to align fit-for-purpose water resources with community sought outcomes.

(N.B. One Resource frameworks have already been populated for Yackandandah and Wodonga).

OR-3 Sustainability assessment of One Resource Frameworks

Work with councils and communities to shortlist water service delivery options identified in the populated One Resource frameworks considering social, environmental and financial implications.

Where feasible, implement shortlisted water service delivery options. The infrastructure to deliver

the water service may be owned by North East Water or a third party (e.g. Council).

5.6.2 Benefits

Benefits that will be realised by implementing the One Resource approach include:

Understanding of outcomes sought by the community.

Engaged and informed community.

Efficient water service delivery and potential deferral of traditional supply augmentations, resulting in

cost savings to North East Water customers and its customers.

Diversified water supplies which will improve resilience against future shocks, such as drought.

Integrated water management which may result in multiple outcomes achieved (e.g. stormwater

treatment wetland integrated with stormwater reuse scheme).

Decommissioned North East Water infrastructure, such as offtakes and storages, could potentially be

used to deliver alternative water sources.

5.6.3 Constraints

Potential challenges in implementing the One Resource approach include:

Complex legislative framework of water management and need to improve understanding.

Aligning different stakeholder objectives and requirements.

Gaining regulatory support for innovative water service delivery options, such as Managed Aquifer

Recharge (MAR).

Overcoming stakeholder perception of some fit-for-purpose uses (e.g. public open space irrigated

with General reclaimed water).


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5.7 Using Water Markets


The purchase of additional water entitlements

North East Water considers the purchase of additional entitlement on the northern Victorian water market to

be a very effective method for balancing supply and demand in the long term for its regulated supply systems.

During extended dry periods, water markets can also be used by North East Water to purchase seasonal

allocations (valid for use in a single year only) to meet the minimum level of service. North East Water will

continue to access entitlements through the water trading market to allow for future growth and to manage

the annual variation in demand. High reliability water shares are North East Water’s preferred entitlement

product, because they provide the necessary reliability during dry years which is not available with low

reliability water shares.

Any purchase of additional entitlements needs to be aligned with infrastructure planning to ensure sufficient

capacity to deliver the required volumes. The full cost of using water markets includes the purchase price of

entitlements or allocations plus the purchase and operating costs of diversion pumps, upgrades to water

treatment plants, transfer mains, additional storage (raw water and treated water), and off-stream storage

capacity where applicable in unregulated supplies. Capital and operational costs of infrastructure to augment

supply is dealt with under the Secure Water Source approach.

The purchase price of entitlements and allocations varies according to season and demand. Prices generally

increase during times of water shortage. In 2009/10 the median price of Murray system high reliability water

shares was $2,200/ML and the median price of seasonal allocations was around $300/ML, but highly variable

(NWC, 2010). North East Water holds only a very small portion of the total entitlement available in the

southern Murray-Darling Basin connected water market, which is predominantly used for irrigation.

When water shares are purchased from the water market by North East Water, they can be added to our bulk

entitlements, which are the legal instruments by which North East Water is permitted to divert water. Bulk

entitlements generally specify an annual limit on the amount of water that can be diverted. In regulated

systems, they can also provide a share of storage capacity and the right to take water from specific points in

the system. In unregulated systems, they include a diversion rate limit, an obligation to provide passing flows

and a requirement to stop diversions below minimum streamflow levels. In order to meet variations in annual

demand from year to year, at a minimum North East Water generally needs to hold entitlements that exceed

the average annual demand by a margin that has regard to the desired reliability of supply.

Forms of Entitlement

The form and number of entitlements to water was rationalised as part of the Victorian Government’s water

reform (DSE 2004). The common forms of entitlement and trading options available for each form of

entitlement are outlined in Table 18 and Table 19, respectively.


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Table 18: Common Forms of Entitlement to Water used in Victoria

Entitlement Comments

Bulk Entitlement High reliability water shares (HRWS) are held by North East Water in the Murray

system. Allocations from these shares can be obtained most readily by North East

Water from users in the trading zone upstream of the “Barmah Choke”, which is a

natural constraint on the delivery of water to irrigators downstream of this point.

Allocations of water to these shares are announced after making provisions for

operation of system for the current and following seasons in the Murray system. There

is a 97% likelihood that the full share volume will be allocated by the end of June in any

given year in the long-term.

Low reliability water shares (LRWS) are available only if the needs of high reliability

shares are met for the current and next season. As indicated above, allocations to LRWS

are not reliable enough for use by North East Water.

Carryover was introduced by the State Government in 2006/07 to allow water users to

keep unused water allocation in storage for use in the following season (i.e. water is

“carried over” from one year to the next). In the Murray system, carryover is unlimited,

however the water carried over can be lost if the Murray system storages spill, unless

the resource manager (Goulburn-Murray Water) has declared a ‘low risk of spill’. The

Murray system storages include the major storages of Lake Hume and Lake Dartmouth,

however the spill assessment is based on Dartmouth’s volume. There is also a small

penalty (5%) applied to water carried over in July to allow for evaporative losses from

these storages.

Diversion Licence This is a simplified form of entitlement typically issued by private diverters on

unregulated rivers such as the Ovens River upstream of Myrtleford. Licence holders are

allowed to divert up to a specified annual volume at a specified diversion rate, and may

be subject to restrictions on water use during periods of low river flow. North East

Water holds a diversion licence for the supply to Bundalong, which is located in the

regulated Murray system. The conditions placed on both the licences and their trade

can also make them less attractive for increasing North East Water’s bulk entitlements in

the unregulated river systems.

Stock and

Domestic

Small volumes provided to meet essential needs of livestock and rural households.

These licences are not available for trade with North East Water.

Groundwater

Licence

Groundwater licences are issued within and outside of managed groundwater areas. In

managed groundwater areas such as the Upper Ovens Water Supply Protection Area, a

licence may be issued with zero entitlement and hence existing entitlement must be

temporarily or permanently traded subject to specific trading rules. Outside of managed

groundwater areas, a new groundwater licence may be issued with a new entitlement

volume. The water markets for groundwater licences are less active than for the Murray

regulated river system, hence there are fewer trading opportunities for North East

Water.


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Table 19: Flexibility to Trade Water

Supply Category Permanent Trade Temporary Trade

Regulated surface

water

North East Water can either buy

additional entitlements or sell any excess.

A buying approach would only be

recommended for the Murray system

where agreed levels of service may not be

met after 2033 under the “dry” climate

change scenario.

Similar to permanent trade but allocation

may not be available to buy when needed

most.

Access to the temporary market is a valid

risk management option when facing

unexpected peaks in demand or extended

dry periods.

Unregulated surface

water

As above, but restrictions such as

‘winter-fill’ only can be imposed when

traded from downstream, or minimum

flow required in waterway before

diversion allowed. Flow in streams is

lowest when demand is highest.

Therefore need to be able to access more

entitlement to ensure security of supply.

This approach would only be

recommended where the bulk

entitlement volume is a constraint on

achieving the agreed level of service.

Similar to permanent but usually a more

limited potential market given the

unregulated nature of the source.

Groundwater Trade is only required if seeking

additional groundwater in managed

areas. Trading opportunities are

restricted to the trading zones (which

may differentiate between aquifers)

within the Groundwater Management

Area or Water Supply Protection Area.

Trade is only required if seeking

additional groundwater in managed

areas. Trading opportunities are

restricted to the trading zones (which

may differentiate between aquifers)

within the Groundwater Management

Area or Water Supply Protection Area.

Stormwater

The State Government policy, as outlined in the Central Region Sustainable Water Strategy (DSE, 2006), is that

if stormwater is flowing to a stream from an existing development, assume up to 50 per cent of existing

stormwater can be harvested for consumptive use and 50 per cent is reserved for the environment. If there is

a scheme to harvest more than 50 per cent of the resource a study is required to assess the implications for

the environment. If stormwater is generated from a new development, all of it is available for consumption

with the aim of the development having no impact on catchment run–off. Stormwater harvesting is tied to the

local physical harvesting of that water and hence is not readily tradeable.

Wastewater Return Flow credits

Goulburn-Murray Water’s Protocol for Crediting Return Flows from West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment

Plant was implemented as a pilot in July 2010. It allows North East Water to claim monthly return flow credits

from the West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment Plant against the River Murray Bulk Entitlement up to the

volume of urban diversions to Yarrawonga and Wahgunyah/Rutherglen. This means that if the volume

discharged is greater than the volume of water diverted, the excess is not credited. North East Water cannot

currently trade its return flow credits to other water users. Given that water is being discharged into the


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regulated River Murray, North East Water will investigate opportunities to allow the return flows discharged to

be traded to other consumptive users.

Urban water trading scheme

In response to the impact of water restrictions on community facilities such as sports grounds, and businesses

that rely on outdoor water use, North East Water instigated a pilot ‘urban water trading’ project. The pilot

enabled qualifying water users to purchase water allocations on the open market, which allowed these

businesses to meet their outdoor watering needs in the face of severe restrictions. The water is separate to

that available under North East Water’s allocation, and to account for water used in treatment and

distribution, urban water trading customers receive 80% of the volume purchased.

Access to additional water through the market is a means of easing the severity of restrictions. All participants

are required to abide by the appropriate efficient water usage practices. The Corporation will make water

trading available to groups or individuals who manage community-use assets such as sporting grounds, and to

businesses for which the prevailing restrictions would cause demonstrable business losses. For businesses, the

watering of lawns will not be considered an appropriate reason for an exemption unless there is a significant

safety issue.

Options

For this WSDS only permanent trade in entitlements is considered as an option. Options under the Using

Water Markets Options are outlined in Table 20. Any necessary delivery mechanism such as pipelines or off-

stream storages is addressed in the Secure Water Source approach.

The main application of the approach is to those delivery systems that directly access the supply source such

as Wodonga and Wangaratta and do not require a delivery mechanism.

Table 20: Summary of Using Water Markets Options


UWM-1 Regulated Supply - Bulk Entitlement

Use the current market arrangements to purchase additional entitlement as required to maintain the long term agreed level of service. Assumes that the necessary upgrades to water treatment plant and distribution mains are made.

Maintain the capability to access the temporary market to overcome periods that are drier than anticipated.

UWM-2 Unregulated Supply - Bulk Entitlement

Purchase additional entitlements on an opportunistic basis to maintain the long term agreed level of service, subject to conditions of trading zone (refer to Table 18 and Table 19). May require upgrades to pumps, treatment plants, potable water storage and mains, or pipelines that connect to regulated systems and/or off-stream storages that relying on being filled in winter.

UWM-3 Unregulated Supply – Groundwater Licence

Purchase additional entitlement if required. May require substantial modelling to determine suitable sites and sustainable yield from bores.

UWM-4 Carryover

Maintain North East Water’s current policy on carryover which is to ensure that the maximum carryover volume is kept from year to year.


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UWM-5 Wastewater Return Flow credits

Continue to operate under Goulburn-Murray Water’s Protocol for Crediting Return Flows from West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment Plant, water discharged from the plant can be credited against diversions to Yarrawonga and Rutherglen/Wahgunyah.

Pursue option to trade return flow credits.

UWM-6 Urban Water Trading Scheme

North East Water’s Urban Water Trading Scheme to be updated and to operate again in the future during severe restrictions. This would allow for providing water to customers that would otherwise be limited in their water use due to urban water restrictions.

5.7.2 Benefits

Allows for growth in demand beyond the savings from other options and provides for security of supply to

meet annual variation in demand. In regulated systems there are few constraints to accessing additional

entitlement.

5.7.3 Constraints

Permanent entitlements are seen as providing security for customers and this is most effective where there is

a regulated water supply. Temporary trade involves less certainty if there is a high demand for entitlements.

In dry periods or periods of reduced allocations, there is a major risk that there will be few willing sellers in the

temporary water trading markets.

In unregulated systems, there is no real temporary trade and very little opportunity for permanent trade.

Additional entitlement from the same sources is unlikely to improve long term reliability without infrastructure

investment to improve off-stream storage capacity.

5.7.4 Non-viable options

Using water markets is not a viable option in unregulated supply systems, such as Harrietville and

Yackandandah, where reliability is currently linked to streamflows. Additional entitlement would not

necessarily improve reliability unless storage is available to harvest water in the winter months.


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5.8 Secure Water Source


This approach involves augmenting the supply for a system that has a resource constraint (e.g. Goorambat).

Supply augmentations may involve:

Connecting a delivery system to one that has a more secure supply with a pipeline.

Constructing off-stream storage to increase the ‘yield’ of the supply source by capturing ‘winter fill’.

Supplementing supply with an alternative source such as groundwater.

Supplementing supply with carted water.

The approach includes the ‘delivery mechanism’ and the acquisition of additional entitlements, where

required.

In accordance with the supply augmentation principles described in Section 5.3.3. Secure water source

options have been developed for systems that:

1. Can not provide the agreed level of service (reliability of supply of less than 90%), which includes

Goorambat.

2. Offer a reliability of supply between 90% and 95%, which includes Wangaratta, Corryong and

Harrietville.

The options for this strategy are presented in Table 21.

Supply augmentations which are currently underway but yet to be completed are listed below and described

in more detail in Section 2.7.2.

Bright off-stream storage (expected to be completed in 2014).

Bundalong supplied from Yarrawonga system. (expected to be completed December 2012).

Springhurst supplied with pipeline from Wodonga supply system (expected to be completed in

December 2011).

Whitfield supplied from King River (expected to be completed in June 2012).

Table 21: Summary of Secure Water Source Options


SWS-1a Goorambat supply augmented with pipeline from Devenish

The existing supply is provided from a shallow groundwater bore and the yield from this bore in recent years has been insufficient to meet peak daily demands during summer.

The option involves replacing the existing supply with a supply from the River Murray via the Yarrawonga system by extending the Yarrawonga to Devenish pipeline to Goorambat.

SWS-1b Goorambat supply augmented with additional groundwater

This option would involve the development of additional groundwater supply. There is some uncertainty with this option as a suitable low salinity source needs to be located in the area. Considerable investigation and groundwater exploration would be needed to establish the required groundwater supply. This option would also require a water treatment plant upgrade to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003.


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SWS-1c Goorambat supply supplemented with water carting

Carting water from Devenish to Goorambat is another option under consideration. On average, This option would require up to six truckloads a day every 5 years. This option would also require a water treatment plant upgrade for the existing groundwater supply to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003.

SWS-2a Wangaratta supply augmented with off-stream storage

Wangaratta’s existing supply is from the Ovens river which is regulated by Goulburn-Murray Water. Extraction from the river is restricted during periods of low flow, which limits the volume that North East Water can supply and results in the need for restrictions to manage supply and demand.

This option involves the construction of a 65 ML storage on North East Water’s Crosher Lane property which would be filled during winter from the existing extraction point and treated with the existing water treatment plant.

SWS-2b Wangaratta supply augmented with groundwater

This option involves supplementing the existing surface water supply with groundwater. Development of additional groundwater supply may be required to ensure a supply of 10 ML/day can be provided. This option would also require a water treatment plant upgrade for groundwater supply to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003.

SWS-3a Harrietville supply augmented with off-stream storage

The existing supply is predominantly from the Simmons Creek with supply from the East branch of the Ovens river during low flow periods. During low flow periods the bulk entitlement for Harrietville requires minimum passing flows to be allowed with the need to place restrictions to manage supply and demand.

This option involves the construction of a 6 ML storage which would be filled during winter and new water treatment plant to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003.

SWS-3b Harrietville supply augmented with groundwater

This option would involve replacing or supplementing the existing surface water supply with groundwater, depending on the yield and water quality of the groundwater supply. There is some uncertainty with this option as the source would need to be extracted from a deep groundwater aquifer that is not connected to the surface water supplies. Considerable investigation and groundwater exploration would be needed to establish the required groundwater supply. This option would also require a water treatment plant upgrade to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003.

SWS-3c Harrietville supply supplemented with water carting

Carting water from the proposed Bright off-stream storage and water treatment Plant to Harrietville is another option under consideration. On average, this option could require up to 10 truckloads a day for 30 days every 10 years. This option would also require a water treatment plant upgrade for the existing surface water supply to achieve drinking water quality compliance.

SWS-4a Corryong supply augmented with off-stream storage

The existing supply is pumped from Nariel Creek to a 90 ML off-stream storage dam. Pumping and diversion from Nariel Creek is not possible during low flow events.

This option involves the construction of a 30 ML off-stream storage adjacent to the existing storage, which would be filled during winter.

SWS-4b Corryong supply augmented with groundwater

This option would involve replacing or supplementing the existing surface water supply with groundwater, depending on the yield and water quality of the groundwater supply. There is some uncertainty with this option as no groundwater investigation has been carried out to inform this option.


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5.8.1 Other initiatives

DSE is leading an investigation into options for augmenting supply in the Wangaratta region by increasing

storage capacity (Lake Buffalo and/or Lake William Hovell) or supplementing with groundwater. The outcome

of this investigation will be considered in assessing supply augmentation options for the Wangaratta urban

supply system. North East Water will work with DSE and other stakeholders in the review of the supply

augmentation options in the Wangaratta region.

The operating rules for Harrietville changed as part of the Drought Response Plan review. The rules were

originally based on the stream flow gauge located downstream of Harrietville at Bright, which proved non-

representative of conditions upstream at Harrietville during the drought. The new rules are based on stream

flows at a gauge nearer to the Harrietville offtake which have been determined to be more suitable and are

based on the Bulk Entitlement for Harrietville. These more robust rules will assist with implementation of

more timely and reliable drought actions at Harrietville in the future.

5.8.2 Benefits

This approach would provide improved reliability of supply and in some cases an improvement in potable

water quality. Connecting systems with pipelines, for example Goorambat, would eliminate the need for the

upgrade of a small water treatment plant that would not provide economies of scale. Off-stream storages,

filled during high stream flow periods provide a more reliable supply and reduce the risk of restrictions during

the summer months and groundwater supplies provide an alternative supply that may be accessed as

required.

Water carting to smaller systems provides the greatest flexibility to respond as required, however is expensive

and energy intensive on a unit (ML) basis.

5.8.3 Constraints

The main constraints of supplying water from secure water sources is the high capital cost of the infrastructure

required and energy cost to pump the water over distance and uphill. Pipelines are less viable over long

distances and for small volumes, and where water has to be pumped to a higher elevation. Off-stream

storages require suitable sites and availability land for the project. If a storage needs to be constructed

downstream of the delivery system then connecting pipelines are still required and pumping costs increase.

The uncertainty associated with the yield and quality of groundwater supplies requires broad exploration and

poses a significant financial risk.

5.8.4 Non-viable options

Pipeline from Lake William Hovell or Lake Buffalo to Wangaratta

This option has been postponed in the short-term and medium term on the grounds that the cost is

unacceptably high compared to other options to augment Wangaratta’s supply.


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6 Implementing the Strategy

North East Water and its customers have made significant progress in the last five years towards achieving a

balance between supply and demand. Implementation of demand management and supply enhancement

approaches recommended in this WSDS will ensure North East Water is well positioned to maintain a balance

between the demand for water in urban supply systems and available supply now and into the future.

North East Water will continue to improve the efficiency of its water supply systems (Delivery System

Performance approach) and will work with customers to manage demand and reduce the risk of customers

reverting back to high water use behaviour (Demand Management approach). North East Water’s One

Resource approach has been used to identify existing and potential alternative water use across the region,

and will continue to be applied to take a holistic approach to water resource management.

The Victorian water market is a very effective method for balancing supply and demand in North East Water’s

communities supplied by the regulated River Murray system and North East Water will continue to purchase

additional entitlement through the water trading market to cater for future growth and to manage the annual

variation in demand (Using Water Markets approach). The volumetric summary for the Using Water Markets

approach, detailed in Table 23, indicates that only an additional 113 ML of water entitlement is required by

2060 for communities supplied by the River Murray based on the forecast growth and usage assumptions.

This sum does not include the benefits from wastewater return flow credits or utilising carryover which

provide additional access to water.

The Secure Water Source approach will be implemented in accordance with North East Water’s supply

augmentation principles (refer to Section 5.3.3). A supply augmentation for Goorambat is under consideration

for inclusion in Water Plan 3 (2014 - 2018) and augmentation investigations will be conducted for Wangaratta,

Corryong and Harrietville.

The demand management options are not system specific and will in general be applicable to all systems. As

such demand management options have been assessed in a generic manner with a qualitative analysis of the

identified demand management options. It is also noted that the take up of many of demand management

initiatives is customer driven (i.e. dependent on customer attitudes and behaviour). For example installation

of water efficient appliances and rain water tanks.

The application, or priority, of options within each approach across North East Water’s 21 water supply

systems is presented in Table 22. A volumetric summary of demand savings or additional supply required to

achieve a balance between supply and demand across North East Water’s region over a 50-year planning

horizon is shown in Table 23.


Page 67

Table 22: Application/Priority of options to meet the Levels of Service

Ap

pro

ach

Ref Option

Be

ech

wo

rth

Be

llbri

dge

Be

nal

la

Bri

ght

Co

rryo

ng

Dar

tmo

uth

Eskd

ale

Go

ora

mb

at

Har

rie

tvill

e

Mt

Be

auty

Mo

yhu

Myr

tle

ford

Oxl

ey

Talla

nga

tta

Wah

gun

yah

/

Ru

the

rgle

n

Wal

wa

Wan

gara

tta

Wh

itfi

eld

Wo

do

nga

Yac

kan

dan

dah

Yar

raw

on

ga

DSP-1 Delivery System Water Audits

DSP-2 Headworks Water Management

DSP-3 Leakage Control

DSP-4Annual Meter Verification

Program

DSP-5Zoned Metering and Pressure

Reduction

DM-1Customer Education – Provision

of advice and information

DM-2

Incentives for Water

Conservation Devices and

Efficient Appliances

DM-3

Customer (non-residential)

Water Conservation and

Demand Reduction

DM-4

Customer (local government)

Water Conservation and

Demand Reduction

DM-5 Pricing

DM-6 Regulation – Water Restrictions

DM-7 Innovative Technology

OR-1

Use One Resource approach for

Supply Augmentations

assessments

OR-2Populated One Resource

Frameworks

OR-3Sustainability assessment of

One Resource Frameworks

Dem

and

Man

agem

ent

On

e R

eso

urc

eD

eliv

ery

Syst

em

Per

form

ance


Page 68

Ap

pro

ach

Ref Option

Be

ech

wo

rth

Be

llbri

dge

Be

nal

la

Bri

ght

Co

rryo

ng

Dar

tmo

uth

Eskd

ale

Go

ora

mb

at

Har

rie

tvill

e

Mt

Be

auty

Mo

yhu

Myr

tle

ford

Oxl

ey

Talla

nga

tta

Wah

gun

yah

/

Ru

the

rgle

n

Wal

wa

Wan

gara

tta

Wh

itfi

eld

Wo

do

nga

Yac

kan

dan

dah

Yar

raw

on

ga

UWM-1Regulated Supply - Bulk

Entitlement

UWM-2Unregulated Supply - Bulk

Entitlement

UWM-3Unregulated Supply –

Groundwater Licence

UWM-4 Carryover

UWM-5 Wastewater Return Flow credits

UWM-6 Urban Water Trading Scheme

SWS-1aGoorambat supply augmented

with pipeline from Devenish

SWS-1bGoorambat supply augmented

with additional groundwater

SWS-1cGoorambat supply

supplemented with water carting

SWS-2aWangaratta supply augmented

with off-stream storage

SWS-2bWangaratta supply augmented

with groundwater

SWS-3aHarrietvil le supply augmented

with off-stream storage

SWS-3bHarrietvil le supply augmented

with groundwater

SWS-3cHarrietvil le supply

supplemented with water carting

SWS-4aCorryong supply augmented with

off-stream storage

SWS-4bCorryong supply augmented with

groundwater

Usi

ng

Wat

er M

arke

tsSe

cure

Wat

er S

ou

rce


Page 69

Table 23: Region-wide volumetric summary of supply, demand and opportunities to achieve a balance

1 NOTE: Yield from unregulated rivers at North East Water’s agreed level of service was indeterminate because reliability is fixed by available streamflow, and is

independent of the level of demand. The supply-demand balance has been assessed using estimates of reliability of supply rather than yield.

2010 2030 2060 2010 2030 2060 2010 2030 2060

Beechworth 424 469 527 1,073 1,059 1,064 0 0 0 43 0 30 0 0 73

Benal la 1,369 1,479 1,618 2,555 2,469 2,341 0 0 0 104 0 8 0 0 112

Bright 613 708 783 798 828 726 0 0 57 175 0 1 0 0 176

Corryong 275 277 279 282 248 217 0 29 62 31 0 23 0 31 85

Dartmouth 24 24 25 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5

Goorambat 19 19 20 9 9 10 0 0 0 0 20 20

Harrietvi l le 61 63 65 0 0 6 6 0 0 0 6 12

Mt Beauty 315 326 337 627 627 627 0 0 0 59 0 10 0 0 69

Moyhu 28 29 30 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

Myrtleford 549 569 596 802 741 677 0 0 0 30 0 13 0 0 43

Oxley 88 100 115 0 0 0 42 0 1 0 0 43

Walwa 17 17 17 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3

Wangaratta 3,203 3,409 3,657 0 0 65 183 0 237 0 65 485

Whitfield 15 15 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Yackandandah 119 130 145 205 205 205 0 0 0 7 0 18 0 0 25

Bel lbridge 52 74 91 0 0 0 0

Eskdale 8 8 8 0 0 0 0

Tal langatta 586 645 719 14 0 0 0

Wahgunyah/

Rutherglen185 191 194 45 0 0 0

Wodonga 5,499 6,423 7,511 376 0 320 0

Yarrawonga 1,384 1,855 2,458 147 0 169 0

Total 14,833 16,830 19,210 17,230 17,765 16,123 9 38 908 1,271 0 830 113 122 2,336

Approaches to balance Supply and Demand (ML/yr)

Delivery

System

Performance

Demand

Management

One

Resource

Using

Water

Markets

Secure

Water

Source

Total

Indeterminate1

System

Unrestricted Average Annual Demand

(ML/yr)

Yield under median Climate Change

Scenario (ML/yr)

Nominal Additional Water or Savings

Required (ML/yr)

Insufficient data

Insufficient data

Indeterminate 1

Indeterminate 1

Insufficient data

Indeterminate 1

Indeterminate 1

10,888 11,588 10,266 0 0 708 113 1,184


Page 70

7 Stakeholder engagement

North East Water’s WSDS has been developed in consultation with the community and its Board. The North

East Water project team has driven the development of the WSDS and sought input from the community and

Board at key stages. Community input was used to finalise the agreed and minimum levels of service, which

will be subsequently used to inform supply augmentation and capital investment requirements for

consideration in North East Water’s next Water Plan (2014-2018). Specific detail on engagements activities is

provided below.

The North East Water Water Plan 3 Reference Group was a key community group that was involved

throughout the development of the strategy. During this time, the Reference Group has:

Gained an understanding of the purpose of the WSDS and approach taken for its development.

Gained an understanding of the current level of service (reliability of supply) of North East Water’s

21 water supply systems and investment required to deliver the agreed level of service.

Provided positive feedback on the minimum and agreed levels of service.

Other mechanisms that North East Water has used to gain input from stakeholders include:

Engaging with each local council to develop the Alternative Water Atlas component of the WSDS. This

involved meeting with senior staff from Alpine Shire, Benalla Rural City, City of Wodonga, Indigo Shire,

Moira Shire, Towong Shire and Rural City of Wangaratta.

Obtaining positive feedback from local councils on forecast growth rates for each of their relevant

communities.

Presenting an overview of the WSDS development process and reliability of supply (level of service)

modelling results for Benalla to the Benalla Rotary Club. This was conducted as part of North East

Water’s community engagement during National Water Week and it provided an insight to the

community’s level of service expectations, as identified by that segment of the Benalla community.

Obtaining feedback from DSE on the draft WSDS prior to seeking public comment.

Obtaining public comment on the draft WSDS after announcing the release of the draft WSDS in local

media and making it available on the North East Water website during February 2012.

Presenting the draft WSDS to North East Water’s Yackandandah Community Reference Group.

North East Water’s Board has provided oversight to the development of the WSDS in conjunction with the

development of North East Water’s capital program for Water Plan 3. The Board has provided input to the

development of the WSDS though a workshop and regular Board and Board sub-committee meetings.

The final WSDS was issued to the Honourable Peter Walsh MP, Minister for Water, for noting in March 2012.

North East Water would like to acknowledge the Project Team and Water Plan 3 Reference Group for their

contribution and feedback throughout the development of the strategy. Project team and Water Plan 3

Reference Group members are acknowledged in Appendix 1.

In the future, North East Water will engage with communities affected by supply augmentations approved in

the next Water Plan. This approach is consistent with our current stakeholder engagement process.

Engagement will span from the options assessment through to the delivery of the augmentation.


Page 71

8 References

Department of Natural Resources and Environment (1998) Ministerial Guidelines for Developing and

Implementing a Drought Response Plan

Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD), State Government of Victoria, 2011,

Melbourne, Victoria, viewed 11 July 2011, < http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/home/publications-and-

research/urban-and-regional-research/Regional-Victoria/towns-in-time>.

Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD), State Government of Victoria, 2011,

Melbourne, Victoria, viewed 11 July 2011, < http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/home/publications-and-

research/urban-and-regional-research/metropolitan/victoria-in-future-2008/2009-urban-and-regional-forums-

victoria-in-future-2008-population-projections>.

Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), State Government of Victoria, 2011, Northern Region

Sustainable Water Strategy, Melbourne November 2009

Erlanger, P. and Neal, B. (2005) Framework for Urban Water Resource Planning. Water Services Association of

Australia Occasional Paper No. 14 – June 2005.

Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA) (2005) Regional River Health Strategy 2005-

2015. Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Shepparton.

Holling, C.S. (1978) Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management.

MDBA (2010) Guide to the Basin Plan.

MDBA (2011) Proposed Basin Plan.

North East Catchment Management Authority (NECMA) (2006) North East Regional River Health Strategy.

Summary Document, April 2006.

North East Water (2007) Water Supply Demand Strategy.

North East Water (2011) Drought Response Plan.

North East Water (2007) Water Plan 2008 – 2013.

Podger, G.M., Barma, D., Neal, B., Austin, K. and Murrihy, E. (2010) River System Modelling for the Basin Plan.

Assessment of fitness for purpose. Report to the Murray Darling Basin Authority by CSIRO, Barma Water

Resources and SKM.

SKM (2009) Combined impact of the 2003 and 2006/07 bushfires on streamflow. Broadscale assessment. V1.

July 2009.

Turner, A., Willets, J., Fane, S., Giurco, D., Chong, J., Kazagalis, A., and White, S. (2010) Guide to demand

management and integrated resource planning for urban water. Prepared by the Institute for Sustainable

Futures, University of Technology Sydney for the National Water Commission and the Water Services

Association of Australia.

Van Dijk, A.J.M, Kirby, M., Paydar, Z., Podger, G., Mainuddin, M., Marvanek, S. and Peña Arancibia, J. (2008).

Uncertainty in river modelling across the Murray-Darling Basin. A report to the Australian Government from

the CSIRO MDBSY, CSIRO Australia. 89pp.

Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition (2010) Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Plan for Water

Victorian Water Industry Association (2005) Victorian Uniform Drought Water Restriction Guidelines. Final.

Victorian Water Industry Association (2011) Victorian Uniform Water Restriction and Permanent Water Saving Rule Guidelines - Outcome of the Review of Victoria’s Approach to Water Restrictions and Permanent Water Saving Rules. Position Paper. FINAL. 23/09/2011


Appendix 1: Project Team and Water Plan 3 Reference Group

North East Water Project Team

Business Unit Member Position

Corporate Services Ascher Derwent One Resource Project Officer

Corporate Services Dr Tim Clune Manager Sustainability and Risk

Customer and Financial Services John Morris Manager Customer and Community

Customer and Financial Services Michael Sinclair Contract Services Officer

Customer and Financial Services Naomi Laauli Acting Manager Customer Service

Customer and Financial Services Nicholas Moore Manager Finance

Operations Alister Laidlaw Water Systems Coordinator

Operations Jason Mullins Systems Improvement Manager

Planning and Infrastructure Charlie Bird Senior Engineer – Strategic Planning

Planning and Infrastructure Kevin Freeman Executive Manager Planning and Infrastructure

Planning and Infrastructure Les Ryan Manager Strategy and Development

Water Plan 3 Reference Group

Member Community

Frank Burfitt Reference Group Chair – North East Water Board of Directors

Steve Bird North East Water Board of Directors

Neil Ward Chiltern – Indigo Shire region

Rosie Scott Yarrawonga – Moira Shire region

Dr John Charles Yarrawonga – Moira Shire region

Ben Fryer Wodonga – City of Wodonga region

Michelle Cowan Wodonga – City of Wodonga region

Geoff Dinning Wangaratta – Rural City of Wangaratta

Grant Jones Wangaratta – Rural City of Wangaratta

Jim Bates Bright – Alpine Shire Council region

Cr Peter Davis Benalla – Rural City of Benalla region

Mark Chadwick Major Industry representation

water supply demand strategy - north east water · water supply demand strategy 2012 ii executive...

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