From the CEO
Welcome to the Summer 2017 edition of Water Matters. I hope you all had the opportunity to enjoy some time with family and friends over the Christmas and New Year period and are now ready for what looks to be another action packed year.
There continues to be substantial changes in leadership within the Victoria water industry, I would like to personally thank Joe Adamski, Kevin Hutchings and David Mawer for their significant contribution to the sector and in particular for their support and engagement with VicWater which has been outstanding.
I would also like to welcome Tracey Slatter to the sector, the new MD of Barwon Water. Tracey brings a wealth of experience and is a proven leader from CEO roles in Local Government, senior roles in TAC, Health and the G21 Geelong Region Alliance. I look forward to working with Tracey and the team at Barwon who have always contributed strongly to the Victorian water industry.
In the last five years, before recent changes, there was a 92% turn over in MD positions as a number of MD’s retired or moved to new roles. In addition, with the change in government there was the change in water corporation boards. Finally, within various government departments there has also been a number of significant changes in key personnel.
There are also signs of significant churn in executive positions occurring and again I extend my appreciation to those executives whose contributions are often not recognised. In reality they are the day-to-day engine room of the water corporations.
This trend is set to continue in 2017 with around 80 director positons up for reappointment and the government sending strong messages about their expectations regarding market testing GSERP positions as they expire.
It is also clear, based on industry benchmarking, the remuneration of boards and executive is significantly out of step with the Australian utility market and we welcome moves from the government to consider the level of remuneration of leaders in the Victorian Water sector.
In light of this rate and breadth of change, VicWater’s role has never been more important in supporting water corporations, existing leaders and welcoming new leaders into the industry. It was recently reflected by one MD that the change in leadership has occurred pretty smoothly over the last five years and that VicWater has played an important role in that smooth transition through our director induction and various forums.
The industry has been truly amazing at welcoming new people into what is a very exciting sector, treating departing personnel with dignity and in rightly recognising the significant contributions they have made to Victoria. In addition, those new to the sector have done a wonderful job assimilating both personally and from a business perspective into the complex structures and environments that is the Victorian water industry.
The changes have occurred with little fuss and we have maintained the sector’s positon as arguably providing the best water utility services in Australia and the world.
Recently, I spoke about the Victorian water industry to VicWater’s counter parts in QLD and NSW and they were envious of the collegiate nature of the sector and the range of and scope of services VicWater provides. They referred to Victoria as the benchmark for the rest of Australia, both in terms of structure, governance and performance.
It is easy to forget just what an excellent industry we have in Victoria and how good our services are when you are busy getting on and doing a great job for your customers, as all of VicWater’s members do.
Switching focus I would now like to speak about some internal matters. I would like to personally congratulate Kim Mosse from Melbourne Water who is the 2017 Emerging Leader Award recipient. Kim has extensive experience in wastewater and drinking water operations, has a PHD in reuse of winery wastewater: effects on soil and plant health and was identified in 2009 as one of Australia’s Top 100 future leaders. Veolia Water have put together a fabulous itinerary for Kim’s work placement. Kim will be working on a number of exciting and innovative projects and will be involved in various levels of Veolia’s business activities. She will spend three month’s in France, visiting Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Toulouse. All the best Kim for what should be a fabulous trip.
Our calendar of main annual events has now been set with information and registration details available on our website.
- We have a 2-day Dams Seminar being held 28 February and 1 March.
- Three director information sessions being run in conjunction with DELWP on Dam Safety and Risk Management in March in various locations across the state.
- Our annual audit and risk committee chairs discussion on 10 May.
- The Finance Conference on 11 & 12 May which has been themed “A Catalyst for Agility”.
- Also in May (25 & 26) we have an exciting new event; the Future State Conference. The two days will outline a blueprint for water; a commercially viable migration to consumption, production and supply of electricity in the water sector. The event has been developed with key decision makers in mind. More information will be shared in coming weeks on this event.
- In addition to the above we also have our regular industry steering group meetings and industry group forums.
There are also a significant number of initiatives and policy areas that VicWater is currently contributing to on behalf of or in tandem with the Victorian water industry. The main being involvement in:
- Several work-streams associated with the implementation of the Water for Victoria priority actions;
- Continuing support for the delivery of the industry-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategy;
- Review of clauses within the State Environment Protection Policy (SEPP);
- Feedback to the Integrated Water Management Framework for Victoria;
- A new model for the delivery of the industry Puddle accounts;
- Assisting water corporations’ transition to streamlined financial reporting;
- Updating the industry legal compliance manual;
- The Supply Chain Excellence program;
- Implementing priority biosolids projects;
- Supporting the Intelligent Water Networks project; and
- Assisting in the delivery of IWA events.
2017 is looking like a real landmark year for the Victorian water industry as the government moves from planning to implementation of Water for Victoria ahead of the 2018 election and will be relying heavily on water corporations to work with the department to implement the initiatives within Water for Victoria.
A challenge we are ready for and excited to be progressing! I am excited by the opportunity in 2017 for VicWater to work with our members and stakeholders to assist our industry achieve extraordinary results for our customers.
< PreviousNext >Kim Mosse - 2017 VicWater Emerging Leader recipient
About me:
I am Kim Mosse, Water Quality Lead at Melbourne Water
Tell us about yourself:
I love water in all its forms – I’m a keen swimmer, surfer, SCUBA diver, and skier (frozen water?). My Melbourne base is in Clifton Hill, but I’m also lucky enough have a family beach house on Phillip Island, which has strongly contributed to my love of saltwater!
What about your professional background?
A lot of time at uni (PhD in winery wastewater management), followed by a process engineering role in wastewater operations and now into potable water quality.
And your water industry experience?
I’ve been with Melbourne Water for just over 5 years, working at both ends of the water supply pathway. I started with a vacation role focussed on sludge drying before moving into a process engineering role at the Western Treatment Plant, which I’ve come to realise is a very abnormal wastewater treatment plant! I was in that role for around 3.5 years before moving into my current role as the Water Quality Lead within Water Supply Operations around 18 months ago.
From your perspective what is the top issue affecting you in your current role; and/or your business; and/or the water industry at the moment?
I think the conversion of data to wisdom is certainly one of the biggest challenges we have at the moment. There are so many ways in which to collect data, but taking a systematic approach to enable meaningful interpretation is key.
Emerging Leader Award:
I’m really appreciative of the opportunity provided by VicWater to head to France to work with Veolia as the recipient of the Emerging Leader award. I’m excited to see how such a large and innovative company manages operations around the world, and to see some of their innovative treatment plants and systems in France.
Tell us about your vision for the Victorian water industry and your role in that vision?
Our responsibility as the Victorian water industry is to ensure that water is delivered to the right place, at the right time, at the right quality. From drinking water in kitchens on 40°C days, to sewage arriving at treatment plants without spills, to stormwater being harvested and appropriately reused – all aspects are critical in ensuring the health, wellbeing and prosperity of Victorians. This vision requires a number of people and teams working together, sharing knowledge and ideas to continually improve industry practices. My role is to actively facilitate knowledge transfer, encouraging ideas to spread across teams, businesses and sectors.
How do you plan on maximising the value of this experience?
Short duration experiences such as this require a commitment to engaging with new people and seeking opportunities in a limited time period. I’m quite familiar with the process from a number of university exchanges and new work environments, and believe that this will enable me to maximise the value of this experience. Working in an international operational water business would expose me to different problems with different solutions, and allow me to broaden my knowledge base to ultimately help develop and support the Victorian Water industry.
< PreviousNext >
Project to benefit community health and wellbeing
Wannon Water and Portland District Health (PDH) are partnering in a pilot project that will have broad benefits for community health and wellbeing.
The Great Tasting Water project, launched in December, aims to improve the taste of tap water at the Portland hospital and encourage people to use it as a healthy alternative to sugary drinks.
PDH Chief Executive Officer Chris Giles said the project was part of a campaign to work with the community to tackle health issues such as obesity.
Department of Health statistics show the rate of overweight and obese people living in the Glenelg Shire is 59 per cent – 10 per cent above the state average. In Portland, the rate of obesity has risen by 300 per cent in the past 30 years.
“As the largest local healthcare provider, Portland District Health is leading by example and plans to phase out sugary drinks in our facilities,” Ms Giles said.
Wannon Water’s General Manager Service Delivery, Ian Bail said the pilot project tied in with Wannon Water’s corporate vision of going “beyond water for strong communities”.
“Portland’s water is supplied from deep groundwater bores and although it is of high quality, we acknowledge there are lower rates of customer satisfaction with the taste compared to our other towns,” Mr Bail said.
“We want to support the hospital in taking a leadership role on reducing community obesity by improving the taste of its drinking water supply at current pricing levels and eliminating the need to purchase bottled water.”
The project will involve an upgrade of the hospital’s existing water filtration plant which has until now been used to supply sterilisation and disinfection processes. The normal town supply will be blended with this filtered water to produce great tasting water, encouraging more staff and patients to drink it. It is anticipated the improved water will also extend the life of the hospital infrastructure, resulting in financial savings to the hospital.
Two drinking water fountains will also be installed outside the hospital allowing members of the public to “choose tap” by refilling their own water bottles when they are out exercising or walking.
The project launch included a taste test where hospital employees and patients were able to sample a variety of filtered water blends to determine what “great tasting water” meant to them.
Detailed design work for the project will begin early this year with the water expected to start flowing in the hospital by June.
Portland District Health Director Corporate Services Ros Jones and Wannon Water’s General Manager Service Delivery Ian Bail toast the Great Tasting Water pilot project.
< PreviousNext >
Local hay assists international water project
Wannon Water has donated hay to support a Rotary International relief project supplying clean water to a remote village in Papua New Guinea.
More than 30 round bales of hay were harvested from Wannon Water land near Port Fairy and donated to the Rotary Club of Warrnambool for the second successive year.
The club will use the funds from the sale of the bales to support the Sariri Village Project which is helping to rebuild a community devastated by a cyclone in 2007 and severe flooding in 2009.
Branch Manager Corporate Services Les Johnson said the long-term project linked to Wannon Water’s corporate vision of going “beyond water for strong communities”.
“Wannon Water is once again proud to support Rotary in its work to help the Sarari village re-establish and become self-sustaining with projects including timber milling, construction of safer housing and a school and the installation of a running water supply,” Mr Johnson said.
“Watching a video of village children playing in running water for the first time was heartwarming.”
Wannon Water’s Social Committee has also supported the project, providing money raised from last year’s employee Christmas quiz towards a solar water pump.
The Rotary Club of Warrnambool’s International Services Director Tony Austin said Sarari was a Rotary Australia World Community Service project first initiated by the Rotary Club of Geelong and later supported by the Warrnambool Rotary clubs.
“Much has been achieved and the lives of the villagers have significantly improved as a consequence,” Mr Austin said. “It is an example of the convergence of traditional ways and modern technologies making life better in an extremely harsh and primitive environment.”
He said villages such as Sariri received little or no financial support. “Most villages have absolutely nothing except what they grow and cut from the jungle and everything has to be carried by hand.
“In the past, women and children had to walk three kilometres to the river each day to fetch and carry all their water needs. With Rotary’s support, they’ve dug a well, sunk a bore and set a solar powered submersible pump on it, set up a solar battery array to provide a limited electricity supply and installed water tanks, pipes and taps to service much of the village.”
Mr Austin said it was hoped the Sariri project could become a model replicated by other communities
Wannon Water’s Manager Operations John Harris, left, with Warrnambool Rotary Club President Steve Giddens and International Committee Director Tony Austin in the paddock of baled hay near Port Fairy.
Victoria-wide Collaboration to Deliver Water Efficiency Advice
Higher levels of collaboration is a key aim of the Victorian water industry to provide better value to our customers.
Water efficiency representatives of each of the Victorian urban water corporations and DELWP have successfully collaborated to work with the Smart Approved Water Mark (SAWM) to deliver over 30 pages of web-based water efficiency advice for households and businesses in our communities. This will support our water efficiency programs, Target 155 in Melbourne and Target Your Water Use in regional Victoria.
We all agree that water efficiency is important but it has not been a top priority recently so it is particularly impressive to see all of the Victorian urban water corporations formally committing to engaging in a voluntary collaborative project. With 100% participation, it was possible to negotiate a very reasonable price for the SAWM services.
The initial delivery of the water efficiency advice is based on the web assets previously hosted by savewater.com.au. The collaboration included choosing which of the savewater web assets to use, negotiation of pricing, development of the formal Agreement and consultation on the content of the deliverables.
We consider that this was a highly efficient way to deliver a water efficiency advice service to customers and a good example of the benefits of Victorian water industry collaboration.
Additional resources will be developed, including a plant library and selector, video content and further materials. To browse the resource visit: https://www.smartwatermark.org/Victoria/
The initial informal project team of Chris Philpot (SAWM), Les Walker (DELWP), Audra Liubinas (CWW) and Brendon Clarke (CHW) has been joined by Sandra Brady (Barwon) and Lucy Gaylard (SEW) to continue the development of the resource on behalf of the industry.
VicWater Emerging Leader Award
The VicWater Board and staff would like to congratulate this year’s recipient of the VicWater Emerging Leader Award; Kim Mosse.
Kim works with Melbourne Water as their Senior Process Engineer in Service Delivery Wholesale Services. Kim was formally presented with the award at the AWA Victorian Water Awards in December 2016.
Kim has extensive experience in wastewater and drinking water operations, has a PHD in reuse of winery wastewater: effects on soil and plant health and was also identified in 2009 as one of Australia’s Top 100 future leaders. Kim stood out to the VicWater Board because of her clear vision for the future and the challenges facing the industry and her positive approach to meeting these challenges from a whole of industry perspective.
Veolia Water will be hosting Kim in France for three months and Kim and Veolia representatives have been very swift in determining a fabulous itinerary for her work placement. Kim will be working on a number of exciting and innovative projects during her time overseas that will see her involved in various levels and aspects of Veolia’s business. The aim is to have Kim head off in April this year, starting in Paris then visiting Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and concluding back in Paris. What a wonderful experience!
Kim will provide updates along the way via VicWater’s monthly members’ update. It will be terrific to hear about the exciting projects and her experiences along the way. Kim will also be featured on the VicWater Annual Conference program in September.
The VicWater Board continue to be impressed by the high calibre of nominees that are received from across the sector. They consistently comment that it is a wonderful process to be a part of as it leaves them feeling excited for the future of the sector.
Clearly the offering of this award is still generating interest as this year we had a very strong 10 nominations from across the sector. On behalf of the VicWater Board we thank the nominees for taking the time to nominate and encourage them to continue to strive for continuous improvement, in the workplace, in customer service and delivery and for the sector more broadly.
Finally, and importantly we would like to thank Vision Super for their continued support and sponsorship of this award. Without Vision Super’s support we would not be able to provide such an exciting opportunity for an emerging leader in the water industry, an opportunity that serves as an investment in a sustainable, vibrant and successful water sector.
(L-R) Stephen Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Vision Super. Kim Mosse, Senior Process Engineer – Service Delivery Wholesale Services, Melbourne Water. Jo Plummer, Chair, Barwon Water
Save the dates - upcoming VicWater events
Finance Conference 2017
Dates – 11 May and 12 May 2017
Venue – RACV Goldfields Resort, 1500 Midland Highway, Creswick
Theme – Finance: A catalyst for agility
Program – Aiming to have it finalised and on our website with online registrations in early April.
The Future State of Electricity
Dates – 25 and 26 May 2017
Venue – Grand Hyatt, Melbourne
Theme – A Blueprint for water; a commercially viable migration to consumption, production and supply of electricity in the water sector.
Audience – This is a conference for key decision makers with the audience likely to include Managing Directors, General Managers and Board Directors.
Program – Aiming to have it finalised and on our website with online registrations open in April.
Annual Conference
Dates – 14 and 15 September 2017
Venue – The Langham, Southbank
Program – Aiming to have it finalised and on our website with online registrations open by early August.
< PreviousNext >Peninsula ECO wins engagement award as 2000th customer connects
South East Water’s Peninsula ECO project has received a top industry award in recognition of its unique approach to customer engagement. The Australian Utility Innovators Award, which considers projects across the water and energy sectors, comes as Peninsula ECO connected its 2000th customer, just 24 months after connections commenced.
Peninsula ECO is the largest pressure sewer project in Australia’s history, aiming to connect 16,500 homes on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula with an intelligent, remotely operated reticulated sewer network.
The system replaces ageing septic tanks and onsite treatment plants, which can pollute groundwater and waterways, with a cost-effective pressure sewer network able to cope with the region’s peak season usage without the need for large-scale excavation.
Connecting not only removes the hassle of maintaining onsite systems, but it also frees up space for homeowners to do more with their properties, such as build extensions, decks or swimming pools.
Rye Homeowner Adrian had previously installed an onsite treatment plant at his property, but with the system failing at critical times and requiring expensive repairs, he approached South East Water and became the 2000th customer to connect to Peninsula ECO.
“Last year on Boxing Day we arrived with family and friends to find that the computer system on the treatment plant had failed,” said Adrian.
“I chose to connect to Peninsula ECO because I didn’t want the worry or maintenance issues. South East Water will have all their systems in place to make sure nothing goes wrong, and that gives me confidence that I won’t have any issues in the future.”
With South East Water teams now connecting more than eight properties a day, customer engagement has played a vital role in the project’s success, resulting in Peninsula ECO’s recognition as best Customer Engagement Project in the 2016 Australian Utility Innovators Awards.
The award recognizes creative marketing, engagement and innovation in creating positive customer experiences while achieving specified project outcomes.
“Ageing and failing septic systems can pollute the waterways around us, but with most problems often hidden below ground, not every customer is immediately aware of the benefits of connecting to Peninsula ECO,” said Charlie Littlefair, General Manager for Asset Creation at South East Water.
“We set about communicating the broad range of benefits of connecting by engaging other community stakeholders, such as plumbers, builders and estate agents, who helped us explain the value Peninsula ECO delivers to homeowners.”
“The results speak for themselves. Last financial year connections increased by 300 per cent, and we’ve expanded our contractor capabilities to keep up with demand.”
For information on how to connect, visit www.betterconnected.com.au.
To view a video on this project click here.
< PreviousNext >Coliban Water Launches Water Security Survey
Coliban Water wants to hear from customers and the community on plans for the region’s water security over the next 50 years.
Manager Raw Water, Steve Healy said the corporation plans 50 years into the future on an ongoing basis.
“Our Urban Water Strategy outlines water supply initiatives to meet the region’s residential, business and community urban water needs in coming decades,” Mr Healy said.
Coliban Water customers and people living, working and visiting the Coliban Water region can share their opinion by completing a short survey on the Coliban Water website.
“The views of the community form an integral part in shaping our Urban Water Strategy.
“We have 49 towns in our region across nine different water supply systems. Each system has its own strategy to maintain a balance between customer demand and water availability,” said Mr Healy.
Water corporations across Victoria formally review their Urban Water Strategy every five years. The strategy takes into account population growth and climate variability.
“The strategy is a key input into our Pricing Submission 2018, which captures customers’ views and preferences as part of determining our prices, and water and sewer services from 1 July 2018.
“To understand the voice of our customers we have a rolling program of community visits through our Your Town program, our customer consultative committees, conversations with customers through various channels and targeted customer research,” said Mr Healy.
The Urban Water Strategy survey will be open until the end of February 2017.
For further information, to complete the Urban Water Strategy survey, or to give us feedback of any kind, visit our Pricing Submission 2018 web page.
Customers without internet access can contact our Customer Support team on 1300 363 200 for a hard copy of the survey.
< PreviousNext >From poo to parkland
History of Melbourne’s Main Outfall Sewer
The old Main Outfall Sewer pipeline once transported sewerage from Melbourne to Werribee. Affectionately known as the ‘MOS’, prior to its completion in 1894 the city’s untreated waste was dumped directly into Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne’s rivers. Melbourne was often referred to as ‘Smellbourne’ because of the city’s unsanitary waste disposal methods, and cholera, diphtheria and typhoid ran rife. The MOS solved this sanitation problem by taking sewage away to a treatment plant in Werribee. The MOS was decommissioned in 1993 and is heritage listed because of its contribution to Melbourne’s transition into a modern metropolis.
The future of the MOS
The Greening the Pipeline (GTP) vision is to bring new life to this asset and create a 40m wide reserve that runs for approximately 27km across a range of landscapes including industrial, residential and farm paddocks.
“We hope to create a vibrant space that will connect communities, enhance active transport options for the region, and provide a unique space to meet, play and relax,” says Chris Williams, General Manager Integrated Planning, Melbourne Water.
The vision will complement the existing Federation Trail that runs along the MOS reserve, which already provides a key cycling route into the city. In an area of Melbourne that is highly dependent on cars, this project presents an opportunity to enhance a key active transport link.
The Greening the Pipeline project is a partnership between Melbourne Water, Wyndham City Council, VicRoads and City West Water, and is supported by Greening the West. Funding has not yet been allocated towards the entire project, but the partnership will explore funding opportunities as this project progresses.
What is happening now?
A 100m section of Greening the Pipeline is currently being constructed at Williams Landing. This pilot parkland is expected to be complete by April 2017. A bioretention system will be put in place to capture and treat local stormwater runoff, and will be used to irrigate the surrounding landscaped areas.
Master planning has commenced for a key section of the project between Lawrie Emmins Reserve and Skeleton Creek. Consultation with the community and stakeholders will be a key part of this process.
References
< PreviousNext >Solar generation hits the roof in Frankston
South East Water’s Frankston head office is expected to meet more than 10 per cent of its energy needs using solar power, thanks to a new 99kW rooftop solar panel installation.
Member for Frankston Paul Edbrooke MP officially switched on the installation at WatersEdge, which will generate an average electricity output of more than 350 kilowatt hours per day to help power South East Water’s head office operations.
During the summer months, the system is expected to deliver up to a third of the electricity used at WatersEdge during office hours.
The project forms part of South East Water’s upcoming pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a target established by the Andrews Labor Government in the recently released Water for Victoria plan.
The plan sets out a range of climate mitigation strategies for water utilities, the largest carbon emitters in the public sector.
The installation comprises almost 400 panels covering 620 square metres, and will feed into the building’s electricity network, including its data centre, which houses more than 300 servers.
South East Water has a range of carbon mitigation projects underway or complete in order to achieve the targets set out in the Water for Victoria plan. These include:
- hydro-electric generation using energy from its pressure management systems in the water network.
- solar installations at water recycling plants and key pump stations.
- integrating solar energy into South East Water’s pressure sewer network, as demonstrated last month on the Peninsula ECO project.
- greater fugitive emissions capture, such as the thermophilic anaerobic digestion process at the Mt Martha water recycling plant upgrade.
Completed in September 2015, WatersEdge already has a range of environmental features including rainwater capture and storage for toilet flushing and garden irrigation and LED lighting systems.
Click here to view drone footage of the installation.
Environmental water fighting the decline of waterbirds in Australia
Environmental watering is playing a critical role in fighting the decline of waterbirds in eastern Australia.
A report, Reflections: Environmental watering in Victoria, by the Victorian Environmental Water Holder, demonstrates that during 2015-16 environmental water used in Victoria provided a mosaic of waterbird habitat, in the form of wetlands, in an otherwise dry landscape.
This watering was crucial because, according to a 2015 University of New South Wales study, the number of waterbirds in eastern Australia had fallen to the second-lowest level on record. The Birds of the Murray River Basin study also found that bird breeding rates have been down since 2011-12.
CEO at BirdLife Australia, Paul Sullivan, says with the onset of climate change – and the extreme weather events it’s expected to bring – environmental watering is playing a critical role in conserving bird populations and is likely to be the key to survival in drought.
“Environmental watering is critical for birds in dry times. It ensures that birds have somewhere to go for food, nesting and raising young,” Paul says.
“With the flow of so many rivers now regulated with dams and weirs, and with so much water extracted from the streamflow, many river wetlands are now almost never filled, leading to a huge loss of biodiversity.”
In 2015-16, 972,000 million litres of water was provided to Victoria’s most vulnerable and threatened plants and animals, with 73 wetlands and 73 river reaches receiving environmental water.
Victorian Environmental Water Holder Chairperson Denis Flett says Victoria is benefitting from a successful history of environmental watering, which was strengthened by the establishment of the Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) five years ago.
He says, “Not only have we seen great benefits of environmental water on waterbird populations throughout Victoria, environmental watering has also protected and re-established threatened species, re-invigorated declining rivers and creeks, and safeguarded and boosted internationally important wetlands.”
Change over time
Reflections: Environmental watering in Victoria also shows that over the past 5 to10 years the Victorian environmental watering program has:
- Successfully nurtured one of Victoria’s most threatened fish species, the Australian grayling
- Helped re-establish platypus populations following a drastic decline in numbers during the Millennium drought
- Safeguarded six internationally important wetlands at Hattah-Kulkyne, Gunbower Forest, Kerang, Bellarine Peninsula, Barmah Forest and Gippsland Lakes
- Averted the local extinction of moira grass at Barmah Forest, an internationally important Ramsar wetland and iconic Murray site
- Improved flows in six Victorian heritage rivers, rivers protected for their significant recreation, nature conservation, scenic or cultural heritage attributes
- Complemented river and wetland restoration works (such as revegetation, fencing and removal of fish barriers)
- Helped rivers and wetlands recover from devastating bushfires including the Goulburn-Broken wetlands
- Provided emergency watering in hundreds of drought refuge pools in northern and western rivers, enabling fish and other aquatic animals to survive through the hottest, driest parts of summer
- Prevented the extinction of the Murray hardyhead, a threatened species, in Victoria.
Interesting environmental watering facts
- The VEWH delivered about 3,760,000 ML of environmental water in 2011-15. This is equivalent to about one-seventh of the water in Port Phillip Bay.
- The total volume of environmental water deliveries in Victoria increased from 22,555 ML in 2007-08 to 544,526 ML in the VEWH’s first year, hitting a peak of 1,167,830 ML in 2013-14.
- The VEWH’s entitlements increased from a long-term average yield of about 230,000 ML in 2011 to about 650,000 ML today, resulting from water recovery projects.
- Environmental water has been delivered to a total of 188 river reaches and wetlands since July 2011, including an average of 63 river reaches per year, far exceeding Victoria’s goal of 39.
- In 2015-16, 96% of environmental water delivered in northern Victoria was also re-used to meet downstream environmental water targets. To increase efficiency, environmental water is also piggybacking on water delivered for drinking and farming.
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Sort your super in 2017
Get the year off to a super start with these five steps from Vision Super.
- Consolidate your super
Forty three per cent of Australians with super have more than one account and are paying fees to multiple funds. To transfer your other super into you Vision Super account, head here. - Put your new year’s resolutions to work
Drinking less in 2017? According to Super Guru, giving up a good bottle of wine a week (around $30), could mean an extra $145,000 more in super at age 65. These figures are calculated for a 30 year old retiring at 65 with their super invested in a moderate investment option. See how small contributions can grow your super with our projection calculator or contribute to your super. - Take us with you
If you’ve started a new job, remember that in most cases, you don’t have to change super funds. To stay with Vision Super, fill out our Choice of fund form, and give it to your new payroll officer. - Review your finances
Our online calculators can help you review your insurance cover, investment choice, spending and more. - Talk to us
Whether you have a quick question, or want in-depth financial advice, our Member Services team can help. Call them on 1300 300 820 or email memberservices@visionsuper.com.au