Sustainability Report 2006/07Overview
Melbourne Water builds partnerships and relationships with key stakeholders and informs and educates the community to help achieve our vision. Our success in creating a sustainable water future depends on our ability to develop strong relationships with others.
Key stakeholders include the Victorian Government, retail water businesses, other water corporations, councils and the land development industry.
Keeping communities, councils and industry informed about the planning, scope and likely effects of our operations and infrastructure works requires timely and factual information.
Where necessary, this information is translated into community languages, and where possible, we provide community members and organisations with the opportunity and means to provide feedback or contact our employees or contractors for more information, or raise any concerns.
This year we have seen significant increases in community demand for information and participation in relation to water, waterways and major capital works projects such as the $750 million Sugarloaf Pipeline and the reconnection of Tarago Reservoir.
This interest has been driven by increased awareness of possible climate change impacts, environmental effects of extended drought conditions and the need to continue to conserve water.
Where possible and practical, we provide community members and local stakeholders with input into our decision-making processes through consultative committees at our major facilities such as the Eastern and Western treatment plants and through alliance teams.
We have developed a community engagement plan with regional water authorities and councils to ensure local communities are engaged and informed during the construction of the Sugarloaf Pipeline and the reconnection of Tarago Reservoir.
Preserving our cultural heritage
Our Cultural Heritage Strategy was completed and approved by our Board in May.
The strategy, which will be implemented over the next three years, outlines our interaction with indigenous and non-indigenous heritage and the management of numerous sites of significance on Melbourne Water property.
A focus group was established to guide our approach, and we are working with indigenous representatives to develop protocols that will support the completion of key projects while respecting the ways of the indigenous communities in which we work.
Our metropolitan retail water partners
Melbourne Water works closely with the retail water businesses – City West Water, South East Water and Yarra Valley Water – that supply water to Melbourne homes and industry and collect sewage and trade waste from households and industry.
Our relationships include supporting and jointly funding the Victorian Government’s Our Water Our Future program and working together to improve the quality of water supplied to consumers.
In July and August, we worked closely with Yarra Valley Water and the Department of Human Services to manage community concerns regarding boil water notices issued as a precaution against high turbidity levels in the Upper Yarra Reservoir.
The problems were caused by heavy rain impacting on dry catchment areas. We worked with Yarra Valley Water to construct five mini-filtration plants to improve water quality delivered to Upper Yarra communities.