Sustainability Report 2006/07Water quality in waterways
We completed the Waterways Water Quality Strategy, which outlines actions needed to manage the effects of stormwater, urban development pressures and rural land management and improve water quality in the Port Phillip and Westernport region.
The strategy recognises that urban wetlands alone will not cope with expected increases in nutrients carried by stormwater from expanded urban areas, and recommends a range of actions including raingardens in homes, expanded council use of water sensitive urban design, rural water quality treatment, and regulation of development.
The strategy will also inform the Better Bays and Waterways Water Quality Improvement Plan for the Port Phillip and Westernport region, which is scheduled to be completed in late 2008. This is a joint project with EPA Victoria and the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage aimed at creating an integrated water quality plan for Western Port, Port Phillip Bay, and the rivers and estuaries within the catchment.
As a result of this work, we are developing a $5 million Rural Land Management Program across our extended areas. The program will include support for landholders in priority catchments for on-farm water quality improvements as well as the construction of regional water quality wetlands to capture and treat water pollutants and manage flows. These wetlands filter water before it flows to our rivers and creeks, and eventually the bays.
We are working with the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) on EcoTender, a market-based incentive program designed to address salinity, protect biodiversity and improve water quality and river health on private rural land. A pilot program will run in the Westernport catchment later this year, with an initial investment by DSE of $1.5 million for funding on-ground works, and by Melbourne Water of $400,000 for program development and on-ground works.
Due to the continued dry conditions in 2007/08 there was a significant increase in applications for the use of stormwater across Melbourne, and we began work on a policy and licensing framework for managing stormwater use.
Managing stormwater quality
In February, the Lower Yarra and Living Rivers Stormwater Quality programs were combined. These programs help to improve waterway water quality through grants and working with councils and other groups to manage stormwater run-off.
The combined $20 million program is on target and during 2007/08 we spent $7 million on grants and provided capacity building support from our specialist panel of water sensitive urban design consultants.
For example, we are providing financial and in-kind support to Monash and Melbourne universities for Smart Water Fund projects to develop an innovative pilot stormwater quality project in the Little Stringybark Creek catchment. The project engages residents in competitive bidding to install raingardens and rainwater tanks to reduce stormwater run-off and improve stream health across the catchment.
In May, the City of Melbourne committed to municipality-wide stormwater quality targets, shifting stormwater management emphasis from a site-by-site focus to a whole-of-catchment focus.
We secured $60,000 funding for phase two of the Lower Yarra Litter Strategy from Sustainability Victoria, and our efforts to improve stormwater quality were recognised at the annual Stormwater Industry Association of Victoria Awards for stormwater excellence, with Melbourne Water receiving two awards for projects introducing raingardens into schools and litter prevention initiatives in Victoria Street, Richmond.
We began works to divert polluted low flows from the Prahran Main Drain to sewer, as part of the Yarra Pollution Hot Spot Program. South East Water and Melbourne Water worked together to design and implement the project.
Working with councils to improve water quality is a critical aspect of our activities and we helped the City of Yarra develop and launch its water sensitive urban design guidelines. The guidelines are a blueprint for designing and building a water-sensitive city that will result in cleaner water in the Yarra River and better use of recycled stormwater in parks and open space.
Melbourne Water has also involved 38 councils in an analysis of the assistance councils need to manage stormwater more effectively, and provided recommendations to each council based on the findings.
Our nitrogen reduction program improves water quality in waterways and the bays by removing nitrogen and other pollutants from stormwater. This year we began working on a pilot project that recreates an urban forest in an existing retarding basin in Cornwall Street, Blackburn South. It provides low cost, low maintenance stormwater control and pollution removal.