Bushfires in our catchments impact the quality and quantity of our water supplies. We play a critical role in protecting Melbourne's drinking water from bushfires.
Defending our catchments from bushfires
When ash or sediment from bushfires is washed into a reservoir, we can’t use its water for months until the debris settles. Catchment forests can also take over a century to recover – during which time they use more water, meaning less enters our reservoirs.
Our seasonal firefighters are often the first to respond to fires in the catchments. We also take preventative action to try stop fires from spreading by:
- grass cutting more frequently in summer
- strategic planned burns that reduce the risk of intense bushfires
- maintaining more than 600 kilometres of fire breaks
- maintaining 1,860 kilometres of roads for firefighters, including providing drainage so sediment does not enter waterways
- identifying fires as soon as they start – using a lightning tracker tool, fire towers and firefighter patrols.
Melbourne Water shares catchment management responsibilities with Parks Victoria and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Together, we’ll continue protecting the water catchments that supply Melbourne and the surrounding region, today and for generations to come.
Bushfires and water supplies
Hotter, drier conditions increase the risk of bushfires, placing pressure on our drinking water supplies. This makes efficiencies in our entire water supply system even more critical.
More than half of the water supplied to Greater Melbourne is sourced from protected catchments which are surrounded by natural bushland. This keeps the water cleaner and means less treatment is needed to meet our strict health standards – and is what makes our water taste great! But that bushland is also susceptible to bushfire which can impact water quality and supply, and take reservoirs offline in the short term. That’s why at Melbourne Water, we complete annual bushfire preparedness activities, so we’re ready to protect our catchments if a fire does break out.
Melbourne’s water supply picture looks different today than it has in the past and it will continue to evolve. Melbourne Water and the water retailers will continue to recycle and reuse more wastewater for firefighting.
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