Project overview

During the development of its Water Resources Development Plan in 2003, Barwon Water identified the need for an additional water storage facility to meet the future demands of Apollo Bay, Marengo and Skenes Creek.

To service existing peak summer demand and forecast development, the plan concluded 250 million-litre water storage was required.

Since 2001, Barwon Water has investigated a range of augmentation options, including off-stream storage sites, on-stream storage, enlarging the existing Marengo basin, groundwater, recycled water and seawater desalination.

In total, 26 options were evaluated. Following detailed assessment of these options, an off-stream storage on land west of the township has been chosen as the preferred solution to increase capacity.

The topography and instability of land near Apollo Bay has made locating a suitable site extremely challenging.

The solution proposed ranks highly against a set of assessment criteria. This includes the ability to provide a sustainable supply to meet long-term demand, safety and operational factors, cost, low risk rating and reduced environmental impact.

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