About us
Water for our Future Community Panel update
23 Jul 2021
Barwon Water’s Water for our Future Community Panel met nine times from October 2020 to March 2021 to consider how we can create a new water future that balances all our needs.
The panel, made up of up to 52 randomly selected people* representing the diversity of our region:
- Developed a vision for our water future.
- Suggested criteria to assess different ideas for how we might use and find water in the future.
- Considered different options for Barwon Water to consider over the next 50 years.
The panel recommended a wide range of options, including solutions relating to better design and planning, changing behaviour, improving efficiency and sourcing extra water for a variety of purposes through roof water, stormwater, greywater, recycled water and desalination.
Looking ahead to the next 50 years, the panel envisioned a secure water future with innovative, sustainable and affordable water solutions for the region and less reliance over time on traditional and rainfall dependent sources of water, like rivers and groundwater.
Combined, the options recommended by the panel could save or find more than 100 billion litres of water in the future, which is double the amount of water the region would need even under a worst-case scenario.
What’s next
Barwon Water will consider the panel’s recommendations to develop its draft Urban Water Strategy – our long-term plan to deliver the community’s vision and ensure a sustainable, affordable and reliable supply of water for our region.
The draft Urban Water Strategy will be released for community feedback in September 2021 and will be reviewed by the Water for our Future Community Panel when it meets for the final time in November 2021.
We’ll also work with other water corporations and the Victorian Government to take into account broader regional water security through the Central and Gippsland Sustainable Water Strategy.