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Southern Rural Water celebrates 30 years of service with modernisation, partnerships and sustainable water

Southern Rural Water marks 30 years since merging, navigating droughts, modernising infrastructure, supporting communities, achieving sustainability milestones and planning for a resilient future together with customers and stakeholders.

By news@gippsland - 1st July 2025 - Back to News

This year is our 30-year anniversary of when we merged with Gippsland Rural Water Authority and Southern Rural Water Authority to become Southern Rural Water. Over this time, we've weathered droughts, delivered major projects, improved how we work, and found smarter, more sustainable ways to manage water with our customers and communities. We want to thank you because your support, feedback, and trust have shaped who we are today. Here, we remember the highs and lows of our journey together.

Southern Rural Water celebrates 30 years of delivering water sustainably, overcoming droughts and challenges, supporting communities and farmers across Gippsland and beyond

Water crisis management

The start of the Millennium Drought in 1996 heralded hard times for our customers and communities across southern Victoria. To help central Gippsland farmers, we introduced new bulk entitlements for the Latrobe and Tanjil rivers to supply water for irrigation on farms.

Severe water shortages in the west forced us to make an emergency purchase of more than 16,000 ML of water from Melbourne Water for our Werribee customers to use for irrigation. In the east, Lake Glenmaggie was almost empty, with five percent storage on 31 May, but it was full again by August.

The mid-1990s saw us complete works on our storages. This included raising Rosslynne Reservoir's embankment by half a metre to meet industry standards for flood capacity, raising Pykes Creek Reservoir's left side spillway training wall to prevent overtopping and strengthening one of Glenmaggie dam's 70 steel cables designed to withstand major floods and earthquakes.

Reprieve, repair, resilience

A reprieve from the drought in 1999 allowed us to lift allocations to an unusually high 130 percent in Bacchus Marsh and Werribee irrigation districts, and 140 percent in the Macalister Irrigation District. We improved the flood capacity at Rosslynne Reservoir by raising the dam wall by 1.9 metres, to 38.5 metres high.

And built an 85-meter-long secondary spillway on the right abutment. And we got a $1 million funding boost enabling us to install an additional 1,300 groundwater and surface meters as part of a multi-year metering program.

The early noughties saw us rehabilitate two major control valves on Lake Glenmaggie dam's southern outlet and original 50-year-old control valves in the dam's northern outlet. We also refurbished the Narracan Dam and replaced Little Weir with a new pipeline in the Macalister Irrigation District.

Reuse, strengthen, and sustain

In the west, we automated flood gates at Lerderderg Weir to enable remote control of water into the network. Between 2002 and 2003, we created our first Environmental Management System to meet statutory obligations and manage environmental risks, and we modified Lerderderg Weir to enable environmental flows that support river health.

We completed major works to bring Lake Narracan up to modern day standards, which included anchoring the dam wall to the foundation bedrock and strengthening the four gates. We also enforced a total groundwater ban on the Deutgam aquifer to reduce the risk of salinity and seawater intrusion for Werribee growers. This was renewed annually throughout the Millennium Drought.

Dry conditions persisted in the mid-noughties. To bolster the resilience of our Werribee customers, we worked to finalise the Recycled Water Scheme, which saw 108 ML of Class A recycled water from the Western Treatment Plant delivered to our irrigators. We made major alterations at Pykes Creek Reservoir by replacing the tower access bridge and the inlet tunnel after the low-level inlet was found to be collapsing.

Drought response measures

In 2006, our western storages were virtually empty. We activated an emergency supply and pumped dead storage reserves from Pykes Creek Reservoir to provide allocations of 10 percent. With a more reliable supply, our Macalister Irrigation District customers were able to access a 60 percent allocation.

We automated the main northern channel system to save water and improve deliveries for them. In the same year, we established the Parwan aquifer to free up an additional 300 ML of groundwater for Bacchus Marsh farmers.

Records were broken in 2007 when a staggering 318 mm of rain fell in 34 hours in the Lake Glenmaggie catchment, resulting in 147,000 ML per day outflows - the biggest recorded outflow. Major flooding across Gippsland led to $4 million in asset repairs.

Between 2002-2003, we improved environmental management, secured water flows, upgraded infrastructure, enforced groundwater bans, and delivered recycled water

Allocations, shares, drought

In contrast, the Werribee and Bacchus Marsh irrigation districts received 8 percent seasonal allocation. In total, 173 customers had now committed to the Recycled Water Scheme, enabling the irrigation district to remain viable throughout the season, with 7,422 ML delivered during the season.

In 2008, water entitlements were unbundled to become water shares, water allocations, delivery shares and water use licences. In the first year, Macalister customers received 100 percent high reliability water shares and 10 percent low reliability water shares, while Werribee and Bacchus Marsh received five percent high reliability water shares - resulting in the third consecutive year of allocations below 10 percent.

As part of the unbundling process, we transitioned 11,656 bundled licence records online into the Victorian government Water Register. Despite the heavy impacts of ongoing drought and the global financial crisis, the 2009/2010 season saw a slight easing of impact.

Adapting to scarcity

In Werribee and Bacchus Marsh, seasonal allocation reached 14 percent - however due to high salinity levels peaking at 4,000 EC (electrical conductivity), customers were unable to use the water for most of the season. As a result, Werribee customers relied predominantly on recycled water during the season, with 8,352 ML supplied.

Bacchus Marsh customers relied on 534 ML of water secured from the Macalister Irrigation District drought reserve, and 320 ML of river water. We held the first water auction from water saved through channel automation in the Macalister Irrigation District. 750 ML of high reliability water shares sold for an average of $2,300 ML and 375 ML of low reliability water shares sold for $223 ML.

Progress in water

Rain across our service area in 2010/2011 led to the delivery of 100 percent allocations in the Werribee basin and Blue Rock Dam to spill for the first time in 15 years. The Minister for Water approved Groundwater Management Plans for Koo Wee Rup, Warrion and Yarram. These plans specify metering, groundwater monitoring, and rules to access groundwater and trading of licences. We also automated water delivery in the Main Eastern and Southern Cowwarr systems.

In the following season, we launched our first groundwater Atlas making clear, easy-to-understand groundwater information accessible to the public. And in a big win for the Macalister River, the Minister for Water approved conversion of 14,200 ML of water savings into environmental entitlements.

In the 2012/2013 season, we began our region-building water infrastructure modernisation program in the Macalister Irrigation District, and we upgraded Melton Reservoir's right abutment to protect against extreme floods.

Water system upgrades

The following few years saw us introduce carryover of unused water in the Werribee and Bacchus Marsh irrigation districts and begin modernising Werribee's aging infrastructure, replacing the 4/1 subsection of the channel system with 6 km of new pipeline.

In the 2016/2017 season, we held the first unregulated water auction for the Merri and Curdies rivers, and Parwan aquifer to enable more access to water for our customers. We began modernisation in the Bacchus Marsh Irrigation District, with construction of the Maddingley pump station and diversion point on the Werribee River. We completed Phase 1A of our Macalister modernisation program and began the next stage: Phase 1B.

By the following season, we completed significant infrastructure upgrades with 23 kilometres of new pipeline and 138 customer outlets in the Werribee Irrigation District. We held the first water auctions of the Latrobe Bulk Entitlement Drought Reserve - from Blue Rock Lake - for Latrobe River customers. We also sourced emergency supply from the Thomson Dam Drought Reserve when Lake Glenmaggie's volume dropped below 25 percent in March.

Progress through adversity

In 2020, we worked through the challenges of a global pandemic, drought and major bushfires. It was a tough year, but we installed a new offtake on the Main Southern Channel, 38 kilometres of new pipeline in the Southern Tinamba supply zone and upgraded 28 kilometres of existing channels at Riverslea as part of our Macalister modernisation program.

We installed 6.4 kilometres of new pipeline and four automated outlets as part of modernisation in Bacchus Marsh. We also partnered with Arts Assist Wyndham and had a mural painted on Werribee's historic water tower.

The next three years strengthen our partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. In 2021, we issued the first licence to Traditional Owners of 2,000 ML of cultural water from the Mitchell River to the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation.

Investing in water

In 2022, we granted 2,500 ML of unallocated winterfell water from the Palawarra (Fitzroy River) system to Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation in south west Victoria. We also saw the Rosslynne River spill for the first time in 26 years.

In 2023, we issued two licences for cultural water use - one of 200 ML of groundwater in Buchan Munji and one of 500 ML from the Tambo River - to the Gunaikurnai Traditional Owners. And we launched our online water trading platform - Southern Rural Water Exchange - to make it easier for customers to buy and sell water.

In 2024, we finished the final stage of the multi-million-dollar Macalister modernisation program and started the Macalister Fresh region-building water strategy to drive future investment in Gippsland. In the west, we completed the final stage of the $42 million Werribee Irrigation District modernisation program. We also secured the backing of Werribee growers and government partners for a business case to support the next stage of the Werribee Reconfiguration Project.

Southern Rural Water introduced carryover, modernised irrigation districts, built pipelines, held water auctions, upgraded infrastructure, and secured emergency supplies during drought

Commitment to legacy

We made great strides in diversity, with women making up 34 percent of our team, with 48 percent holding people leader positions and 10 percent in field positions. We also welcomed our first independent Aboriginal delegate to our board.

We achieved our goal to secure 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources one year ahead of schedule, and we're on track to meet our target of achieving net zero carbon emissions on 1 July 2025. We can't predict the future, but we can assure you of one thing:

"We remain committed to creating a positive legacy -better service, honest conversations, and delivering on our promises. One day, in three decades from now, we hope to look back again with pride, knowing we helped lay a strong foundation for what's next."

Pictures from Southern Rural Water website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com