Otways to boost water supply

Kim Waters
An Otways creek is set to supply a 700 million-litre boost to the region’s drinking water each year.
Barwon Water said it would reinstate a weir on Dewings Creek after it had been left out of commission for more than 50 years.
Barwon Water’s Paul Northey said the concrete weir would divert Dewing Creek’s flow to Wurdee Boluc Reservoir.
“It’s not a dam. The weir is only expected to be two metres high and five metres wide, so it’s really only a small pool of water behind the weir,” Mr Northey said.
“It’s a pool of water that will build up to an area of about five metres wide and two metres high.”
Mr Northey said the creek currently flowed into the Barwon River.
Barwon Water would only divert the creek’s flow during “high rainfall events”, he said.
“When it rains we allow a certain amount of water to pass through the creek and then the excess flow will pool up and we can divert it to the channel.
“Barwon Water has always had a Barwon bulk entitlement allowing us to divert water from that creek into our supply.”
Mr Northey said Barwon Water expected the creek to yield about 700ML a year.
“Our current demand is 32,000 megalitres a year, so it will make up about two per cent of our current demand.”
Mr Northey said Barwon Water had scheduled construction of the weir for early next year at a cost of $576,000. The reconstruction would install new automatic gates and raise a channel wall behind the weir, he said.
“We’ll be working on the project during the summer next year and are expecting it will only take a few months to complete.
“It should be up and running around mid 2011.”
Mr Northey said the original weir on the creek was disconnected in the 1950s when a section of the Wurdee Boluc inlet channel was replaced.
“The water could no longer be diverted down that channel because of the type of reconstruction,” he said.