Bid for pipeline told no supply

Andrew Mathieson
BELLARINE Peninsula’s expanding industries will miss out on new investment after authorities knocked back plans for a water pipeline across Corio Bay, according to stakeholders behind the project.
Melbourne Water has dismissed the proposal to pump 50 billion litres of recycled water each year west of Portarlington from Werribee’s Western Treatment Plant.
Bellarine Infrastructure Group’s proposal was for a 10-kilometre pipeline to transfer recycled water discharged into Port Phillip Bay.
Discussions with Victorian Regional Channels Authority earlier this year had confirmed the project’s viability.
Bellarine Infrastructure Group’s Dan Kolomanski believed the flow-on effect to agriculture from the failed pipeline bid would also hurt tourism on the peninsula.
Mr Kolomanski said industries to lose from the decision included wineries and olive growers.
“It’s now apparent we have very limited water supplies for the Geelong region. For a long time we’ve been relying on borefields,” he said.
“We have high-value agriculture enterprises based on the peninsula where we have good infrastructure and the right soils. There is great capacity for expansion of those associated industries but you need to have a critical mass for that to be viable.”
Mr Kolomanski said olive vines on the peninsula would soon dwindle to a quarter of their annual production because of a lack of water.
Melbourne Water had ruled out supplying the peninsula after reviewing the capacity at its treatment plant, he said.
“I’ve asked for it to be reconsidered and we’re looking to another proposal at the moment,” Mr Kolomanski said.
“It’s very hard to accept when I find that many hundreds of megalitres are being pumped into the middle of the bay every day.”
Mr Kolomanski said the next avenue of appeal would be to Water Minister Tim Holding “rather than Melbourne Water unilaterally making a decision”.
Mr Kolomanski, a qualified civil engineer, said the group would also look to other options for water supplies.