Barwon Downs

Barwon Downs

Licence renewal application under Section 58

Southern Rural Water (SRW) assesses licences for extraction of groundwater in southern Victoria, in accordance with the Water Act 1989, taking into consideration relevant policies and community and stakeholder expectations, in order to ensure groundwater resources are managed in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Barwon Water has a current licence for extraction at Barwon Downs in the Gerangamete Groundwater Management Area, which expires in July 2019.

SRW plans to establish a Barwon Downs Licence Community Reference Group to assist its consideration of the licence renewal application that Barwon Water is anticipated to make under Section 58 (s58) of the Water Act 1989. SRW will also appoint an independent panel of technical experts to assist the review of the application and submissions to the application.

In preparation, SRW called for registrations of interest for membership of the Community Reference Group from community members, landholders, interest groups, local government, Traditional Owners and other stakeholders, and received an encouraging response from interested prospective members.

SRW intends to complete the process of establishing the Community Reference Group in due course after an application has been made for renewal of the licence.

For further enquiries, please contact the SRW team: BarwonLicenceRenewal@srw.com.au

 

Remediation plan direction notice under Section 78

On 11 September 2018, Southern Rural Water, as the Minister for Water’s delegate, issued Barwon Water a direction notice under Section 78 of the Water Act 1989  to submit and implement a legally enforceable remediation plan for the Boundary Creek and Big Swamp environment.

The process around Barwon Water’s response to the s78 notice is independent of the licence renewal application.

For more detail, see the s78 notice and Frequently Asked Questions on Barwon Water’s website.