Victoria

Work on the $3.5 billion desalination plant at Wonthaggi will begin in October now the successful consortium to deliver the project has been chosen.

The AquaSure Consortium consisting of Suez Environment, Degremont, Thiess and Macquarie Capital Group will deliver the project which is due to provide desalinated water by the end of 2011.

The development includes the 150 billion litre desalination plant, an 84-kilometre transfer pipeline to connect to Melbourne’s water network, an underground power connection and renewable energy projects including a wind farm at Oaklands Hill.

The plant is critical to securing water supplies for Melbourne, Geelong and towns in Western Port and South Gippsland. It will give water users flexibility with the capacity for the Victorian Government to order water in annual block increments starting at zero and then 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 billion litres as required.

Construction of the plant will create 1,700 direct jobs and as many as 3,050 indirect jobs. The consortium has already started a recruitment drive to fill positions.

It is contacting over 2,000 companies and individuals who have registered their interest in the project through the Victorian Industry Capability Network – the central registry for all businesses wishing to supply goods and services to AquaSure and the project.

Weed control in Melbourne’s outer urban fringe is the focus of a $4 million funding program developed by the Victorian Government.

The Urban Fringe program is designed to develop an effective approach to controlling the spread of weeds in outer suburban areas and councils can apply for funding on a dollar-for-dollar basis under the terms of the four-year initiative.

The first project under the program will involve the government and the Shire of Yarra Ranges for weed control in the Dandenongs – a major tourist precinct to the east of Melbourne. The government and the shire will each contribute $250,000.

Environment and Climate Change Minister, Gavin Jennings, says the Shire of Yarra Ranges is a priority area because it contains environmentally significant sites which attract visitors to the ranges. Mr Jennings says weeds can impact negatively on those sites.

He says weed control in the Dandenongs is a complex issue and the program must engage the local community and business leaders to be successful in the long term.

Victoria is aiming to recruit 700 seasonal firefighters ahead of the 2009-2010 bushfire season with crews to be deployed from September – a month earlier than last season.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment will call for applications for seasonal fire fighting personnel from August 15 until September 6. The DSE will use a web-based e-recruitment system and applicants can obtain information and submit their applications by visiting www.dse.vic.gov.au/fires.

The new firefighters will join more than 2,700 firefighters from the DSE and partner agencies and more than 59,000 Country Fire Authority volunteers. Fourteen hundred of those CFA volunteers have joined the ranks since the devastating Black Saturday fires which claimed the lives of 173 people.

The fires on February 7 impacted 78 communities and destroyed 430,000 hectares of land. Since the fires, clean up work has been completed at all 3,046 properties that were registered for clean-up under the Victorian Government’s partnership with Grocon.

In other post-fire developments, three temporary villages have been established at Kinglake, Marysville and Flowerdale for 150 families and 120 individuals.

Three hundred and 50 case managers have been deployed to help bushfire affected families; 30 community recovery committees have been established to develop plans for towns; building permits have been issued for more than 500 houses and sheds; and more than 4500 kilometres of boundary fencing has been replaced or restored.

House roofs at a new estate at Warrnambool will be directly linked to the city’s water catchment.

Down pipes connected to the roofs of houses at the Russell Creek development on the city’s north east fringe will carry water to a commercial underground trunk pipe. The trunk pipe will carry the water two kilometres to a dam where, after purification, it will be added to Warrnambool’s drinking supplies.

An estimated 20 million litres of water is expected to flow into the dam via the roofs and down pipes of 142 homes involved in a trial. The amount of water will climb to an estimated 450 million litres under plans to widen the number of houses involved to 3000.

The scheme is believed to be the first instance of rain water flowing directly from house roofs into a reservoir, bypassing natural drainage lines like creeks and parks. The scheme can be copied anywhere that new housing estates are being constructed.

Major capital works projects designed to improve water security, reduce water loss and improve water quality in East Gippsland are now operating.

The projects, valued at $6.7 million, will benefit more than 18,000 water customers in the region and represent the largest capital works program undertaken by the East Gippsland Water Authority.

The projects are:
- a $2.1 million development at Wy Yung, north of Bairnsdale that involved lining and covering an 88 million litre water storage basin;
- a $2.7 million project for two new covered water storage tanks at Eagle Point; and
- a $1.9 million upgrade of the winter storage reservoir for Mallacoota’s wastewater treatment plant.
The improvements to Wy Yung reservoir will reduce water contamination and cut evaporation by 90%.

The new tanks at Eagle Point will provide 12 million litres of potable water storage without evaporation losses, seepage and water quality problems that impacted on the old reservoir.

The waste storage at Mallacoota has been expanded from 84 to 136 million litres to ensure the town can manage future growth. All the waste water treated at the facility will be used on local tree-lots, pasture and to water the local gold course.