As populations rapidly grow on the urban fringe towns of Melbourne, water authorities are faced with increased inflows into their wastewater management facilities (WMF). Goulburn Valley Water encountered this in Kilmore, Victoria and needed to assess the future capacity of their WMF and options for the reuse of the increased volumes of treated waste water.
An options investigation was completed for alternative use of the treated waste water with discharge to the creek deemed most viable with a riparian offsets project. A proposal to remove nutrient input (Phosphorus) from other sources within the catchment was approved by the EPA in collaboration with the Goulburn Broken CMA. This included working with landholders along the Kilmore Creek catchment to undertake activities such as streamside fencing and revegetation.
Through the partnership with GVW and GB CMA, a strong community engagement process and an ongoing payment plan offered to landholders, we were able to achieve the 2025 offset target within the first 12 months of a 3 year plan.
Population growth in these once small rural towns provides opportunities for innovative projects, with strong environmental benefit, to be considered. Collaboration and co-design of projects between agencies and communities that benefit both the environment and accommodate the need for growth in these towns are at the forefront of river and land management.