Hobsons Bay City Council has welcomed significant investments from Greater Western Water and the Victorian Government towards the Cherry Lake Stormwater Harvest project.
Greater Western Water will contribute $1.45 million via its stormwater harvesting partnership program, while the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action has committed $950,000 through its Integrated Water Management grant program. Council will directly contribute $500,000 to the construction of the plant and will also be upgrading the irrigation infrastructure for local sporting clubs.
The funding was announced on the shores of Cherry Lake on Friday by Mayor Diana Grima, Greater Western Water's general manager of strategy and partnerships, Kessia Thomson, and Williamstown MP Melissa Horne, on behalf of water minister Harriet Shing.
The project will take 48 million megalitres of stormwater from Cherry Lake, which would otherwise have flowed into Port Phillip Bay, treat it, and use it to water sports grounds in the area.
This facility will save Council about $150,000 a year in water bills each year, and will secure a water source for these sports grounds, helping protect them from drought and the effects of climate change.
It will also contribute to Council's goal of using 20 per cent of its water from alternative sources by 2030, as outlined in its 2022 Response to Climate Change Action Plan.
The facility is proposed to be built at the southern end of Cherry Lake, which will ensure the habitat and food supply for the Altona Skipper Butterfly at the northern end is protected. Treating this water will also reduce pollutants from flowing into the bay.
With funding committed, the next stage will be to complete detailed designs, which the community will be consulted on. Construction is expected to begin in the 2027/28 financial year.
Quotes attributable to Mayor of Hobsons Bay, Cr Diana Grima:
"We are committed to finding alternative water sources to ensure we can maintain our sports grounds and open spaces into the future as the effects of climate change take hold.
"Our investment will be recouped over about 10 years, making this not only a terrific project for our environment and our local sports clubs, but also for Council's bottom line.
"We thank Greater Western Water and the Victorian Government for their significant contributions to this project, and we look forward to working with them to bring this project to life."
