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Geelong Water Supply
Wurdiboluc Reservoir
The major source of Geelong Region's Drinking Water
also see Moorabool River here
Bostok Reservoir here
Wurdiboluc holds 38 GL of drinking water
Water from Wurdi Boluc is also sent via aquaducts to the communities of Torquay and Anglesea.
2,4-D detected in Wurdee Boluc raw water on 12/5/2003 at 0.034 mg/l (34ug/l).
(The Australian Drinking Water Guideline Levels for 2,4-D are 0.1ug/l and the Health Levels are 30ug/l).
Glyphosate detected in Wurdi Boluc Channel at Salt Creek Lane on 17/7/07 at 0.08 mg/L (80 ug/L).
(The Australian Drinking Water Guideline Levels for Glyphosate are 10 ug/l and the Health Levels are 1000 ug/l).
On the 19/8/03 at Wurdee Boluc Inlet Channel, 2,4-D was detected at 0.027mg/l (27ug/l)
Was 2,4-D pollution occurring consistently over a 3 month+ period in 2003? Were consumers informed by Barwon Water?
Location of Wurdiboluc Reservoir in south western Victoria. Wurdiboluc is connected to West Barwon Dam via an aquaduct (inlet channel) which stretches over 50km of farmland
"Major agricultural uses of 2,4-D include pasture, stubble & fallow maintenance, cereal crops (including wheat, oats, barley, rye, triticale), grain crops (including sorghum, millet, maize) & oilseed crops (safflower, canola, rape). Other agricultural uses include cotton, citrus crops (particularly to inhibit post harvest abscission of buttons), sugar cane, sweet corn, peanuts & control of banana suckers. 2,4-D is also used extensively for weed control in non-cropping situations, including commercial & industrial areas, turfs, forestry and aquatic species." P5 The Reconsideration of Approvals and Registrations Relating to 2,4-D APVMA
Upper Barwon Water Supply Catchment highlighted in blue. Plantations shown in Brown for pine and yellow for bluegum. Logging of Pennyroyal Creek plantation is occurring in August/September 2007.
September 2007: Wurdi Boluc Reservoir looking west. One concern for the Reservoir could be the possibility that Triazine Tolerant Canola could start to be grown in the vicinity of the aquaduct. TT Canola uses a spectrum of pesticides, including Atrazine at 3 litres/ha, Simazine at 2.5-3litres/ha and paraquat/diquat at 2-3 litres/ha. Canola is already being grown near Moriac, only 10km north east of Wurdi Boluc Reservoir and only 1km from aquaducts downstream of Wurdi Boluc. see here for more details.
September 2007: Wurdi Boluc Reservoir
September 2007: West Barwon Reservoir - east branch Monday Creek. This is the major source of drinking water for the people of Geelong. Water is sent from West Barwon to Wurdiboluc via a 50km aquaduct.
September 2007: West Barwon Reservoir
September 2007: Main inlet of aquaduct into Wurdi Boluc Reservoir on the eastern side of Reservoir.
September 2007: Main inlet of aquaduct into Wurdi Boluc Reservoir on the eastern side of Reservoir.
September 2007: Agricultural practices about 2km away from Wurdi Boluc.
September 2007: Aquaduct 2km from Wurdi Boluc. Possibility that herbicides could be washed into aquaduct from farmland on eastern side of aquaduct in the event of heavy rain, as this farmland is located on higher land.
Aquaduct from Brickmakers Road
Aquaduct from Coal Extension Road
Aquaduct near Fultons Lane in Yanyangurt Creek
Pipeline connecting aquaduct over Yanyangurt Creek, meaning that poor water quality washing down this creek will not enter Geelong's water supply.
Aquaduct pipeline at Rifle Butts Rd over the Deans Marsh Creek.
Pennyroyal Creek Extension. Water is diverted from Penny Royal Creek and flows along another aquaduct/drain (above) before joining the main aquaduct after a journey of several kilometres. Water is also diverted from Matthews Creek via underground pipeline which also joins the main aquaduct.
Where Pennyroyal Creek aquaduct meets main aquaduct
Pennyroyal Creek aquaduct
Jan 07: Timbercorp Bluegum plantation in close proximity to Penny Royal Creek diversion. Aerial spraying of insecticides could be a problem at this location if plantations are sprayed.
Offtake weir Pennyroyal Creek
September 2007: Penny Royal Catchment looking towards Penny Royal Creek weir. Note recent logging of AKD pine plantation. About half of this plantation lies directly upstream of the Penny Royal Creek weir. The portion that has been logged drains into a depression which only connects up with the Pennyroyal Creek in the event of heavy rain. Potential herbicides in the southern portion of this plantation will be a factor here. The plantation pesticide Hexazinone has leached into Geelong's water supply from another pine plantation for the past 3 years at Korweinguboora, south of Daylesford.
September 2007: Recent logging of AKD pine plantations - outside of the direct drainage of Penny Royal Creek, except in the event of heavy rain. Most of the unlogged pines however lie less than 1km upstream of the Penny Royal Creek weir. About 20ha of pines at this location lie in very close vicinity to Penny Royal Creek.
September 2007: Dairy country and this wetland lie in very close proximity to the offtake weir on Penny Royal Creek.
Jan 07: Penny Royal Creek catchment: Pine plantations and cropping in close vicinity to Penny Royal Creek which is a proclaimed water supply for the residents of Geelong. Water is harvested at PennyRoyal Creek diversion weir where it is diverted into channels and sent into Wurdiboluc inlet channel. (Water is also diverted from Callahan Creek and Matthews Creek).
Pennyroyal Creek. Geelongs drinking water. Some fencing off has occurred along Pennyroyal Creek, but not here.
Pennyroyal Creek. Dairy cattle in Geelongs drinking water. Cattle can be loaded up with hormones and antibiotics, which are released in urine and faeces. Cattle are fenced off at this location.
Pennyroyal Creek. Pine plantation and no buffer on Geelong's drinking water. What happens after logging and subsequent herbicide application?
Pennyroyal Creek about 1km upstream from the offtake weir.
Cow pasture and pine plantations in Geelongs drinking water supply.
Creek crossing
Penny Royal Creek upstream of offtake weir.
Hundreds of hectares of of pine plantations lie in the Gosling Creek catchment also in Geelongs water supply.
Moorabool River
(She Oaks Domestic Water Supply)
The plantation pesticide Hexazinone has leached into Geelong's water supply from a pine plantation for the past 3 years at Korweinguboora, south of Daylesford. The Korweinguboora plantation lies almost at the headwaters of the Moorabool River East Branch. 1400 hectares of the plantation lie in the catchment that supplies drinking water to Geelong. For maps see here.
Moorabool (She Oaks) proclaimed water supply highlighted in grey, with Stony Creek proclaimed water supply highlighted in light blue.
Dec 07: Plantations and native forest in She Oaks and Stony Creek catchments. Darkest brown represents plantations managed by Hancock Victorian Plantations, Dark Brown represents tree plantations managed by Barwon Water and AKD. Yellow represents bluegum plantations.
Main cropping areas in She Oaks catchment.
Canola crops grown in She Oaks catchment 2007 marked in orange.
Main pasture areas in Sheoaks water supply catchment.
Most land use inside Sheoaks Proclaimed Water Supply Catchment.
Bolwarrah Weir.
Bolwarrah weir is located about 5km south east of Korweinguboora Reservoir. Water leaves Bolwarrah via a water supply race that feeds into the Ballan aquaduct, 2km west of Ballan.
Pine plantation managed by Barwon Water located just SW of Bostok Reservoir. Logged and sprayed probably around the year 2004. What pesticides are used by Barwon Water on their plantations?
Water Race that leaves Bolwarrah Weir. Note cropping on the upside of the Race. If pesticides are applied onto this field, followed by heavy rainfall, contaminants could enter the water supply system.
December 2007: Bostok Channel near Mount Wallace - Geelong's drinking water supply.
Stony Creek Reservoirs
Stony Creek Reservoir which lies further down the catchment. Water from Bolwarrah ends up here. 100 hectares of pine surrounds this particular reservoir.
Please note that 2,4-D at 30 parts per billion was detected at Stony Creek Reservoir on 5/8/03 leaving no doubt that runoff from agricultural systems can contaminate this water.
Bostok Reservoir
Bostok Reservoir is located 3km south west of Ballan and about 10km south of Korweinguboora Reservoir. Water at Bostok is sourced from several thousand hecatres of agricultural land. Water leaves Bostok reservoir and passes along 10.5km of concrete channel, before entering the Ballan Channel which then conveys the water onto Stony Creek Reservoir. The township of Ballan also take drinking water from Bostock
October 2007: Bostok Reservoir looking rather empty.
Oct 07: A sign posted at Bostok Reservoir. Is the water from this reservoir still being consumed by Geelong residents? Have they been informed? Typical means to kill off Blue Green Algae is to dose the water with 1.0mg/L SWWA Copper Sulphate Algicide (active constituent 250g/kg copper as present as copper sulphate pentahydrate).
One of two main streamflows into Bostok. This is an unnamed tributary which flows into Bostok from the north. Paddock Creek flows into Bostok from the west.
December 2007: Cropping about 1km north of Bostok Reservoir
Grazing and some cropping occur in the land north of Bostok Reservoir.
The spillway that leaves Bostok starts about 800m from the Moorabool River East Branch. Note obvious erosion problems which are increased when water overflows from Bostok. The spillway and drainage line are surrounded by pine plantations managed by Barwon Water. Barwon Water manage about 100 hectares of pine plantations around the reservoir. The pines were originally planted to reduce erosion and filter overland water. Pine plantation company AKD manage another 150ha of pine in land just south of the reservoir.
Downstream of the Bostok Reservoir Spillway. Erosion of waterway several metres high.
Ditto. Such erosion can dump huge volumes of sediment into the water supply.
October 2007: View looking north east into the Moorabool River Catchment. Canola crops have encroached into the Moorabool River catchment this year. Canola can use large amounts of pesticides, including atrazine and simazine if TT (Triazine Tolerant) Canola is planted. At this stage the canola appears to be located well away from the Moorabool River, but further expansion of the crop into the catchment could be extremely problematic. see here for pesticide loads for canola.
October 2007: Two cropping systems on land located two kilometres north of Meridith in the She Oaks Proclaimed Water Supply Catchment. What pesticide loads are being used on these crops? This could be the first incursion of canola into a domestic water supply in Victoria. Most canola in Victoria has in the past been grown in the western districts and Mallee, outside of proclaimed water supplies.
Parish of Ballark about 3 km's east of Morrisons near the Ballan-Meridith Road. Pine company AKD has been very busy in the past few years and have established close to 900ha of pine in Geelongs Water Supply. This particular photo was taken in the upper reaches of the Eclipse Creek catchment. Pine plantations can be thirstier than bluegum plantations, mainly because pines are planted on longer rotations. Pines are generally planted for sawlogs. Generally speaking, the longer the trees are in the ground, the more water they will consume. By 15 years of age, 900 hectares of pine may be using almost 1800ML more water than the pasture they replaced (1800ML equates to about $1.4million dollars worth of water per year, based on pricing water at $800ML). By year 30 (end of sawlog rotation), this water use would have increased substantially. Is this really a wise move in a domestic water supply, in times of climate change including less rainfall in south east Australia
October 2007: Parish of Ballark. New pine plantations on ex pasture site. It appears that herbicides may not have been used at this location. Herbicides are used to kill pasture and weeds.
December 2007: Has hexazinone been used recently in these young pine plantations, east of Morrisons in the Moorobool River catchment?
October 2007; Partially failed bluegum plantation established by Midway Plantations in the Eclipse Creek catchment.
October 2007: The investors of this particular plantation will get burnt. Exceedingly poor growth at this location of a Midway Plantation in the Eclipse Creek catchment.
Canola and bluegums on the eastern side of the catchment. At this location near the Geelong Ballan Road, the canola lies outside of the domestic water supply. whilst the bluegums are inside the water supply catchment.
October 2007: Cattle can cause all sorts of water quality problems. These cattle are busy eroding streamsides on the Moorabool River East Branch just south of Ballark. Cattle can also excrete artificial hormones in water supplies through their faeces and urine. The Moorabool River is supposed to have a 30 metre crown land buffer.
October 2007: Bad erosion on Tea Tree Creek in the western portion of the catchment.
October 2007: Tea Tree Creek - badly eroding at this location also. Tea Tree Creek flows into the Moorabool River about 6km north of Meredith.
October 2007: Stony Creek Reservoir, managed by Barwon Water, has about 50 hectares of pine plantations growing in close proximity.
Moorabool River East Branch looks in better shape 5km west of Fiskville. although agriculture in close proximity to the river is of concern.
Bostok Channel about 3km south west of Ballan. Farming activities in relatively close proximity. Large downpours of rain could wash toxicants and sediment into the channel at this location.
Ballan Channel about 3km west of Mount Wallace