8 April 2008
FURTHER REFINEMENT OF SUGARLOAF PIPELINE ALIGNMENT PRESENTED TO EXPERT COMMITTEE
A proposed preferred alignment for the Sugarloaf Pipeline has been presented by Melbourne Water and its alliance partners at panel hearings conducted by an Expert Advisory Committee.
The Committee, established to provide advice to the Victorian Minister for Planning and the Commonwealth Minister for Environment Heritage and the Arts, was provided information last week about the proposed preferred pipeline alignment.
The proposed preferred alignment will be subject to approvals from State and Federal governments.
Project Director, Rod Clifford, said “the proposed preferred route, running from the Goulburn River in Victoria’s north to the Sugarloaf Reservoir in Melbourne’s north-east, has been established as a result of more than 35,000 hours of detailed environmental and technical investigations and design work by more than 140 specialist staff from Melbourne Water and its Alliance partners.
Design and construction meetings with individual landowners are also progressing”, he said.
“The proposed route is a further refinement of the ‘preferred corridors’ in the Project Impact Assessment and has been designed to further avoid cultural heritage, social, safety and environmental impacts as much as possible”.
Mr Clifford said, “this is why we are avoiding highly valued community assets such as Kinglake National Park, Killingworth Reserve the Goulburn River and cultural heritage sites such as scar trees”.
“The proposed alignment also reduces construction along Gulf Road and Steels Creek Road by using land along the Melbourne Water aqueduct, further reducing disruption to the community”.
“It also represents a reduction in the number of landowners whose properties are likely to be directly impacted by construction by around 10%”, Mr Clifford added.
“Consultation with individual landowners is continuing and there is still flexibility on a property-by-property basis to refine the alignment and, therefore, the impact the pipeline will have on individual properties”.
The Alliance has put forward what it considers to be the best proposed preferred alignment, however Mr Clifford noted that “it is still subject to the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Committee, and approval by the State Planning Minister and Federal Environment Minister”.
The Sugarloaf Pipeline is a key part of the Victorian Government’s Food Bowl Modernisation Project.
The pipeline will bring up to 75 billion litres of water to Melbourne from 2010, by transporting water saved from the Food Bowl Modernisation Project’s irrigation upgrades.
Stage 1 of the project will save approximately 225 billion litres of water from upgrading aging and inefficient irrigation infrastructure, which will be shared equally between the environment, irrigators and Melbourne.
In exchange for the 75 billion litres of water each year, Melbourne Water is contributing $300 million towards the first stage of the Food Bowl Modernisation Project. The Victorian Government is contributing $600 million and the remaining $100 million will be paid by Goulburn-Murray Water.
The Commonwealth Government recently announced it would contribute up to $1 billion to the Food Bowl Modernisation Project to save a further 200 billion litres to be shared by irrigators and the environment.