Works progress on Greening Euroa Project
Goulburn Valley-based company GMR Engineering has been appointed to undertake the detailed design for Greening Euroa’s treated water pipeline project.
The project is a joint initiative between Strathbogie Shire Council, Goulburn Valley Water (GVW), Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA) and local schools and community groups. Greening Euroa has been supported by the Victorian Government through Integrated Water Management Program funding.
The Greening Euroa committee aims to establish a pipeline from the Wastewater Management Facility on the Euroa Tip Road which will provide treated, recycled water to Euroa’s biggest water users in town.
The project comes after Goulburn Valley Water installed a standpipe near the Euroa Golf Course which also provides access to treated, recycled water in Euroa to help drought-proof the region’s water supply and reduce dependence on the drinking water supply.
As part of this project, GVW carried out improvements at the Euroa Wastewater Management Facility to upgrade the treatment level from Class C to Class B – meaning the treated water can now be used for irrigation on sports fields, golf courses, crop irrigation, industrial washdown facilities and more, only making Greening Euroa’s pipeline project more possible.
Strathbogie Shire Council Mayor Cr Chris Raeburn said the Greening Euroa project was a fantastic way to improve drought resilience and enhance liveability by keeping community spaces green in a sustainable way.
“We are pleased to have appointed GMR Engineering through a successful tender process to undertake the detailed design for this project,” he said.
“We are proud of our community for coming together to ensure that our green spaces stay green during times of drought.”
“Council has already utilised the water from the standpipe for important works such as grading our roads and we are proud to be one of the few Victorian Councils to do so.”
Greening Euroa Community Representative Richard McGeehan said the decision to form the committee was made around two years ago during a time of drought when both Euroa and Violet Town were experiencing water restrictions due to low drinking water levels.
“The initial program of providing irrigation water to the three schools has now expanded to eight user groups including the Bowling and Croquet Clubs, tennis courts, Friendlies Oval and Memorial Oval,” he said.
Mr McGeehan said the committee’s design brief provided sufficient pipeline capacity to expand the system as demand increased.
“The treated water is a sustainable resource. As the town grows, and as more properties are connected to the sewerage system, the amount of reclaimed water will expand,” he said.
“We are extremely optimistic that our Greening Euroa project will transform our town into a green oasis starting with the schools and public amenities and successfully future-proof our town, in an ever drying and heating climate.”
Goulburn Broken CMA River & Wetland Health Program Manager Mark Turner said the pipeline project was a terrific community initiative that recognised the importance of using scarce natural resources wisely.
“As climate change and population growth puts more pressure on the region’s water resources it’s more important than ever before to make the most of every drop,” he said.
Goulburn Valley Water Managing Director Steve Capewell said it was important to continue to support new opportunities to increase access to treated, recycled water.
“In a drying climate, finding new ways to source and use water sustainably is critical, and the recycled water pipeline will make sure we can deliver this to a wider range of community groups and users so they can also benefit,” Dr Capewell said.
“One of our priorities is supporting our communities to help them continue to thrive and we know supporting green spaces is a key part of that.”
