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• Delivering a healthy working Basin for Australia: Water for the Future Local Story - Macedon Ranges, Victoria (PDF - 1,328 KB)

Kyneton, in regional Victoria, has been affected by years of drought, and its sporting fields have suffered from the lack of water. The town is also facing stressed rivers, population growth and the uncertainties of a changing climate.

In 2010, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, in partnership with Coliban Water secured an Australian Government Strengthening Basin Communities grant to construct a pipeline to deliver recycled water to the town's open spaces including its public gardens and sports grounds.

Macedon Ranges Shire Council Mayor Henry McLaughlin, said the project means stored winter releases from the local sewage treatment plant can be used for irrigation during the summer months.

"The pipeline will ensure we can water our open spaces during summer and not use valuable drinking water supplies as we did previously," Cr McLaughlin said.

"The Kyneton Botanic Gardens, Barkly Square Recreation Reserve, the Kyneton Showgrounds and the Golf Club will now be irrigated with recycled water."

"These facilities are the cornerstone of Kyneton and this project means the whole community can get outdoors and enjoy them again."

"Sporting activities held at these grounds bring many visitors to the town and the Kyneton Agricultural Show at the Showground is one of the biggest events on the community calendar – it's so important that we maintain our open spaces so we can continue to hold these activities in the years to come."

The town's layout allows for a costeffective expansion of the recycled water network. The open space sites are already set up for irrigation with storage tanks, pumping stations and underground automatic irrigation systems and will connect to a recycled water supply via Coliban Waters' network. A new pump station will pump water via a distribution network of pipelines that will link the open spaces in the town.

"The project has social, economic and amenity benefits," Cr McLaughlin said. "It will free up water for the environment, and provide the community with facilities to socialise and play outside as well as maintain the historic Kyneton Botanic Gardens."

The fit-for-purpose water system will also increase the sustainable use of recycled water across the region.

The project supports the longterm water supply plan for the region, which includes the State Government's Our Water Our Future Bendigo Regional Action Plan and the subsequent Waterplan 2055 developed by Coliban Water for the Bendigo, Castlemaine, Kyneton and Heathcote areas.

The project will save an estimated 40 megalitres of potable water a year and is scheduled for completion in March 2012.

Governments at all levels are working with Basin communities to achieve a healthy river system that supports strong and viable communities. Central to this is the strengthened involvement of local communities in the design and roll out of government programs.

Governments at all levels are working with Basin communities to achieve a healthy river system that supports strong and viable communities. Central to this is the strengthened involvement of local communities in the design and roll out of government programs.

The Australian Government is also committed to 'bridging the gap' between current water diversions and any final sustainable diversion limits in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, through water savings generated by infrastructure investments and voluntary water purchases.