Media Releases

The Nationals Member for Lowan Hugh Delahunty has welcomed the injection of $105,500 to investigate water treatment systems at Pimpinio.

“Pimpinio has a regulated water supply from the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline, however the water does not meet the requirements of the sate Drinking Water Act 2003,” Mr Delahunty said.

Residents currently use rainwater tanks for drinking water. In common with many other small towns in the Wimmera, Pimpino is isolated, making installation of water treatment plants uneconomic.

Point of Entry (PoE) systems will be installed at individual properties and are a suitable treatment solution to disinfect and safeguard water supplies against protozoan contamination.

Mr Delahunty said the technology associated with PoE systems is well developed, however there are currently no operational management strategies available to permit their installation.

“This project will install PoE systems at all 30 Pimpinio residences to investigate their long term reliability and financial viability, and permit GWMWater to establish governance and management mechanisms,” Mr Delahunty said.

“This project also solves the problems of the provision of potable water supply compliant with the Drinking Water Act 2003 to Pimpinio, as well as development of a governance model for simple and economic drinking water supply to small towns and communities.

Other benefits will include the development of agreed ownership, operation, maintenance and monitoring guidelines for PoE systems but also, and importantly provide the opportunity to have much wider impacts across 20 similar towns in the GWMWater region, all with less than 100 people.

“This is certainly good news for the residents of Pimpinio,” Mr Delahunty said.

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Hugh Delahunty said today John Brumby has ignored country Victorians by again excluding them from the government’s latest water saving scheme.

Mr Delahunty said a large proportion of country water users were again being denied access to rebates for rainwater tanks, dual flush toilets and low-flow showerheads.

“Under the Brumby Government’s guidelines only urban residential customers on a reticulated water supply are eligible to apply for the rebates,” Mr. Delahunty said.

“These guidelines exclude all our country families, including those now connected to the new Wimmera Mallee Pipeline, which is very similar to a reticulated system.

“The rebate guidelines show the Brumby Government has lost touch with the realities of living in regional Victoria.”

Mr Delahunty said John Brumby had forgotten Labor’s promise to govern for all Victorians.

“Victorians living in country areas are just as conscious as their urban counterparts about the need to save water.

“Regional Victorians are being penalised for the proactive measures many have taken to install tanks to capture rainwater.

“The Water Minister claims that the rebates are designed to reduce the pressure on potable water supplies, but I believe that efforts to preserve our water supplies should be encouraged regardless of where people live,” Mr Delahunty said.

The Nationals Member for Lowan Hugh Delahunty in Parliament today called on the Brumby Labor Government to demand the Commonwealth Government pay up the $26 million it still owes to the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline project.

“This money would be well spent on channel decommissioning and installing fire services or assisting landholders to connect to the pipeline,” Mr Delahunty said.

“From this year’s Budget Information Paper Number 1 page 115 - the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project is $688.4 million and includes “outstanding contributions from the Commonwealth Government: $26 million.”  

Mr Delahunty said that many landholders including a group of farmers west of Rainbow at Pella were keen to connect to the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline. 

“These outstanding funds could go a long way to providing an affordable proposal to enable landholders on the perimeter of the Northern Mallee and Wimmera Mallee pipeline to be connected,” Mr Delahunty said.

“Water is the life blood of western Victoria. Not only has the economy been driven by the necessity for quality water but also it is important for our environment and the social benefits it provides to the community.”

The Nationals member for Lowan Hugh Delahunty this week in Parliament as called for an extension of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline.

“I have called on the Water Minster, his department and GWMWater to develop an affordable proposal to enable land-holders on the perimeter of the now finished Northern Mallee and Wimmera-Mallee pipeline to join this piping network,” Mr Delahunty said.

“Water is the life blood of western Victoria. Not only has the economy been driven by the necessity for quality water but also it is important for our environment and the social aspects of the community.”

Mr Delahunty said the piping of the old channel system has delivered a reliable quality water supply system for western Victoria.

“It is said that it has drought-proofed our region and after 14 dry years - I hope so.”

Mr Delahunty told Parliament that a few years ago when designing the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline a group of land-holders in the area west of Rainbow known as Pella met to discuss with GWMWater and others in the area the necessity for them to be included in this Wimmera-Mallee pipeline system.

“They were not included in the old channel system because the topography in that area did not enable the old gravity channel system to get water to this Pella region; therefore they missed out.

“There is still $25 million outstanding from the Rudd Government which was promised during the 2007 election which could help this proposal as well as channel filling and placement of fire services along the pipeline.

Mr Delahunty said that in February 2007, along with the member for Swan Hill Shadow Minister for Country Water Peter Walsh we met with representatives of 30 farmers from the Pella area.

“They believed this to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be connected to the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline system. They were not able to do it during the construction of the pipeline but the prospect to do so now exists.

Mr Delahunty said he had received correspondence from the Rainbow west pipeline extension committee indicating that they now need to join the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline system.

“It is important that the Water Minister work with this group to make this happen which will go a long way to further drought proofing the region,” Mr Delahunty said.