Water Quality Issues Ballarat Bendigo Benalla Water supplies January 2005 - March 2010 BALLARAT BENDIGO BENALLA By Anthony Amis Water Quality Report 2005/2010 Funded by the Estate of the Late Blanch Brooke Hutchings, managed by Perpetual. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3. Key Findings 5. Recommendations Part One 9. Benalla 13. Ballarat 27. Bendigo 33. Coliban / Campaspe 38. Lake Eppalock Part Two 39. Goulburn System 47. Goulburn Weir/Lake Nagambie Goulburn Weir Pool 57. Puckapunyal 59. Waranga Basin 60. Waranga Western Channel/ Groves Weir 63. Lake Eildon 65. Glossary 69. Appendices 71. References Lake Eppalock - November 2009 This report looks at the land use 2005-2010, were for water authorities, the The Ballarat supply includes ~22 different It would appear that from assessing this contained in the water supplies of most difficult they may ever encounter. communities. It was decided to limit the list, Bendigo had the best quality water in three regional Victorian Communities. Victoria was in the grip of serious drought study to impacts of water supplies ~15km 2007/8 in terms of health and aesthetic The communities are Bendigo, Ballarat conditions. Ballarat and Bendigo almost from Ballarat. This then would include; factors when comparing Bendigo, Ballarat and Benalla. The study focuses on ran out of drinking water and authorities Ballarat Central, Ballarat North/Nerrina, and Benalla. Time constraints have not the years 2005-2010 with the main were forced by necessity to construct a Bungaree, Buninyong/Mt Helen, Cardigan allowed a similar report to be conducted attention placed on the risk of pipeline to connect these cities to the Village, Haddon, Napoleons, Sebastopol and for 2008/9 or other years included in this pesticide movement from agricultural irrigation water supply of the Goulburn River Wendouree. Communities such as Ballan, report, yet it is Friends of the Earth’s opinion land into water supplies. system. Arguably, the Goldfields Superpipe Creswick, Enfield, Fiskville, Glenmore, that the list is useful in determining where marked the largest ever ‘shake-up’ of water Gordon, Lal Lal, Linton, Mt Egerton, Skipton, Ballarat, Bendigo and Benalla sit in relation The report was funded by a generous infrastructure for Ballarat and Bendigo. Smythesdale and Wallace were outside to water quality with to the rest of Victoria. grant from the Estate of the Late Blanch Benalla’s water supply was also impacted as the scope of this study even though their Brooke Hutchings. The Grant was a result of the Tolmie fires in January 2007 drinking water comes from the same source 2007/8 ratings from Victoria Wide Survey managed by Perpetual and sourced from which effectively burnt out almost the entire as Ballarat. Dean was also not included in their 2009/10 funding round. Friends of water supply catchment for the town. The this study, as their drinking water is sourced 126. Bendigo Southern (Coliban Water) the Earth would like to thank the Estate February 2009 bushfires in the headwaters from a separate supply. 129. Bendigo Northern (Coliban Water) 143. Strathfieldsaye (Coliban Water) of the Late Blanch Brooke Hutchings and of the Goulburn River system also most 144. Maiden Gully/Marong (Coliban Water) Perpetual for assistance with the funding likely impacted on water quality. For the sake of consistency the Bendigo 180. Ballarat North/Nerrina (Central Highlands supply system was treated the same way of this project. Water) To provide safe drinking water during as Ballarat. Communities within 15km 186. Big Hill (Coliban Water) Friends of the Earth would like to thank these trying times, must have been a of Bendigo were included in the study 199. Buninyong/Mt. Helen (Central Highlands Anthony Amis for researching and writing difficult exercise and credit must be given including; Big Hill, Epsom, Junortoun, Water) the report, John Poppins for his Computer to the three water authorities (Coliban Maiden Gully, Marong, Spring Gully and 227. Junortoun (Coliban Water) Mapping Expertise and Callum Watson for Water, Central Highlands Water and North Strathfieldsaye. Axedale however was not 244. Bendigo Spring Gully (Coliban Water) the design of the report. East Water) that had the responsibility included. 256. Bungaree/Wallace (Central Highlands of supplying drinking water to Ballarat, Water) Anthony can be contacted at ; anthonyamis@ Bendigo and Benalla. 286. Benalla (North East Water) hotmail.com In late 2009, Friends of the Earth produced 290. Napoleons (Central Highlands Water) 350. Haddon (Central Highlands Water) This report in no way should be seen as an unpublished list compiling which town 358. Sebastopol(Central Highlands Water) Callum can be contacted at futureprimitive@ being critical of the performance of the in Victoria has the best quality drinking 362. Cardigan Village (Central Highlands Water) live.com.au water authorities. The report is basically water based on assessing maximum result 386. Ballarat Central (Central Highlands Water) a collation of information, sourced from a readings from all Water Authority Water 397. Wendouree (Central Highlands Water) range of publications, which may enlighten Quality Reports published by the Victorian the reader to better understand where their Government over the 2007/8 year. The drinking water is sourced from and the type list compiled all the results for the 472 of land use that occurs within the areas communities in Victoria who have treated where the water is sourced. drinking water. Findings Key *Of the three communities, Ballarat district *Lack of adequate testing by water *Very turbid water detected in Puckapunyal had the most breaches to the Australian authorities for a range antibiotic and Military Base, (up to 20 times higher than Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG), several hormone products used in agricultural, the ANZECC Guidelines for Freshwater times the breaches recorded for Bendigo particularly in the dairy industry. Some of in lowland rivers) in water monitoring and Benalla combined. these substances are known endocrine conducted for the Department of Defence. disruptors (for lists see Appendix 1). Water leaves the 40,000 ha Puckapunyal *The Ballarat breaches were dominated by site less than 20 km upstream of Goulburn aesthetic issues (mainly pH, Total Dissolved *Pesticides are not regularly tested for at Weir and the off takes to the Waranga Basin. Solids and Hardness), however lead Lake Nagambie, Waranga Basin or Waranga Total sediment and toxicant loads from detections were frequent in 2006/7, with Western Channel by Goulburn Murray Water. Puckapunyal remain unknown. Haddon recording a lead reading 63 times Small traces of Atrazine and Endosulfan above the ADWG in 2006/7. Ballarat Central were detected in Waranga Western Channel *Plantations. Central Highlands Water recorded high lead levels at least once and Lake Nagambie in a 3 year study owned plantations could be using between during 2006/7, 2007/8 and 2008/9. conducted by Goulburn Murray Water $17.7 million and $26.6 million worth of published in 2006 (39). Bendigo and Ballarat water per year. Foreign owned plantations *Blue Green Algae was detected in most are now connected to the Waranga Western in Benalla’s catchments could be using $11 of the reservoirs that provide Ballarat and Channel via the Goldfields Superpipe. million of water per year. Bendigo with drinking water. *Endosulfan detected in Lake Nagambie/ *Logging of native forest, particularly in the *Manganese has been a problem in Ballarat Goulburn Weir in the Goulburn Murray Water ash forests of the Goulburn system likely to and Bendigo storages. study (39) is likely to have been sourced use vast quantities of water. from cropping, not fruit and vegetable *The algal generated toxins MIB and Geosim growing as suggested by the EPA. (32) *According to Water Quality Reports Coliban were detected by Central Highlands Water in Water test for the least number of Organic White Swan Reservoir. *Without the Goldfields Superpipe Bendigo Compounds of the three water authorities and particularly Ballarat could have run out studied. *Lack of adequate pesticide testing by of water. Coliban Water and Central Highlands, *In October 2008, Coliban Water purchased particularly for pesticides currently used *Reservoir Levels dropped considerably 6900ML of water from the Murrumbidgee in agriculture. This is strange because particularly between April 2007-April 2008, region of New South Wales. The quality agriculture is the main land use within the with White Swan (Ballarat) 6.7% April 2008, and exact source of this water could not be water supplies of Bendigo and Ballarat. Lake Eppalock (Bendigo) <1% April-July determined in this study. According to data supplied by Drinking 2007, Newlyn (Ballarat) 3% May 2007, Lake Water Quality Reports. Central Highlands Eildon (Ballarat/Bendigo) 5% May 2007 and Water (Ballarat) and Coliban Water Waranga Basin (Ballarat/Bendigo) 3% 2003. (Bendigo) test for only a fraction of currently used pesticides within their catchments. *Weed control in Lake Nagambie could Friends of the Earth estimates that in the cause potential pesticide problems for Ballarat catchments, 59 pesticides of high downstream users (Ballarat and Bendigo). risk to water quality could be used and for Bendigo catchments 38 pesticides of high *Waranga Western Channel is connected to risk to water quality could be used within potential agricultural runoff at Groves Weir, those catchments. 7km south east of Colbinabbin. 1b. Recommendations. Those recommendations were/are; 1. Increase pesticide monitoring by Central 6. Water authorities need to be in better In 2008 Friends of the Earth published a 4. The pesticide control of use legislation Highlands Water to take into account contact with the Department of Defence Report looking at impacts of pesticides in must be amended to require commercial currently used pesticides in the catchments regarding water testing leaving Puckapunyal domestic water supplies in Victoria (63). users of pesticides operating in domestic of Ballarat as well as pesticides used in the Commonwealth Area via Major Creek into The recommendations from that report still water supplies, to maintain records for Goulburn Catchment above Lake Nagambie.