East Gippsland Water

East Gippsland Water
East Gippsland Water logo
Agency overview
Formed1 July 2007
Preceding agency
  • East Gippsland Region Water Authority
JurisdictionGovernment of Victoria
HeadquartersBairnsdale, Victoria, Australia
Minister responsible
Agency executives
  • Therese Tierney, Chair of the Board
  • Michael Wandmaker, Managing Director
Parent departmentDepartment of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Websitewww.egwater.vic.gov.au

East Gippsland Water (EGW) is a water services corporation in the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria in Australia. It is owned by the Victorian Government and was formed as a corporation on 1 July 2007. EGW has a service area of 21,000 km2 (8,100 sq mi) in East Gippsland in the far south east of Victoria. The population within the service area is around 49,000 people.[1][2][3]

East Gippsland Water is classified as an urban water corporation and manages drinking water, recycled water and wastewater in the service area. It has its headquarters in Bairnsdale. The service area includes Bairnsdale and Lindenow in the west, Paynesville and Lakes Entrance, and extends to the Wilderness Coast and Mallacoota near the New South Wales border. EGW provides water services as far north as the town of Dinner Plain on the Great Alpine Road in the Victorian Alps.[2][4]

In a 2019 customer satisfaction survey of Victorian water utilities conducted by the Essential Services Commission, East Gippsland Water scored highest for value-for-money, and highly across other measures.[5]

In July 2022, EGW was fined for discharging over 30 megalitres of wastewater from its Bairnsdale Wastewater Treatment Plant into the Macleod Morass, following wet weather.[6][7] In April 2023 EGW was fined for discharging wastewater from its Newmerella wastewater treatment plant, and failing to comply with a regulatory notice from the Environmental Protection Authority (Victoria).[8][9][10] In November 2023, EGW was ordered to pay $50,000 to a restoration project run by the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, and pay other costs, following the discharge of 138 megalitres of wastewater from its Paynesville water recycling plant.[11] A further fine of almost $10,000 was imposed in March 2025, following the release of three megalitres of treated wastewater at Eagle Point.[12]

East Gippsland Water is subject to price control regulation administered by the Essential Services Commission. In September 2022, the company submitted its pricing proposal for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2028.[13] In June 2023, the Essential Services Commission approved new prices for customers over the 5-year period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2028.[14]

In 2024, the Victorian Treasurer agreed to increase the borrowing limit imposed on EGW from $3 million to $5 million to enable urgent work on the Paynesville water recycling plant. Investment was needed to achieve environmental compliance and address concerns with performance.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Find your water corporation". Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b "About Us". East Gippsland Water. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  3. ^ "East Gippsland Region Water Corporation (t/a East Gippsland Water)". Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  4. ^ "East Gippsland Water". Visit Mallacoota. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  5. ^ Collier, Karen (20 April 2019). "Water pressure". Herald Sun. ProQuest 2207262178.
  6. ^ "EPA fines East Gippsland Water over wastewater discharge". Mirage News. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Morass polluter fined". Bairnsdale Advertiser. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  8. ^ Bradley, Stefan (3 August 2022). "EPA Victoria fines East Gippsland Water over wastewater". Gippsland Times. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  9. ^ "EPA fines East Gippsland Water Corp". Environment Protection Authority (Victoria). 18 April 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  10. ^ Edwards, Chris (21 April 2023). "EPA fines East Gippsland Water Corp". Inside Water. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  11. ^ "East Gippsland Water fined for wastewater discharge". Environment Protection Authority (Victoria). 9 November 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  12. ^ "Eagle Point spill costs water corporation nearly $10,000 | Environment Protection Authority Victoria". Environment Protection Authority (Victoria). 11 March 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  13. ^ "East Gippsland Water 2023 price submission" (PDF). Essential Services Commission. 30 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  14. ^ "East Gippsland Water final decision: 2023 Water Price Review" (PDF). Essential Services Commission. 23 June 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2023.
  15. ^ Eddie, Rachel (28 April 2024). "Water retailers pleaded to borrow $36.5 million extra in debt blowout". WAToday. ProQuest 3063651742.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.