Draft Flood Management Strategy
Melbourne Water invited submissions for their Draft Flood Management Strategy –Port Phillip and Westernport. Infrastructure upgrades are planned to minimise flood risk especially on the vulnerable eastern side of Port Phillip Bay which has been subject to severe storm surges and flooding since European settlement. Climate change and increased urban development in middle ring suburbs of Kingston has put greater pressure on drainage systems. MBCL has prepared and forwarded a submission the MW Land Development Team.
Green Wedge Land
Once again defenders of the South East Green Wedge are indebted to Barry Ross for his professional defence and success at VCAT. An application for rezoning land to provide for horse agistment, if approved, could have resulted in future subdivision of the blocks for residential development. The Defenders are anxiously awaiting the Planning Minister, Richard Wynne’s,decision on Alex Fraser’s application for a further fifteen year lease for the concrete crusher works on Heatherton Road. This win will provide a valuable precedent for other VCAT Hearing in future.
Union of Australian Women
The speaker at a recent meeting of the Southern Branch of the UAW was the former member for Mordialloc, Janice Munt, now working for a Minister whose portfolio is dealing with family violence. Disturbing facts and figures were presented to demonstrate the increase in the community of this problem. Details can be found in the UAW (Vic) , August 15, newsletter presented by Mairi Neil.
Next meeting of the UAW at Mordialloc Neighbourhood House will be August 15th @ 2pm. Speaker will be Pauline Brown, Labor for Refugees.
National Heritage Places
Deakin University Researcher , Dr Paul Carnell, a Marine and Freshwater Ecologist, will be speaking at Rickett’s Point 22nd August. Matter under discussion is making a plan for managing a National Heritage Place such as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention and Australian Heritage Council Act 2003.
State Environment Protection Policy (Water) Review
A discussion paper State Environment Protection Policy (Water) Review included SEPP Waters of Victoria and Groundwater of Victoria. MBCL’s submission concentrated on the importance of protecting groundwater. For example in 1991 of Victoria’s 69,000 bores, over 24,000 were in use supplying sixty Victorian towns totally dependent on groundwater for domestic supplies. Today large potato and carrot producers near Murrayville and Kaniva are relying on groundwater drawn 24/7 from aquifers fed from the Murray Darling Basin. The demand for water in the South Eastern province will continue to grow as the Berwick/Pakenham Growth Corridor develops and future intensification of production, possibly from large foreign owned properties, will increase the demand for groundwater.
Groundwater from the Fyansford-Brighton Group Aquifers in the Southeast Province is considered to be a significant source of water to wetlands particularly to the Carrum Seaford wetlands and is therefore an important beneficial use worthy of protection. Groundwater is subject to the dynamics of underground flow from recharge to discharge areas and to chemical,physical and biological interaction with surface and subsurface environment. The rate of aquifer discharge depends on factors such as climate,vegetation cover and human activities, for example adding waste water contaminants from coal seam gas mining to the rivers and aquifers as is happening to Queensland Rivers and the Great Artesian Basin as a result of fracking. Resource depletion occurs when there is over pumping resulting in confined and unconfined aquifers allowing intrusion of inferior quality groundwater from another aquifer, lake or sea.
REFERENCES FOR GROUNDWATER AND AQUIFERS
- “Foolish planning forgets about food.” Age Editorial 25 May 2012
- Leonard,John. Port Phillip Region Groundwater Resources- Future Use and Management
Department of Water Resources, Victoria p.250
- Great Artesian Coal Seam Gas Risk in the Australian 7 November 2011
Port Phillip Conservation Council
AGM at LongBeach Community Centre Speaker will discuss the importance of wetlands as a means of absorbing carbon. Watch for date of this important event MBCL members would be welcome as we are also members of PPCC!