Public access to our facilities is generally restricted. This is to ensure public safety, protect the quality of the water and minimise potential damage to our facilities. 'Our facilities' basically refers to anything that is GWMWater property, from our offices in Horsham through to our natural resources such as Lake Lonsdale. Facilities of ours include:

• reservoirs and lakes
• pump stations
• treatment plants
• work sites
• depots, offices and buildings.

Don't trespass!

Anyone accessing GWMWater facilities without authorisation is trespassing! This means that unless you're visiting a public area or being accompanied by a GWMWater employee in the course of their duties, you're breaking the law.

You'll see signage similar to this one at all our facilities to advise the public and reasonably restrict access. However, we can't accept responsibility for any loss, injury or damage that happens to unauthorised people who are trespassing on our property.

If feasible, a pipeline extension will reach into agricultural areas where traditionally there has been reliable rainfall. With the prospect of an ongoing drier climate, agricultural productivity and growth could be enhanced in this region by the installation of a reticulated water delivery network.

A piped water supply could also provide ongoing water security for the townships of Edenhope and Harrow as well as significant economic, social, recreational and environmental benefits to the region.

Status Update

The Project Steering Committee has endorsed the business case and formally submitted it to the government for funding in October 2018.

Landholders still interested in securing a water supply that have not yet lodged an expression of interest form are still encouraged to do so.

Service area

The project area to be investigated encompasses the south eastern corner of the West Wimmera Shire, Horsham Rural City Council and South Grampians Shire.

The project area is not defined as it will be determined by the extent of interested landholders.

If sufficient interest in the vicinity of the project area nominated is obtained, a detailed design will take place to provide piped water to the farm gate.

 West Grampians Rural Pipeline Proposed Service Area (308kB)

Benefits to the community

A secure water supply to the West Grampians area will deliver many potential benefits:

• allow existing agricultural enterprises to consolidate and expand knowing they have access to a reliable, high quality water supply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• encourage new enterprises and investment to the region with the certainty of continued access to water.

•  improve the water supply security to the townships of Harrow and Edenhope.

•  increase environmental benefits for local waterways and wetlands by removing the reliance on catchment dams, which may enhance inflows into the Glenelg River.

•  provide recreational and social benefits with the possibility of releasing some water into Lake Wallace or alternative waterbodies.

Read some case studies about how connecting to rural piped water has benefited landholders in our community.

Connect to the pipeline

Landholders within the project boundary are encouraged to lodge an Expression of Interest to connect to the pipeline.

 Download the Expression of Interest Form (939kB).

More information about connecting to the West Grampians Rural Pipeline

The Wimmera Mallee Domestic and Stock Channel System, covering 2.9 million hectares, was one of the largest water supply systems in the world.  It originally extended from the Grampians in central western Victoria to Ouyen and Manangatang in the north, Underbool in the west and Korong Vale in the east.

Water was supplied through approximately 17,500 kilometres of earthen channels, supplying 36 towns and about 20,000 farm dams. By the time this water reached the extremities of the system, up to 85% had been lost through seepage and evaporation. This was clearly an intolerable waste of a scarce resource.

A concrete channel structure

History

The Wimmera Mallee channel system began in the 1860s when the region’s pioneers attempted to harvest water from rivers and creeks with diversion weirs. In about 1856 the Wilson Brothers of Longerenong diverted Wimmera River water into Ashens and Yarriambiack creeks. This not only marked the first step towards establishing the water supply system, but was also the first water conservation effort in Victoria.

With farmers transporting water from up to 50km away, shire councils helped by constructing dams, weirs and other works needed to store and supply water. The first storage was Wartook Reservoir, which was built on the MacKenzie River in the mid 1880s by the Wimmera Shire. The main sources of supply for the system were the Wimmera River and Mount William Creek. Water shortages and crop failures resulted in the construction of Lake Lonsdale in 1903. Although water supply to the area was improved, divided control of the headwaters caused difficulties, which were only overcome when the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria (SR&WSC) took control of all water supplies to the region in 1906.

Using natural watercourses for the initial distribution of water caused heavy water losses, and channels were rapidly extended between 1906 and 1931. The channel system increased from 1,600km serving 8,550sqkm to 9,600km serving 28,500sqkm. New channels included the Glenelg River Diversion Channel, which was constructed in 1930 to divert Upper Glenelg winter flows into the Wimmera storages. Lake Fyans and Taylors and Pine lakes were constructed during this period, with Moora Reservoir built in 1933 to store flood waters of the upper Glenelg River for diversion into the system. In an effort to keep pace with regional development, the largest reservoirs, Rocklands and Toolondo, were completed in 1953. The final storage to be constructed, Lake Bellfield on Fyans Creek in the Grampians, was completed in 1967.

Using horses to construct a supply channel

Replacing the channel system

High levels of evaporation and seepage from the channel system were key motivators for the regional push for a piped supply system, which led to the construction of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline. This $688 million project saw the channel system replaced by a 9,159 kilometre piped water supply system in early 2010.

Decommissioning channels

With the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline in operation, channel decommissioning of large channels and structures was completed in 2014. Many smaller channels and structures still remain, which were unable to be decommissioned within the project budget. Today, landowners continue to decommission the remaining smaller channels. Where a channel is retained for a drainage purpose, ownership will be transferred to the landowner or responsible entity.

Using a tractor and tow grader to decommission a channel

Map of the channel system

View a map of the historic Wimmera Mallee Channel System (2.18MB)

Information about the history of our water supply and constructing the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline is available from these books and articles.

More about constructing the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline