In Confidence

WESTERNPORT WATER

COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONWATER PLAN 2008 – 2013

In Confidence

Agenda

• Workshop objectives

• Group “rules”

• Water plan overview

• Consultation process

This workshop provides a landscape view to gain your feedback.

In Confidence

Group “rules”

• You are here as representatives of your community• No right or wrong answers• Everyone must have a chance to contribute to the

discussion• All records of the group and reports will be de-identified,

i.e. individual names will not appear on any documentation

• Group duration = 2 hours

In Confidence

Workshop objectives

• Gather customer feedback

• Help formalise plans for 2008-2013

• Explore in greater detail issues raised in telephone survey

In Confidence

Water Plan overview

• The final Water Plan will be submitted to the Essential Service Commission (ESC) in September Covers period 2008-2013 Sets service standards Sets prices

• The ESC also expects Water Plans to detail the consultations undertaken Customers and the community Regulators

In Confidence

Water Plan

• Draft Water Plan to be submitted 1 May 2007

– DSE– EPA– DHS– Open for further community feedback

• Purpose today is gather Community input towards development of the Draft Plan.

In Confidence

Community Consultation Process

Development of Draft Water Plan• Telephone survey completed in March

random sample 200 customers• On-line feedback survey

Currently available www.westernportwater.com.au Open until 10 April

• Community Forums 28 and 31 March

In Confidence

The Water Plan will cover

• Pricing Step tariffs Lower the service charge and raise the volumetric

charge • Water supply security

Options to improve supply Costing of these options

• Water quality Options to improve quality Costing of these options

In Confidence

Water pricing

• Water pricing is made up of two components: Service charge – relating to infrastructure Volumetric charge – actual water used

• WPW is considering options for pricing that… Are fair to all customers

– Permanent – Non permanent

Consider affordability issues Support customer awareness of water usage Recovers enough to run the business

In Confidence

Water pricing - issues

• Customer base 60% non permanent residents 40% permanent residents

• Pipes and pumps sized for peak Underutilised for majority or year

• Need to recover full cost plus future cost

In Confidence

Water pricing - options

Option 0 – Status quo Service charge with volumetric charge

Option 1 - Step tariff structure with affordable first tariff block• This system would result in high water users paying a higher

premium for water• This structure would only apply to domestic customers, not

commercial who are often higher water users

Option 2 - Lower the service charge raise volumetric charges• Applies to domestic and commercial/ rural customers• Overseas experience is that low-income households are

much more likely to have below average water consumption

In Confidence

Water pricing options –customer feedback

What do you think?• How do you rate Option 0?• How do you rate Option 1?• How do you rate Option 2?

1 = Poor - 10 = Excellent

• What are the advantages of Option 1?• What are the advantages of Option 2?• Are there any other options WPW should consider?• Which option do you prefer?

In Confidence

Water supply security

Managing supply demand balanceDemandSteady at 2000 Ml

Water SupplyCertainty

Now Very uncertain

In Confidence

Water supply security - options

WPW is considering 4 options to secure the water supply

1. Continue to use our current reservoir (Candowie Reservoir) with groundwater and the Bass River

2. Extend Candowie Reservoir – in the short term

3. Extend Candowie Reservoir – in the long term

4. Melbourne Water connection

Note: All of these options will come with a cost to the consumer

In Confidence

Water supply security - options

Option 1 – continue to use Candowie reservoir with groundwater and the Bass River

• Involves obtaining… 1.6 Gl from aquifer 1 Gl from Bass River

• Environmental impact• Reliability of bore uncertain• Relies on rainfall

In Confidence

Water supply security - options

Option 2 – Option 1 plus extend Candowie Reservoir In the short term this would yield an additional 500Ml

Option 3 – extend Candowie Reservoir Double the Reservoir capacity Raise the reservoir wall Cost: $15 Million Additional land would need to be purchased 10% increase in accounts

In Confidence

Water supply security

Option 4 – Connect to Melbourne 2200 million litres per year Pipeline and pumping Relies on water availability Slow recovery of Melb system Large scale desalinisation possible

In Confidence

Water security supply – customer feedback

Which option do you prefer?

Why?

What do you think?• How do you rate Option 1?• How do you rate Option 2?• How do you rate Option 3?• How do you rate Option 4?

1 = Poor - 10 = Excellent

In Confidence

Water Quality - background

In the telephone survey…• 66% said taste was the main aspect WPW should focus

on but • 67% did not want to pay for improvement

WPW is considering 3 options to improve water quality

1. Improve the treatment process.

2. Increase the levels of flushing and pipe cleaning

3. Provide and maintain filters at customers houses

In Confidence

Water Quality - options

Option 1 – Improved treatment• Capital works • Improves water quality entering system

Option 2 – Flushing and pipe cleaning• Removes stale water from system• Increases customer interruptions

Option 3 – On-site filter• Optional for customers who are willing to pay• WPW maintains filter• Removes taste and odour

In Confidence

Water Quality - customer feedback

• Are they viable options?• Do you have a preference?• Would you support any of these initiatives if they resulted in a

price increase?

What do you think?• How do you rate Option 1?• How do you rate Option 2?• How do you rate Option 3?

1 = Poor - 10 = Excellent

In Confidence