Western Region SWS
The Western Region Sustainable Water Strategy (SWS) is one of four regional strategies being developed by the Victorian Government to secure water resources for the next 50 years. The Strategy identifies potential challenges for water management and opportunities to secure water resources for the next 50 years. It outlines policies and actions to ensure sustainable water supply and management over that period.
Consultation with regional water managers and the community helped to develop the policies and actions in this Strategy. The Consultative Committee received 272 written submissions about the Draft Strategy, which was released for comment in March 2010. These comments helped develop policies and actions to:
- ensure secure supplies for towns and industry
- encourage economically viable and sustainable agriculture
- support tourism, recreation and other social values
- protect and improve the health of rivers, wetlands, estuaries and aquifers.
The Western Region covers agricultural and urban centres including Colac, Port Campbell, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat, Hamilton, Warrnambool and Portland. River basins include the Otway Coast, Corangamite, Hopkins, Glenelg, Portland Coast, Millicent, Wimmera, Avoca and the southern half of the Mallee.