Latest news with #ColibanWater
ABC News
19-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
New $5.6m Golden Square fire station in Bendigo useless because water pressure too low
A new multi-million-dollar fire station has sat dormant for months in Bendigo because the water pressure is not strong enough. The opening of the new $5.6 million Country Fire Authority (CFA) Golden Square fire station has been delayed since February following the failure of the water pressure compliance test. Golden Square CFA captain Bryan Greenwood said it was a frustrating time for the brigade. "Everyone's done everything they were meant to do. Unfortunately, it's just gotten to this point," he said. "Hopefully, it won't be too long." Mr Greenwood said the water pressure in Golden Square had worsened as the population grew in the area. He said the water pressure issue in the region had hindered their ability to fight fires in the area. "Our fire trucks only carry a certain amount of water on them," he said. "We need to be able to get that water out of the piping systems under the ground. "That [water] wasn't meeting the requirements. So, if we, unfortunately, did have a fire there [in Golden Square], we would have needed to get another water source in." Mr Greenwood said firefighters hoped to be inside the new station within the next two months. The old station, which Mr Greenwood said crews were still operating from, is one of the oldest in Victoria. The new station is about three times the size of the old building. Local water authority Coliban Water said all required infrastructure had been installed at the CFA facility. "All Coliban Water requirements for metering and sewer services have been approved and installed at the CFA site in Golden Square," a spokesperson said. The Victorian government said it was working with the CFA and Coliban Water to address the problem. "We're working with the CFA and Coliban Water to make sure appropriate water pressure is delivered to the site before the station opens in the next few months," a spokesperson said. The CFA was also contacted for comment but referred requests to the state government agency in charge of the building, the Community Safety Building Authority (CSBA). The CSBA has been contacted for comment.
ABC News
14-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Kangaroos rescued from open water channel in central Victoria as rescuers call for roo-proof fence
Wildlife rescuers are calling on authorities to build a kangaroo-proof fence around a central Victoria waterway to stop animals from drowning. On Monday, wildlife rescuers were called to the Coliban Water Main channel in Faraday, 116 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, where 10 kangaroos were trapped and eight died. The animals had become stuck on the muddy floor within the concrete walls of the channel. The 70-kilometre-long channel takes water from the various storage facilities near the Macedon Ranges from Malmsbury to Bendigo, where it is treated for human use. The water is also used for agricultural irrigation. Sam, who requested their last name not be used, helped rescue one kangaroo that survived and said it was not the first time animals had drowned in the channel. The wildlife carer said the clean-up, which involved caring for two injured animals, was an "incredibly frustrating" ordeal, given they had previously raised concerns with Coliban Water several times with no response. Sam said, ideally, Coliban Water should build a fence similar to the rabbit and dingo-proof fences built in Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "Maybe a model like that would help prevent these animals from ending up in the water," they said. A Coliban Water spokesperson said the water authority was committed to the protection of wildlife. "There are currently 47 wildlife crossings along the 70-kilometre-long channel designed to provide safe passage," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson also said more work would be carried out "to better understand the movement of wildlife in the area" so that more wildlife crossings could be installed. Northern Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell raised concerns about the open water channel in the Victorian Parliament earlier this year. Ms Purcell said she requested a copy of the map identifying the 47 wildlife crossings, but it was yet to be forwarded to her office. The ABC is awaiting further comment from Coliban Water about the wildlife crossings. Ms Purcell said she believed issues around urbanisation and habitat loss were also an important part of the conversation. According to an analysis by demographer AreaSearch, the population of the central Victorian town of Castlemaine, near Faraday, had grown by almost 5 per cent since the last Bureau of Statistics census in 2021. In Gisborne, another central Victorian town, population growth had also exploded, and the council expected the population to double in the next two and a half decades. Ms Purcell will chair a parliamentary inquiry committee examining wildlife strikes on the state's roads. "More and more native animals are being hit on our roads," she said. "Now, that's not a coincidence. Academics, such as Euan Ritchie, professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at Deakin University, have previously raised concerns around how housing construction in growing neighbourhoods has impacted wildlife. "We know we've got a housing crisis, we've got an increase in population and we need to find homes for people, but we are also lucky that we have a lot of wildlife in and around our cities," Professor Ritchie said. Professor Ritchie said many native animals became landlocked when infrastructure and development were not adequately planned for their movement. "We can, of course, set aside areas as part of estates that animals can move through," he said. "It doesn't mean people have to give up their houses." Professor Ritchie also said dry conditions across the state, particularly in the west, were also playing a role in the movement of wildlife, perhaps leading desperate animals to search for water in unlikely places. Coliban Water has been asked if the kangaroo drownings pose any risk to humans. According to their website, all water from the channel is treated before human consumption.
