title: Bannockburn Integrated Water Management Plan council: golden-plains state: vic category: infrastructure classification: MAJOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-30 source_docs:
- Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf
Bannockburn Integrated Water Management Plan
The Bannockburn Integrated Water Management Plan is not just a local water-efficiency program; it is a 30-year servicing and environmental risk framework for how Bannockburn can grow while reducing pressure on potable supply, sewerage, stormwater systems, public open-space irrigation and downstream waterways. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.5) Its practical importance is that business-as-usual growth is projected to increase potable water demand by 680 ML per year, sewage management by 540 ML per year, stormwater runoff by 1,900 ML per year and open-space irrigation demand by 80 ML per year, while reducing infiltrated stormwater by 90 ML per year. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.7)
The plan therefore functions as a bridge between Bannockburn Growth Plan, Barwon Water servicing, Bruce Creek waterway protection, Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation values and future Precinct Structure Plan controls for Bannockburn’s north-west, south-west and south-east growth areas. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.3, 6, 10, 19-22)
Background
Bannockburn sits on the traditional lands of the Wadawurrung People, and the plan frames water management through both conventional servicing needs and Wadawurrung water values, including the recognition of rivers and waterways as living entities and the importance of Cultural Flows. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.2) The plan states that there are no remaining water allocations on Wadawurrung Country and that many rivers on Wadawurrung Country are extensively licensed or over-sold, which makes alternative sources such as stormwater and recycled water central to reducing pressure on natural flowing systems. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.2)
The immediate planning trigger is Bannockburn’s projected growth to 2036 and beyond 2050. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6) The plan cites the Bannockburn Growth Plan prepared by the Victorian Planning Authority and Golden Plains Shire Council to guide development to 2050, with a medium-growth projection of approximately 13,090 people by 2036 and a further estimated population of 18,267 across the three proposed growth areas by 2050. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6)
Existing water servicing is already mixed and constrained. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6) Bannockburn is supplied with drinking water from the Moorabool River, supported by supplies from Geelong and Melbourne when demand exceeds river supply. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6) Bannockburn is only partially sewered, with some housing still using on-lot septic tanks, while reticulated sewage is treated at the Bannockburn water reclamation plant, which produces Class C recycled water. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6) Recycled water is currently used for Bannockburn Golf Course and adjacent agriculture, while open spaces are irrigated with potable water. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6)
Analysis
Growth Converts Water Management From a Service Issue Into a Planning Constraint
The central mechanism in the plan is simple: more urban land means more hard surfaces, more people, more wastewater and more irrigation demand. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.6-8) Under a business-as-usual approach, the plan projects an additional 680 ML per year of potable water demand, equal to a 130% increase, which means demand grows faster than the existing town base. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.7) It also projects an additional 540 ML per year of sewage management, equal to a 180% increase, which makes wastewater treatment and recycled-water disposal a growth-area staging issue rather than only a utility operating matter. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.7)
Stormwater is the largest quantified change in absolute volume. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.7) The plan projects an additional 1,900 ML per year of stormwater runoff, equal to a 75% increase, while also projecting a 90 ML per year reduction in infiltrated stormwater, equal to a 17% reduction. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.7) This combination is important because urbanisation does two things at once: it sends more water rapidly into drainage systems and downstream waterways, and it leaves less water soaking into soil and shallow groundwater systems that help sustain baseflows. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.7, 15-16)
Open-space irrigation is a smaller volume in absolute terms but a much larger proportional shift. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.7) The plan projects an 80 ML per year increase in open-space irrigation demand, equal to a 500% increase, which indicates that future parks and active recreation reserves will materially increase municipal water demand unless alternative sources are used. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.7) Because existing open spaces are irrigated with potable water, the plan’s target that 100% of active public open spaces be irrigated with alternative water supplies would change open-space irrigation from a potable-water burden into a reuse outlet for stormwater or recycled water. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.6, 11, 13)
Water Security Depends on Reducing Imported Potable Demand
The plan identifies regional dependence on imported drinking water as a strategic driver. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8) Bannockburn historically relied on the Moorabool River, but the plan states that growth in Golden Plains townships and reduced rainfall reliability in the Moorabool River catchment have made supply from Geelong important. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8) It also states that desalinated water is likely to become part of the supply mix as Bannockburn grows. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8)
The planning implication is that future growth-area controls cannot treat potable supply as an unlimited default. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.8, 11-13, 19-20) The plan’s household-level response is to require rainwater tanks on all new buildings, with tanks connected to toilet flushing, laundry and garden irrigation. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.12) The target is 100% of public buildings and sports pavilions fitted with rainwater tanks plumbed to toilets within 10 years, and 100% of new residential properties fitted with rainwater tanks connected to toilets, laundry and gardens within 10 years. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.11)
The implementation pathway is statutory rather than voluntary. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12, 19-20) The action plan requires the rainwater-tank requirement to be embedded on all lots in PSPs or planning schemes in 2024, a plumbing specification including optimal tank size to be developed in 2025, and a compliance process with developers to be developed in 2025-26. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19-20) This means the plan is seeking to convert a water-efficiency objective into a subdivision and building delivery requirement. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12, 19-20)
Wastewater Growth Creates a Recycled-Water Management Problem
The plan’s sewerage issue has two sides: older parts of Bannockburn remain partly unsewered, while new growth areas will be sewered and will send larger volumes to an augmented Bannockburn water reclamation plant. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8) The plan states that recycled water generated at the plant cannot be beneficially discharged to Bruce Creek, so additional recycled-water volumes need another management pathway. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8)
The proposed mechanism is to expand beneficial reuse. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.13-15, 20) Class C recycled water could be supplied for public open-space irrigation across existing active open-space sites in the town centre and future open spaces in each growth area. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.13) Stormwater harvested from treatment wetlands could also be pumped to storage at the Bannockburn water reclamation plant, combined with Class C recycled water, and supplied through an expanded recycled-water network to agriculture and industry. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.14-15)
The plan sets a 10-year target of a 50% increase in beneficial use of alternative water supplies by agriculture and industry. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.11) It also sets a 20-year target that 100% of excess stormwater generated across Bannockburn be beneficially reused. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.11) These targets are ambitious because the source document does not yet provide pipe alignments, storage volumes, treatment requirements, customers, costs, land requirements or funding responsibilities for an expanded recycled-water or combined stormwater-recycled-water network. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.14-15, 20)
Bruce Creek Is the Environmental Receptor That Turns Stormwater Into a Regional Issue
The plan identifies Bruce Creek as the immediate receiving waterway for much of Bannockburn’s treated stormwater. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6) It also states that downstream of Bannockburn, the Moorabool River and Barwon River provide critical flows to the Ramsar-recognised Lake Connewarre. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8) The implication is that local growth-area drainage has downstream environmental consequences beyond the township boundary. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8)
The plan’s stormwater strategy is not limited to water-quality treatment. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.8, 12, 15-16) It proposes stormwater harvesting, infiltration wetlands and managed releases to restore Bruce Creek pre-development volumes and flow rates. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.11-12, 15-16) The action plan requires a stormwater-harvesting concept in 2025-26, including analysis of Bruce Creek flows, determination of an optimal flow regime, infrastructure requirements, management arrangements and a business case for initial and future investment. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.19)
This is a critical dependency because the plan does not yet define the actual Bruce Creek flow target. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12, 19) Until the optimal flow regime is determined, the size, timing and cost of stormwater harvesting, wetlands, storage and release infrastructure remain unresolved. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12, 19) The plan therefore establishes the environmental objective first and defers the engineering design and investment case to later work. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12, 19)
Growth-Area PSPs Are the Main Delivery Mechanism
The plan repeatedly uses PSPs and planning schemes as the mechanism for turning IWM ideas into built infrastructure. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16, 19-22) Requirements proposed for PSP or planning-scheme embedding include rainwater tanks on all lots, passive street-tree irrigation for all street trees, kerb cut-outs in appropriate locations and infiltration functionality for all treatment wetlands. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16)
The action plan makes this dependency explicit. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.19) One high-priority 2024 action is to finalise a growth-areas-wide IWM approach with Barwon Water, communicate it to the VPA for inclusion in PSPs and incorporate it into planning schemes. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.19) This means the IWM Plan is upstream of future statutory controls but is not itself the statutory instrument that will compel every subdivision or infrastructure outcome. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16, 19-22)
The main implementation risk is timing. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19-22) Several high-priority design and embedding actions are scheduled across 2024, 2025 and 2025-26, while the growth areas are tied to planning for population growth to 2036 and 2050. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.6, 19-22) If PSP controls are finalised before the IWM approach, specifications or compliance processes are ready, later retrofitting would be harder and more costly than embedding requirements at subdivision design stage. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16, 19-22)
Blue-Green Infrastructure Links Drainage, Street Trees and Urban Heat
The plan treats water-sensitive urban design as urban infrastructure, not only drainage infrastructure. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.13-18) Passive street-tree irrigation is proposed through small underground water storage for each street tree, filled by roof water or street stormwater runoff and released slowly to soil to support tree growth. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.13) The stated objective is to increase canopy cover and reduce the urban heat island effect. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.13)
The plan sets a 10-year target for 100% of new street trees to be supported through passive stormwater irrigation and a 10-year target for blue-green infrastructure on three high-priority streetscapes. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.11) It also proposes kerb cut-outs so road runoff can be directed into open spaces for absorption and infiltration rather than being sent directly to the drainage system. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.13-14) Together, these measures change streets and open spaces from places that shed stormwater into places that slow, use and infiltrate stormwater. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.13-14)
The design-control issue is that the plan does not include standard drawings, sizing rules, maintenance regimes or asset-ownership responsibilities for these measures. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.13-16, 19-22) It responds to that gap by requiring design specifications for passive irrigation systems, kerb cut-outs and infiltration wetlands, plus engagement with developers to create compliance processes. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.13-16, 20-21)
Existing WSUD Assets Are a Maintenance and Performance Risk
The plan states that several existing WSUD assets in Bannockburn are inefficient and require work to achieve their intended outcomes. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.14) It proposes a detailed assessment of existing WSUD effectiveness and a rectification program where required. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.14)
This matters because future growth-area WSUD depends on confidence that council can operate assets over the long term. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.14, 16, 20-23) The plan sets a five-year target that 100% of WSUD assets be designed, built and operated to industry best practice. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.11) The action plan schedules a review of existing WSUD functionality for 2025, with consultant, environment and asset services resources, and gives the action medium priority. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.20)
The practical implication is that new growth-area WSUD should not simply add more assets to the register; it should be paired with specifications, maintenance funding and monitoring arrangements that avoid repeating existing performance problems. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.14, 16, 20-23)
Governance Is the First Implementation Test
The first action in the plan is organisational rather than physical: establish an internal governance structure, including a cross-disciplinary working group and regular reporting mechanisms. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.19) This is scheduled for 2024, marked high priority and assigned to environment, open space, planning and asset services. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.19)
This governance action is necessary because the delivery program crosses multiple council functions and external partners. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19-22) Barwon Water is identified for recycled-water supply, agriculture and industry reuse, and growth-area IWM planning. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19-20) Corangamite Catchment Management Authority is identified for Bruce Creek flow and stormwater-harvesting work. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19, 21) The VPA is identified for inclusion of the IWM approach in PSPs. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.19) Melbourne Water’s wetlands design guidelines are identified as a reference point for infiltration-wetland specifications. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.16, 21)
The monitoring pathway is the MERI framework, which the plan says will fit within council project management, reporting and prioritisation structures. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.23) Council also commits to reporting implementation progress through its Annual Report. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.3, 23)
Current Status
The plan’s action program starts in 2024 and runs through 2026, with several targets extending over 5, 10 and 20 years. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.11, 19-22) The 2024 high-priority actions are to establish internal governance, finalise the growth-areas-wide IWM approach with Barwon Water, communicate it to the VPA for PSP inclusion, embed rainwater-tank requirements on all lots in PSPs or planning schemes, embed kerb cut-out requirements in appropriate locations, embed infiltration functionality for treatment wetlands, and engage in regional stormwater management programs. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19-22)
The plan identifies 2025 and 2025-26 as the main period for technical definition, including stormwater-harvesting flow analysis, infrastructure and management requirements, business-case preparation, plumbing specifications, passive-irrigation specifications, kerb cut-out specifications, existing WSUD review, localised stormwater-harvesting concepts and developer compliance processes. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19-22) The action plan is to be updated in 2025 to incorporate findings from the first 12 months of implementation and available resources. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.22)
Dependencies
- Blocks: The plan blocks a business-as-usual approach to growth-area water servicing because it calls for PSP and planning-scheme requirements for rainwater tanks, passive street-tree irrigation, kerb cut-outs and infiltration wetlands. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16, 19-22)
- Blocked by: Full implementation is blocked by unresolved technical work, including Bruce Creek flow analysis, stormwater-harvesting concept design, infrastructure requirements, business-case development, plumbing specifications, passive-irrigation specifications, kerb cut-out specifications, infiltration-wetland specifications, recycled-water funding mechanisms and WSUD rectification planning. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16, 19-22)
- Informed by: The plan is informed by engagement with Golden Plains Shire Council staff, Barwon Water, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and support from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.3, 10)
- Implements: The plan aligns Bannockburn water-cycle objectives with the Council Strategic Plan, the Barwon Region IWM Forum and stakeholder strategies. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.10)
- Conflicts with: The plan identifies tension with continued reliance on natural water extraction because it states that Wadawurrung Country has no remaining water allocations and that alternative water sources such as stormwater and recycled water can reduce pressure on natural flowing systems. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.2)
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The plan links Bannockburn’s local stormwater management to regional waterway systems because Bruce Creek drains toward the Moorabool and Barwon river systems, which provide critical flows to the Ramsar-recognised Lake Connewarre. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.8) It also links Bannockburn to the Geelong and Melbourne water supply systems because the plan states that supplies from Geelong and Melbourne support Bannockburn when demand exceeds Moorabool River supply, and that desalinated water is likely to become part of the supply mix as Bannockburn grows. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.6, 8)
The strongest cross-boundary infrastructure dependency is the regional stormwater-management connection. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12, 22) The plan states that harvested stormwater could be transferred back to Bruce Creek to offset upstream extractions or transferred to a regional stormwater-management system being considered for the Northern and Western Geelong Growth Areas. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.12) The action plan also requires engagement with regional stormwater management programs, including the Northern and Western Geelong Bannockburn Growth Areas Adaptive Stormwater Volume Management Project. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.22)
Gaps in This Analysis
The available source is a 25-page summary plan, not the comprehensive technical report that the Mayor’s message says contains the detailed opportunities explored through technical work. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.3) Because that technical report is not included in the manifest, this page cannot quantify capital costs, pipe and pump requirements, storage volumes, wetland land take, treatment standards, operating costs, funding shares, staging triggers or benefit-cost results. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.3, 12-16, 19-22)
The Bannockburn Growth Plan is cited as the spatial framework for north-west, south-west and south-east growth areas, but the growth-plan document itself is not included in the manifest. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, p.6) This limits analysis of exactly which parcels, PSP areas, drainage corridors, open-space reserves and road corridors would carry the IWM infrastructure. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.6-7)
The plan depends on PSP and planning-scheme implementation, but no PSP, amendment documentation, planning controls or infrastructure contribution documents are included in the manifest. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16, 19-22) This means the analysis cannot confirm whether rainwater tanks, passive street-tree irrigation, kerb cut-outs, infiltration wetlands or alternative-water schemes have actually been embedded in statutory controls. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.12-16, 19-22)
The plan identifies Barwon Water, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, the VPA, Melbourne Water guidance and regional stormwater programs as delivery dependencies, but the manifest includes no partner-agency strategies, servicing plans, correspondence, business cases or regional program documents. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.3, 16, 19-22) Those missing sources should be logged in _gaps because they limit assessment of implementation certainty, funding responsibilities and cross-jurisdictional timing. (Source: Att 08.11 Bannockburn IWM Plan.pdf, pp.19-23)