The Victorian Government has earmarked $50 million to deliver a range of water initiatives under the State Budget.

State Minister for Water, Peter Walsh, said that the initiatives will also see $22.5 million injected into the Office of Living Victoria.

“The Office of Living Victoria is leading the way to transform how we manage our water cycles to increase the resilience of our water system and its ability to cope with an uncertain future,” Mr Walsh said. 

“The funding allocated in the 2013-14 Victorian State Budget will go towards important work on water cycle research and planning, promotion of new building controls and assistance to industry with water cycle management.

“The work will make sure the use of rainfall, stormwater and wastewater is maximised to reduce the need for future large-scale pipelines, desalination plants and pumping and treatment plants. 

“With ongoing climate variability, the Coalition Government is taking a sensible, flexible approach to managing our water resources based on a range of solutions,” Mr Walsh said.

Also in the Budget is $3 million for work associated with the Murray-Darling Basin.

These funds will go towards the development of modelling over three years in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to minimise the complexity of water sharing arrangements and ensure the maximum volume of offsets are identified.