The Essential Services Commission (ESC) of Victoria has announced that water prices are due to increase by between 5 and 15 per cent across the state, which will translate into an increase of an average of $120 per bill.

The ESC has warned that the costs will also increase to industry, who will face similar increases to water costs.

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce has warned that any increase in water costs will have a knock on affect on consumer confidence.

John Holland has been awarded the contract for the $34.5 million upgrade to Sydney Water’s Warriewood Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).

Funding of $140 million has been allocated to complete irrigation schemes currently under construction and start work on new projects over the next three years.

Queensland Environment and Resource Management Minister Kate Jones introduced reforms in State Parliament aimed at significantly reducing review times for water resource planning in Queensland by up to two years. 

Moonee Valley City Council has adopted a new Water Strategy which sets the future direction for sustainable management of all water in the City.

The South Australian budget, released last Thursday, has allocated more than $800 million in 2011-12 to existing and new water supply initiatives.

KBR has been awarded a five-year project management and procurement (PMP) contract by SA Water to jointly manage the delivery of the metropolitan capital works program for Adelaide.

Sydney Water has announced a $30 million package for Quakers Hill Water Recycling Plant to improve the health of Breakfast and Eastern Creeks.

Salmon Gums, a small farming town in Western Australia's south-east, has become the second area to be declared water deficient in the state.

South Australia has dropped its legal challenge to Victoria over trading caps in the Murray-Darling Basin.

More than 150 gigalitres of water recovered for the environment will be delivered to hundreds of wetlands along the Murrumbidgee River, benefiting the Murray system as far downstream as South Australia’s Lower Lakes and Coorong.

CSIRO has reported the completion of powerful modelling techniques to aim to better understand the full impact of flooding that occurs when dams collapse.

Penrice Soda Holdings Ltd and General Electrics have struck a deal to provide the coal seam gas (CSG) industry with a new process to remove brine from wastewater.

The Victorian Government has announced it will be establishing a regional advisory group that will be tasked with providing input and advice into the development of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

The Federal Government has announced nearly $3.8 million in funding for Cairns Regional Council’s Water Demand Management Program for its Port Douglas and Mossman Recycled Water Scheme project.

The Federal and South Australian governments have jointly announced a $86.7 million package for a Riverine Recovery Project that  aims to improve the environmental health of the Murray River and its wetlands and floodplains from the Victorian border to Wellington, with works to start within the next two months.


The National Water Commission has released a new report, Strengthening Australia’s Water Markets, which calls on governments to improve and coordinate the operation of water markets in Australia with the aim of increasing efficiency and providing for future developments.

The $54 million Highlands Source Project has stalled after the Goulburn Mulwaree Shire Local Council has been denied access to five properties.

South Australian irrigators along the Murray are set to receive 100 per cent of their water entitlements for the first time since drought conditions severely restricted allocations in 2002.

Australia’s first Desal Discovery Centre will be unveiled in Western Australia in September, showcasing water security and desalination science to school groups, policymakers, industry and the general public.

The Centre for Water Research has warned that Perth dams may run dry by the end of next summer in its latest report.

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