SOUTHERN RURAL WATER MACALISTER CUSTOMER CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE MEETING NO Meeting held at 10.00am, Tuesday 28 th October 2014

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1 SOUTHERN RURAL WATER MACALISTER CUSTOMER CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE MEETING NO. 136 Meeting held at 10.00am, Tuesday 28 th October PRESENT IN ATTENDENCE Mr I Stewart (Chairperson) Mr B Missen (Deputy Chair) Ms J Howie Mr G Anderson OAM Mr J Forsyth Mr S Dwyer Mrs R Hanratty Mr T Wallace Mr D Read Mr M Sellen Mr A Clyne Mr N Drew SRW Representatives Mr T Clapham, Manager Water Supply East Mr G Prior, Operations Supervisor MID Mr P Miller, Maintenance Supervisor MID Mrs P Crawford, Personal Assistant Mr M Coleman, SRW Board Representative Mrs J Granger-Wilcox, Manager People & customer service Mr R Nicklen, Project Engineer (for items 8.3 and 8.4) APOLOGY 2. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES 2.1 The minutes of Meeting No. 135 were confirmed without amendment. MOVED: MR T WALLACE SECONDED: MR G ANDERSON..CARRIED

2 3. MCCC DISCUSSION FORUM 4. BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Meeting No August Action Meeting No. Item No. Completed By Status SRW Management to prepare a Pending. paper on possible allocation models that guarantee water to the 25 th April and the affect this will have on trading Mr Clapham Before December. Mr Ken Bates working on this. Tour to be organised when Werribee CCC can attend. Need to have good attendance. Could be combined with January meeting. Mr Budahazy to organise a tour of district for MCCC members Mr Budahazy Mr Budahazy & Mr Wrigglesworth to summarize RMCG and Business Case documents and attend November Mr Budahazy & meeting to discuss affordability Mr Wrigglesworth 17/9 Timing to be discussed at next WBMCCC meeting. Noted. 5. BOARD MATTERS Mr Matthew Coleman, SRW Board Member, commented that the Audit Committee are currently reviewing SRW debt. 5.1 MATTERS REFERRED FROM THE BOARD No items have been referred from the Board. 6. CHAIRPERSONS REPORT Mr Stewart provided an update on matters that have occurred since the previous meeting, including: Heyfield Retrofit modernisation launch generated a lot of media interest. Attended Salinity meeting. Dairy Australia meeting where funding for irrigation research was discussed. One customer complaint regarding unavailable toilet block at Glenmaggie Weir.

3 7. EIB BUSINESS 7.1 SEASONAL REVIEW Mr G Prior, Operations Supervisor MID explained the following items: Glenmaggie is at 174,103ML as of this morning. This volume is down on last year, yet higher than average. Monthly inflows are about 17,000ML down on 10 year average. Irrigation deliveries to date are 22,000ML, just down on budget. Thomson is at just under 40,000ML. West Gippsland CMA are doing a Spring fresh environmental water release on the Thomson river. The Committee discussed the following: Discussion re the CMA s environmental release and how much input SRW has to this. Evaportransporation in the seasonal update is not a usable set of data as there is too much information. Better to have last week s figure and expectation for next week. The web address for the full details could be provided for those who are interested. It was noted that this is data sourced from an external source and included for information to all readers of the update. It was commented that there is a link on the SRW homepage, why not on the water order page? Mr Prior said he needs to lodge a support request and ask for a quote from Rubicon to see if this can be done and at what cost. Regarding the new operating rules, there needs to be a column on what if any, was taken out of Thomson each month. Mr Prior said that information may not be relevant this early in the season, but plans to introduce it after the 15 th of December in the allocation review report. There is still a need to emphasise how important the Spill period is to other customers. 7.2 EIB PERFORMANCE AGAINST MEASURES AND TARGETS The Committee noted the report. Delivery efficiencies are down for August due to low demand, yet still needing to fill channel to supply orders. % of successful Deliveries is on target for month. Minor overtopping issues associated with tuning channels and supply levels. Application processing still on track. Few minor issues with Waterline which Support Requests have been submitted for. 7.3 KPI REPORT ALLOCATIONS Mr Gavin Prior spoke to the Allocation Trade report. This report includes all trades and volumes.

4 7.4 MAINTENANCE Mr P Miller, Maintenance Supervisor, provided an update on maintenance activities: Submerged weed program coming up on the Main Southern at the end of November. Will also be looking to treat smaller channels as well. Small Dethridge wheels being obtained from Cobram. Small truck replacement. Number of leaks on the Boisdale pipeline. Mr Miller discussed the costs associated with the clamps for repair and the different types. Fibreglass bands are also being investigated. Tree removal program. New spray unit ordered. Drain spraying contractor is underway. It was questioned what the life expectancy is of the Boisdale Pipeline and if it needs to be replaced, how much would it cost?. Is it in the MID 2030 project for review? Answered by Mr Clapham No. The Committee moved to have the Boisdale Pipeline reviewed and costing for replacement calculated. MOVED: MRS J HOWIE SECONDED: MR N DREW..CARRIED 7.5 EIB EXPENDITURE Mr P Miller, Maintenance Supervisor explained the expenditure charts. The Committee noted the period Three budget reports. 7.6 CUSTOMER FEEDBACK REGISTER The Committee noted the Customer Feedback Register. Discussion regarding the road rules around driving through cattle. Respect should be given to all parties. 8. STRATEGIC ISSUES 8.1 MANAGER WATER SUPPLY EAST REPORT Mr T Clapham, Manager Water Supply East, provided an update on the following items: The MID Groundwater Control Pumps Review scoping document was distributed. Extraordinary meeting was held and the scope of review has been developed. Mr Terry Flynn, SRW Hydrogeologist will undertake the review. Mr Sellen, Chair of the Wellington Community Salinity Committee is happy with choice of consultant and outcome of the recent WCSC extraordinary meeting where the review was discussed with Mr Flynn. The Minister has announced a review of salinity programs in the North.

5 Senator Muir visiting district on November 10 th. Mr Clapham displayed the Strategy Map, which included objectives and measures. Article in the Australian newspaper regarding the Federal Agriculture Greenpaper, which noted MID 2030 phase 1B. Mr Clapham flagged the idea of a monthly Committee Member survey. 8.2 CONVERSION OF WATER SAVINGS TO ENTITLEMENT Mr Rod Nicklen, Project Engineer, joined the meeting to discuss the Conversion of Water Savings to Entitlement. Mr Nicklen spoke to a presentation that included: Background o Leading works channel automation projects Rationalisation Program, Stage One. Outfall reductions o eastern system o Nambrok system o Heyfield system Leading works water savings o Audited water savings o Rationalisation - meters replaced or rationalised. o Total audited savings Conversion to water shares o Quantity of water shares created from the savings is based on a ratio of high and low reliability shares that effectively equals the volume of water saved. Next step sale of water shares through an agreed process. The Committee discussed the following: Where readings are taken for outfall monitoring. More water savings than first anticipated. Once balancing storage is in place, will have a much better understanding of true savings. Seasonal conditions have an impact on overall outfall savings. It was asked what the losses are in the Eastern Section. Clarification on the efficiency of the system pre and post automation would be useful. Action: Clarification of the efficiency on the Eastern system pre and post automation to be provided. 8.3 OUTLINE OF SOUTHERN TINAMBA HYBRID OPTION Mr Nicklen spoke to a presentation which included the following: Southern Tinamba modernisation hybrid option. Background Piping top end of system, channel for rest.

6 Investigation has progressed, has been included in business case. Hybrid pipeline/channel option came out on top in terms of cost benefit ratio. Overview o Asset condition System capacity Soil types Project timing Operational advantages Cost estimates o Current cost estimates o Striving to make cost reductions SRW continually reviewing. Water savings associated with two options. Project progress o Finalising the prelim designs o Flood modelling o Detailed design Next steps o Ongoing consultation o Detailed design process o Review of cost estimate o Seek funding. The following was discussed: Aerial survey work to occur and will include Newry. Buried versus above ground pipeline was discussed. Hybrid system is to have pipeline and new outlets. Measurement error (loss) is still getting on farm. Difference isn t as bad as it looks. Are we being realistic? Is $60M still too high? Can we upgrade channels as the Maintenance team are doing in the Sale area for less? Mr Nicklen said that costings have been completed on upgrading channels. Lining has limited life and cost of carting clay is expensive. Could run costings based on Peter Miller s figures for Sale channels. It was commented that putting in big channels creates levy banks. No brainer to go Hybrid design rather than all channel. Hybrid system comes out on top when everything is taken into consideration. 9. COMMUNICATIONS State finalists from MID in the Rural Water Awards. Few media releases More fact sheets underway. New farm dam video. Cost $300 to produce and was designed to be shown at Farmworld etc. 9.1 MEDIA RELEASES The Committee noted the MID Media Releases since the last meeting.

7 10. MCCC MEETING SCHEDULE The Committee noted the meeting schedule. 11. MCCC BUSINESS ITEMS 11.1 INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE The Committee noted the incoming correspondence OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE The Committee noted the outgoing correspondence COMMITTEE MEMBERS GENERAL The Committee discussed the following items: Clarification of water shares sold at auction re delivery shares? Delivery share not included in water shares sold at SRW water savings auctions. Trading of water shares and allocation to regulated rivers what happens to delivery shares? It was queried that there is an anomaly when river diverters wish to purchase water shares from someone in the district and the seller wants to also include delivery shares. River diverters do not/cannot have delivery shares. Not equitable between district and river diverters. Can buy water at auction for river water and don t need delivery share. Delivery share is for channel capacity. Cost of running district is represented in delivery shares. Farm Dam video discussion lead by Norm Drew. Concern raised on the script of the video. No examples given on what to look out for from a safety point of view. Mrs Granger Willcox said that said that the messages included were the ones that they felt needed to get out, based on enquires made. Mr Tom Wallace is now the chair of Maffra Landcare and discussed a future wetlands option in the Nuntin area with the group. Landcare are looking for support for this site from other agencies. 12. NEXT MEETING The next meeting No. 137 of the Macalister Customer Consultative Committee is scheduled for 10.00am, Tuesday 25 th November, at Southern Rural Water, 88 Johnson Street, Maffra (Boardroom). 13. MEETING CLOSED Being no further business, the meeting closed at 12.36pm.

8 MCCC Meeting No. 136 Tuesday, 28 October Graeme Anderson Stephen Dwyer Jeanette Howie Brad Missen David Read Iain Stewart Norm Drew Tom Wallace Malcolm Sellen Jim Forsyth Alan Clyne Raelene Hanratty July August Sept Oct Apol N/A Apol N/A Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May June July - Attended Meeting Apol - Notification of apology Blank - Did not attend