Two water saving initiatives in Ouyen along with an infrastructure renewal project are being supported with a $130,000 Brumby Labor Government grant announced today in Ouyen by the Member for Northern Victoria Region, Candy Broad.
“These initiatives will highlight and further identify Ouyen as a picturesque stopping point where people can spend a little time and money,” Ms Broad said.
“One of the water saving initiatives will capture and redirect in excess of 300,000 litres per annum and the other will save 2 million litres of valuable water.”
The project involves:
- Beautifying the main street of Ouyen’s CBD with trees including a watering system, bollards and feature lighting columns and creating a 1.2 metre wide, coloured-pattern concrete centre median strip through Oke Street;
- Developing and implementing a rainfall retention system using rain water storage tanks within the confines of the Mildura Rural City Council’s Ouyen office precinct, which contains buildings with ample roof areas that can be used to capture rain water; and
- Installing a recycled water irrigation system at the Ouyen Pool that will recycle backwash from the pool filtration system to irrigate the pool’s surrounds.
Ms Broad said the projects would capture and recycle significant amounts of water in Ouyen while beautifying the town through renewed infrastructure would also identify Ouyen as the vibrant town it is.
“Based on average annual rainfall and catchment size, the rainfall retention system will redirect more than 300,000 litres of water per year while the pool water recycling will save 2 million litres,” Ms Broad said.
“The projects will also help encourage more people to visit the town and spend money in the numerous businesses and increase town pride among the community.
Ms Broad said the Brumby Labor Government funding for the $195,000 Ouyen Identified project would be provided through the Small Towns Development Fund initiative to Mildura Rural City Council, which was contributing $65,000.
“This project typifies initiatives supported by the Brumby Labor Government’s Small Towns Development Fund which is making a big difference to towns in provincial Victoria,” Ms Broad said.