Water Campaign™ case study

LATROBE CITY COUNCIL, VICTORIA

Behaviour Change Gets the Goods: Latrobe’s water saving partnership with sports clubs

: Corporate action

: Partnerships

: Water conservation

: Water quality

Latrobe is a Victorian regional council with a population of 72,003, located 150 kilometres east of Melbourne. Council joined the Water Campaign™ in 2002.

Synopsis

Council has reduced corporate water consumption by 40 per cent in just two years – a saving of over 96 megalitres between 2005–06 and 2007–08. An estimated 95 megalitres, or 98 per cent of the total, was saved by the Recreation Department alone, working with local sports clubs to change watering regimes.

: A water-efficient pop-up sprinkler rotor head

Motivation

The primary motivation for the initiative came from the Recreation Department with management pressure to reduce irrigation costs at the sporting fields, and only minimal encouragement from the Environment Department. Water has been a hot topic publicly over the previous years so employees’ individual awareness and concern has naturally transferred to their work.

The Water Campaign™ Milestone 1 inventory, and associated ongoing monitoring, highlighted sporting fields as a major water-using sector. This knowledge, combined with the enthusiasm and expertise of the Recreation Department, represented a potential for significant water savings.

Council support for the action was secured through several Council-endorsed plans and strategies. Latrobe City Council’s overarching business plan ‘2021: Vision for the Latrobe Valley’ includes sustainability commitments for water quality and water conservation.

More specifically its ‘Natural Environment Sustainability Strategy 2008–13’ includes commitments to completing the ICLEI Oceania Water Campaign™, conducting ongoing monitoring of corporate water use, increasing water reuse and conservation in both corporate properties and in the community, and building community partnerships.

Process

Council owns most of the land and facilities of the local sports clubs and pays for the water they use. Before the project, clubs were not planning to reduce water consumption and, in many instances, irrigating contrary to water restrictions.

In December 2005, Gippsland Water switched from Stage 1 water restrictions to the slightly less restrictive, yet fixed 'Permanent Water Saving Rules'. Water restrictions were increased to Stage 2 in November 2006, and to Stage 3 in January 2007.

From October 2006, Council staff began working with sporting clubs to minimise irrigation of sports fields and ensure compliance with water restrictions. Council encouraged long-term behaviour change by highlighting the benefits of reduced water use, using an approach informed by expertise in sports field management in addition to environmental considerations.

Despite water restrictions rolling back to Permanent Water Savings Rules in August 2007, the reduced water bills for sports grounds clearly show that the clubs are continuing to use a fraction of the water that they were using before Council intervened.

Savings and benefits

Water conservation benefits

Council’s sports clubs are using, on average, 95 megalitres less water per annum.

Financial benefits

At the current price of $1.24/kilolitre this initiative is saving Council around $117,800 per annum

Water quality benefits

Reduced irrigation significantly decreases runoff and the leaching of nutrients into waterways, which ultimately reduces the formation of blue-green algae in the Gippsland Lakes system. Reduced water use should also lead to an increase in environmental flows in our river systems.

Lessons learnt

This case study demonstrates the potential for behaviour change and community partnerships to have a significant impact on water conservation and water quality. Council is keen to continue building community partnerships and has recently begun work with preschool committees.

A major lesson for Council is that there is great value in 'sustainability' being driven and owned across Council, instead of relying on central coordination or motivation by the Environment Department. This approach also maximises the use of specialist expertise from across Council.

The positive feedback on this action, and the major contribution that the Recreation Department has made to Council’s water reduction, will reflect positively on the Department and likely galvanise continued action. Latrobe City Council now monitors its corporate water consumption on a quarterly basis.

Further information

Latrobe City Council website.

Contact details

For further information about the ICLEI Water Campaign™ in Australia please contact:

ICLEI Oceania
5/267 Collins St
Melbourne Vic 3000
Ph:   +61 3 9639 8688
Fax:   +61 3 9639 8677
Email:   oceania@iclei.org
Website:   www.iclei.org/oceania/water

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the staff at Latrobe City Council for their assistance in producing this case study.

Quoted population figures are taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Report 3218.0, Regional Population Growth, Australia 2006-07, March 2008.

Call for future case studies

Does your council have an initiative that could be promoted by the Water Campaign™ as a future case study?

We’d like to hear if your council has implemented an innovative water saving initiative or project to improve water quality. Contact your Water Campaign State Manager with details.

Back to case studies menu.

Search | Site Policy | Contact