Barwon Water’s four minute songs playlist to help fight lowering supply

Madonna, the Beatles, Destiny’s Child and Stevie Wonder are among those helping save an Otway town following the third driest summer in five decades.

Madonna’s 1983 song Borderline is one of the songs enlisted to help locals save water. Picture: AFP.

Singing along to a Madonna song could help save water, as an Otway tourist hot spot heads into stage two water restrictions.

Barwon Water has made a Spotify playlist of four minute songs, urging residents to use them to time the length of their showers.

The playlist includes Madonna’s 1983 song Borderline, as well as tunes by the Beatles, Destiny’s Child and Stevie Wonder.

It comes as stage two restrictions are set to be introduced in Apollo Bay, Marengo and Skenes Creek from April 7.

Barwon Water made the decision following Apollo Bay’s third driest summer in half a century, determining the measure was needed to ensure the system has sufficient water until storages recover.

Storages in Apollo Bay have dropped to their lowest level since 2016, falling to 38.7 per cent on March 23, compared to 98.2 per cent 12 months ago.

Apollo Bay’s storages come solely from the Barham River in the southern Otway Ranges, which makes the town’s water supply vulnerable during extended dry periods.

Barwon Water’s Seamus Butcher said restrictions would come into effect before the busy Easter period.

“The lengthy dry period has had a significant impact, and we want to ensure we protect our supplies until storages can recover,” he said.

“Stage two restrictions are aimed at best managing our storage levels and ensuring that the wider community is using water efficiently and wisely.

“We’ll continue to closely monitor storages, usage trends and rainfall forecasts, with an eye to lifting restrictions as soon as we can.”

According to Barwon Water, 30 per cent of home water use occurs in the shower.

EARLIER: Barwon Water urges water saving as Geelong farmers face drought

Brett Hosking, with canola crops, which he says Geelong farmers may turn away from due to a lack of water supplies. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Farmers are being forced to get rid of stock and change crops as dry conditions leave the region’s water storages at six-year lows.

The president of Victorian Farmers Federation Brett Hosking said the situation for farmers in the Geelong region was becoming dire, as Barwon Water warned residents to be conscious of water usage.

Mr Hosking said the south west area of Victoria was particularly dry, with many farmers waiting for the Autumn weather change for relief.

“Farmers in south west Victoria have come off a pretty tough season,” Mr Hosking said.

“The break comes around mid-May in Victoria, which will be very late for a lot of farmers who are already very low on water, particularly stock water.

“They’re keeping a very close eye on the weather at the moment.”

Mr Hosking said farmers in Geelong were waiting for May. Picture: Rob Leeson.

He said one of the main problems facing farmers was the reliance on naturally occurring run-off to fill dams.

“We’re hearing stories of paddocks where dams are empty, so effectively, they’ve had to reduce their stock numbers according to what water they do have,” Mr Hosking said.

“It’s impacting cattle farmers the most, particularly dairy farmers, because cattle are such big consumers of water.

“Cattle are the first signs, then we’re starting to see it flow onto other livestock producers, like sheep producers.”

It’s not just livestock farmers impacted, the lack of water is expected to reduce the diversity of crops in the region, with farmers likely to favour yields which require less water.

Mr Hosking said some dams in the region were dry. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

“We’re hearing from cropping guys in the west that they’re pulling back on some of their crops,” Mr Hosking said.

“(Instead of) canola, which requires lots of water, they’re opting to go for stuff like wheat and barley.”

Barwon Water data found Geelong’s water stores entered March at a six-year low, while storages in Colac and Apollo Bay hit the lowest levels recorded since 2016.

Barwon Water managing director Shaun Cumming encouraged people to save water where possible after an “extremely dry period”.

“While our ongoing investments in alternative water sources and water efficiency initiatives are increasing the resilience of our system, we’d like customers to consider how they could use water wisely,” Mr Cumming said.

After 10 of the last 12 months seeing below average rainfall in parts of the region, Geelong’s storages, contained in six reservoirs along the upper Barwon and Moorabool rivers, have fallen below half full.

They entered March at 47 per cent, about 28 percentage points lower than at the same time last year.

In Apollo Bay, storages fell to under 50 per cent capacity, having last year ended February at 99.5 per cent full.

The beach side town has just experienced its third driest summer in the last 50 years.

Originally published as Barwon Water’s four minute songs playlist to help fight lowering supply