Environmental Improvement Program

Council first endorsed the EIP on 1 June 2020.  There have been EPA interventions in regard to the Mount Barker WWTP since 2005, initially relating to odour issues and more recently regarding the quality of the water discharged to the Mount Barker Creek.

The intent of the updated EIP is to mitigate adverse impacts on the Mount Barker Creek as much as reasonably practical by:

1. Reducing the load of nutrients and organics discharged to Mount Barker Creek by improving the quality of treated wastewater;
2. Developing the future plans for upgrades of the Springs Road WWTP and associated facilities in a manner which will satisfy Council’s environmental responsibilities but also economic constraints including wastewater service customer and community expectations around affordability and service levels;
3. Improve the sustainability of flows to the Laratinga Wetlands by providing more natural cycles of water levels to improve biodiversity and environment health; and
4. Complying with the Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015, conditions of EPA licence number 1912 and all other legislative requirements.

The most recent EIP, endorsed by Council on October 2024 for submission to the EPA, included the following updates:

Compliance Action 1 - By 31 July 2025, Mount Barker District Council will have obtained final Development Approval for a new WWTP on the Springs Road site, including a draft EPA licence.

Council has previously obtained Planning Consent Approval for the new WWTP (Laratinga Water Recovery Plant (LWRP)) on the Springs Road site. During the dual early contractor involvement (dECI) procurement phase, Council identified material changes to the design submitted by the proponents compared to the original concept design which triggered a resubmission for planning consent. Council has been consulting with PlanSA and the EPA, and will continue to do so until a ‘revised’ planning consent is granted, which is forecast for late 2024 / early 2025. Following the revised planning consent, a staged building consent process will commence which is forecast to be completed by 30 June 2025. The staged building consent process will allow early works preparation and construction to commence with stage 1 civil works forecast to ramp up in the first half of 2025. The compliance action date is proposed to be revised accordingly to 31 July 2025 from 31 July 2024.

Compliance Action 2 - By 31 December 2026 Mount Barker District Council will have constructed a new wastewater treatment plant on the Springs Road site and will have removed the existing wastewater treatment assets from service (also see compliance action 3 below). The new wastewater treatment plant will have the capability to operate within a range of water quality outcomes to minimise pollutant concentrations within discharges to Mount Barker Creek and to optimise operational costs for recycled water production.

Following the completion of the dual early contractor involvement procurement phase, Harmony Water Consortium was awarded a contract in July 2024 to undertake further (single) early contractor involvement services (sECI) which are forecast to be completed in late 2024 / early 2025. The sECI phase is focussed on key aspects of design and compliance including structure heights and layouts, odour and noise as examples with a key deliverable being a 30% design. Following the completion of the sECI phase, Council will seek to award a contract for the design and construction of the new LWRP with the current preferred proponent Harmony Water Consortium in early 2025. Current forecasts estimate project construction and commissioning will be 18-24 months. The compliance action date is proposed to be revised accordingly to 31 December 2026 from 31 December 2025.

Compliance Action 3 - By 30 June 2027, Mount Barker District Council would have mothballed the existing Mount Barker WWTP in its entirety with full decommissioning of existing assets to be completed by 30 June 2028.

Mothballing and full decommissioning of the existing Springs Road WWTP will follow on from construction, commissioning and commencement of operation of stage 1 of the LWRP.  Council anticipates a 6 to 12 month program to fully decommission the existing WWTP in its entirety including all process equipment being taken out of service and removed, and either recycled, sold or disposed of by other means, with most buildings retained for future use for storage for the LWRP. The activities associated with this compliance action have not changed however the due dates for mothballing and decommissioning are proposed to be revised to 30 June 2027 and 30 June 2028 accordingly, a year later than the previous EIP.

Compliance Action 4 - By 30 March 2024, Mount Barker District Council will have developed a high-level strategy for development of a recycled water market to the satisfaction of the EPA and that has been endorsed by Council elected members.

KBR completed development of the recycled water strategy in March 2023. The recycled water strategy developed for consideration for adoption by Council outlines the overarching business case including investment, funding, staging and returns for the next ten years. Socialisation of the strategy commenced with a workshop with the Informal Advisory Wastewater Board in September 2023 followed by an Informal Briefing Session with Council Elected Members in March 2024. The implementation approach and recycled water strategy were adopted by Council in April 2024. This compliance action has been confirmed completed by the EPA

Compliance Action 5 - By 30 June 2022, Mount Barker District Council will be able to demonstrate that a budget is in place for the development of a recycled water market with the initial investment to come in the 2022 – 2023 financial year.

The Wastewater Service continues to actively engage with existing and potential recycled water customers to gauge interest and where feasible explore opportunities to supply customers in close proximity to existing recycled water infrastructure. The budget for recycled water investment will be reviewed, and potentially increased, at key points in the year as additional information becomes available. Compliance action is complete as per the October 2023 EIP.

Compliance Action 6 - By 31 October 2025, Mount Barker District Council will review and resubmit a revised EIP to inform progress of outstanding actions and to provide further compliance actions for the delivery of water reuse infrastructure, where available, to the satisfaction of the EPA.

The compliance date has been revised from 31 October 2024 to 31 October 2025 to reflect the need for this action to be undertaken annually until such time as the LWRP is fully commissioned and the Springs Road WWTP decommissioned and all compliance actions are endorsed as complete by the EPA.

Compliance Action 7 - By 31 June 2024, Mount Barker Council will have designed, tendered and commenced construction of stage 1 of the Nairne / Hay Valley recycled water scheme.

The construction of the Nairne / Hay Valley recycled water scheme (Stage 1) commenced in June 2024 and progressed well with practical completion achieved in late August 2024. Following construction, the recycled water main has been commissioned. Compliance action is complete.

Compliance Action 8 - Throughout the 2024/25 financial year, and beyond, Mount Barker District Council will extend the Mount Barker central recycled water scheme through recycled water main installation in development areas co-operatively with developers and the Department of Infrastructure.

Council is committed to installing recycled water distribution infrastructure as part of the additional residential development in the Council area. This infrastructure is opportunistic in that it is established ahead of time when services are being installed within road corridors for new areas of development or when road upgrades are occurring to support irrigation of future open space associated with that development. In the 2023/24 financial year installation has continued to occur in co-ordination with developers allowing the irrigation of parks and reserves. Budget has been allowed in the adopted 2024-2034 Long Term Financial Plans, and 2024/25 Annual Business Plans to continue this Mount Barker central recycled water scheme expansion. Compliance action is complete.

Compliance Action 9 - By 30 June 2024, Mount Barker District Council will have incorporated the adopted recycled water strategy implementation timing and expenditure into the most recent iteration of the Wastewater Service Long Term Financial Plan

The recycled water strategy prioritisation has partially been included in the Wastewater Service Long Term Financial Plan 2024-2034 and will be updated each year as funding is determined and implementation progresses. The proposed amended compliance action due date is 30 June 2025 to reflect the work underway to fully incorporate the adopted strategy into long term financial plans.

The updated EIP also contains a proposed additional compliance action that by 30 June 2025, Mount Barker District Council will have pursued grant and partnering opportunities to support implementation of the recycled water strategy in a prudent and efficient manner.