Greater Western Water is born

Today, history was made in the water industry as Western Water (WW) and City West Water (CWW) officially merge and begin to operate as a single entity known as Greater Western Water (GWW).

In their joint media release, the new water board was confident of its ability to service the existing 1.2 million customers in Melbourne’s CBD, northern and western suburbs. Over the next 30 years, this population is expected to double.

The merger follows a study conducted by WW, CWW, Department of Environment Land Water and Planning as well as Melbourne Water. The study indicated of the necessity for further investment in the existing infrastructure to cope with the growing demand. It is expected that by joining the two organisations, customers in the CWW region would save $110 and WW region would save $160 by 2029. GWW is expected to achieve these cost savings by consolidating its investments and providing better access to Melbourne Water system.

“The integration of Western Water and City West Water will mean lower bills for customers well into the future and better services and water security for the region.” said Minister for Water Lisa Neville.

The transition is being overseen by representatives from both CWW and WW boards as well as the Victorian Government forming an independent joint transition committee.

In Australia, water supply in each state is managed very differently. For example, Water Corporation in Western Australia or Sydney Water in NSW are single entities responsible for water supply in their jurisdictions. In Victoria, however, same task is being performed by multiple water boards based on their geographic location. Up until today for example, four water authorities provided water services to customers in metropolitan Melbourne, namely South East Water, City West Water, Yarra Valley Water, and Melbourne Water. With this merger, the area served formerly by Western Water effectively joins metropolitan Melbourne.

The merger indeed signals a change in the way water services are provided in Victoria and it may very well be a sign for things to come. If this experiment is successful, it is not unlikely similar mergers between metropolitan water boards will be forthcoming by also arguing their consolidation of investments could put a downward pressure on costs for customers. We may live to see a Victoria that is served by a single water board in the years ahead very similar to those in NSW and WA.

Resources:
https://welcome.gww.com.au/news/media-release
https://www.miragenews.com/new-water-entity-to-support-melbourne-s-growing-west/