Hazelwood’s annual water use is 27 billion litres, the equivalent of a month’s worth of Melbourne’s total water use every year. And the power stations in Gippsland alone account for 3% of total water use in this state.
The Gippsland Lakes are the largest freshwater lakes system in Australia. They are internationally significant as a haven for the world’s declining water-bird populations and are considered the region’s greatest asset for tourism, lifestyle, commercial and recreational fishing and boating.
But in the face of climate change and the impacts of consumptive users, inflows into the rivers that feed the Gippsland Lakes have reduced by a massive 41 percent. Without enough freshwater, the Lakes system is being devastated.
The best way to restore the balance is to reduce the impacts of climate change and return water to the rivers that flow into the internationally significant Lakes system.
Replacing Hazelwood with clean energy could return billions of litres of water to the struggling Latrobe River, which flows into the Gippsland Lakes. Hazelwood’s water entitlement could help rescue our rivers.