2013-18 Water Plan

Our 5-year plan

Our 2013-18 plan has been submitted to the Essential Services Commission (ESC), the independent water industry regulator.

This submission can be viewed on the ESC website www.esc.vic.gov.au

The ESC will review the submission and release its draft determination for further consultation in February 2013 and then hand down its final determination in May 2013.

Yarra Valley Water’s Water Plan reflects an increase in water and sewerage prices of by 33.7% in 2013/14 with inflation only increases in subsequent years through to 2018.

This increase results in the average annual residential bill for water and sewerage services (based on a typical customer using 147 kilotres per year) being $1,232 plus inflation over the 2013-18 period. For 2013/14, this means the average residential quarterly bill will increase by $78, or 85 cents per day. 

The desalination plant accounts for approximately 70% of this increase. The major portion of this increase will be in water charges, reflecting where the key cost increases are occurring.

In developing this plan, we conducted extensive customer research and stakeholder consultation and considered the impact of price increases in the context of our role as custodians of community assets essential to the health and well-being of our customers.

Our plan aims to strike the right balance between the prices that customers pay, the long-term level of water security and the service levels delivered by our vast water and sewerage networks.  We are committed to:

• maintaining our service levels at their current level in order to keep downward pressure
  on prices
• proactively planning for the future
• ensuring we operate as efficiently as possible