Integrated Water Management (IWM) is a collaborative approach to water planning that brings together organisations that influence all aspects of the water cycle. Council is a member of the Great South Coast IWM Forum, formed in June 2018 in the Wannon Water supply area. The IWM Forum has expanded on established collaboration between DELWP, Wannon Water, the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority (GHCMA), Southern Rural Water and Councils to set priorities and deliver IWM in the region, to improve resilience of the region’s environment, culture and economy.
The expected future impacts of climate change are an important driver for the IWM program as we anticipate more heat waves, less overall rainfall but increased heavy rain events and more evaporation hence less runoff, which will impact water storages.
The Hamilton IWM Plan was developed in 2019-20. With community and agency input the plan identified a number of key water-related actions for Council and other stakeholders to implement in the Hamilton urban area.