water use well down

The Shire of Yarra Ranges has nominated for a national award after recording a 72% drop in the amount of drinking water used on sports fields during the past 10 years.

Me at the Belgrave South Recreation Reserve, this reserve was retrenched and resprigged as part of council's droughtproofing program back in 2008.

Council has been working hard to drought proof our ovals by implementing a range of different initiatives. In 2001 the shire used 104,000,000 litres of drinking water on our sports fields. In 2009/10 that consumption has dropped to around 29,000,000 – a 72% reduction.

The initiatives to reduce the use of potable water include harvesting rain water, using technology to monitor irrigation frequency and length, installing flow metres and rain sensors to shut off watering systems when it is raining. We've also made significant changes to our sports field construction methods using summer grass species for improved drought tolerance and have increased cutting heights of grass to ensure resilience.

Other initiatives include the use of wetting agents, installation of water bores and tanks to receive recycled water. It is important to continue to provide good quality sports fields for community. Sports fields provide a pivotal community meeting space and if that is taken away we see a breakdown in the social fabric of our community.

Whether it be organised sport or passive recreation, our sports fields are an important asset to local communities and with 64 of them in Yarra Ranges it is important that we do as much as we can to ensure their ongoing usability.

There has been a concerted effort to reduce our reliance on drinking water which not only has advantages for our community but huge benefits for our environment.

Council has nominated in the national 2010 Savewater! Awards which will be announced in November.