On Tuesday evening (20 January 2026), the Resilient Water Program convened a meeting in St James to provide an update on our current investigations for the potential delivery of the Broken Reconfiguration Project. The meeting was very well attended with more than 80 customers and community members in attendance.

The Feasibility Study which was completed in 2024 recommended further investigations into the potential construction of a pipeline to replace irrigation and stock and domestic service from the Broken Creek. Based on the Program Team’s engagement with customers, we have acknowledged the significant community opposition and will not be recommending that these works form part of the Broken Reconfiguration Project.

We will continue to work closely with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority to develop a funding proposal which we hope will significantly increase the volume of environmental water available to be used in the Broken System including the Broken Creek.

A copy of the slides presented to the meeting are provided below.

Key Points:

• There is and has never been any proposal to stop water from entering the Broken Creek, reduce flows into the Broken Creek or decommission the Broken Creek
• Goulburn-Murray Water’s Resilient Water Program has been investigating potential options to replace service from the Broken Creek as part of the development of a business case for the Broken Reconfiguration Project
• The business case is due to be submitted to the Commonwealth in March 2026
• There is no longer any proposal to seek funding for the construction of a pipeline to replace service from the Broken Creek
• If funded, the project will recover water for the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder together with a recommendation for future environmental watering strategies within the Broken System
• The Program Team is always willing to speak with customers and community members interested in the proposed works – any queries can be sent to resilientwater@gmwater.com.au.