THE state government has given $1 million towards supplying recycled water to Mount Martha.

The money will be used to connect The Briars property and surrounding areas to the Mount Martha treatment plant, allowing access to class A recycled water from the South Eastern Outfall.

The project is part of a larger plan to help drought-proof the peninsula.

The outfall pipeline carries 350 million litres of water a day from the Eastern Treatment Plant at Bangholme to be discharged into Bass Strait at Boags Rocks, near Gunnamatta.

The shire has long advocated for money to tap into the secure water source that runs along the entire length of the peninsula.

A pipeline will extend from the Mt Martha treatment plant in Craigie Road to The Briars to support Green Dreaming, a project showcasing regenerative agriculture, land management and horticultural techniques.

The water will also support expanding the wildlife sanctuary and a test of climate change-resilient vines and the commercial growing of bush foods.

South East Water is covering the cost of the design and construction of equipment from the pump station to boundary fence of The Briars and neighbouring treatment plant.

In stage two the pipeline will be extended across to the beach side of Nepean Highway to irrigate Mace, Ferrero, and Citation ovals and the shire cemetery. It will have the capacity to deliver 200-megalitres of water a year, with initial demand estimated at 80-megalitres annually.

First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 11 August 2020