Lake Eildon has certainly excelled with magnificent weather for the late Summer and Autumn. More often than not beautiful sun filled days with minimal wind making Lake Eildon the magical place we all love. Even the main days of the Easter break were just magnificent.
With that said the last 3 months have been a busy time for LEHIA.
High on the agenda has been the trialing of the Lake Eildon Solution on Paul Williams houseboat “Imagine” to manage the Grey Water Discharge from houseboats.
This has been an important part of the remaking of the Lake Eildon Houseboat Regulations, which take place every ten years. These Regulations set the conditions for permitting houseboats to be on Lake Eildon. There have been a number of meetings with DEECA that LEHIA has been part of.
The details of the Lake Eildon Solution for Grey Water Discharge have been included in another LEHIA article which we are happy to make available.
However, a Draft of the proposed Regulations has been out for Public Comment. LEHIA has used its networks to ensure as many houseboat owners as possible have been made aware of the Draft Regulations and provided the opportunity to make comments.
The Public Comment stage has been completed and we are now waiting on DEECA to go through the feedback and see if and what changes will be made to the Draft Regulations. There are now short timelines as the Regulations have to be approved and signed off by the Minister for Water by June 2024.
During this recent journey, LEHIA has been able to show the Lake Eildon Solution on the houseboat “Imagine” to the GMW Managing Director, Charmaine Quick; senior people at DEECA including the Acting Director of Rural Water Policy and Programs; and most recently Minister Dimopoulos.
After the debacle that was the process for the 2013 Review, I would like to highly commend and thank the team at DEECA Rural Water Policy & Programs for the process this time. A process which has seen respect of the knowledge, expertise, experience, and passion of those working in the industry and all working for a workable positive solution that will ensure Lake Eildon remains that special place for so many, for generations to come.
LEHIA has been working closely with the Murrindindi Shire Council on issues and initiatives that are important to the future of the houseboat industry. These include the Activating Lake Eildon Master Plan and an application to the Federal Government’s Regional Precincts and Partnership Program. When this application is successful, it will see many positive changes as outlined in the Lake Eildon Master Plan.
Finding workers and a place for them to live locally is an issue for the houseboat industry. LEHIA has supported the M.S.C. application to the Regional Worker Accommodation Fund.
The training of people, including apprentices, is an issue for the houseboat industry. LEHIA has supported the M.S.C. application for a Tertiary Education Hub in Murrindindi.
These three issues are important to the future of the houseboat industry, and we look forward to M.S.C. being successful with their applications.
LEHIA recently participated in the Murrindindi Jobs Expo in Alexandra. I would like to congratulate Phil Gourlay from Anchorage Houseboats for his presentation as part of the expert panel discussions. By LEHIA being present, we were not only able to highlight the great job and career opportunities to our local secondary school students but also to the Job Provider Organizations present. We will have a representative of the CRLLEN at our next LEHIA meeting with a view to organizing a Student Immersion Day later in the year. Thanks to the Murrindindi Food & Wine Group for the opportunity.
Not sure if you are aware of the show “Country House Hunters” with Catriona Rowntree, who is the host, on Channel 9. They chose our area for one of their programs. Thanks to our friends at M.S.C., they were introduced to LEHIA. We were able to organize a trip on Saffire (thanks to Joe Goodall and EBC) on a stunning afternoon. Catriona was not only taken by Saffire but also the magic of Lake Eildon. We look forward to the program featuring Lake Eildon.
A serious issue arose with the processes currently used to sandblast houseboat pontoons as the EPA visited the Lake Eildon Industrial Complex and the Eildon Boat Club. The outcome has been that the practices used had to be upgraded to meet today’s expectations and standards. Now the Lake Eildon Industrial Complex and Eildon Boat Club know what is required by the EPA and as reported at a recent LEHIA meeting they both have similar policies in place for this important work.
Feedback has been after 60 years change is never easy, however, the changes are most probably not before time. Further feedback is, if you are working on your houseboat in the Lake Eildon Industrial Complex you will no longer be covered in dust when someone else sandblasts their houseboat.
LEHIA was represented at the recent BIA Vic AGM in Melbourne. Congratulations to Scott O’Hare on being re-elected as Chairman. Being a member of the peak Recreational Boating Association is very important to LEHIA as the BIA Vic has greatly assisted LEHIA.
Without the BIA Vic endeavors we would not have had the recent visit to Lake Eildon by Minister Dimopoulos. Minister Dimopoulos is Minister for Outdoor Recreation which includes Boating & Fishing; Tourism, Sport and Major Events; Environment. A very important Minister of the State Government to have at Lake Eildon.
We were allocated 1 hour with the Minister. A big thank you to the EBC and Daved Lambert (a BIA Vic Board Member) for hosting the meeting on his houseboat. Making the most of the hour, Daved organized his son to drive the houseboat out on the Lake for the one hour of the meeting. Fortunately, it was a picture perfect day to be out on the Lake. The Minister made comment that this was a very pleasant first for any of his meetings.
There was very important business discussed during the presentation to the Minister. This included the Activating Lake Eildon Master Plan and the Minister’s support for initiatives within the Master Plan and support for the M.S.C. application to the Federal Government. Governance of Recreation & Tourism at Lake Eildon was discussed. The need for the gradual release of new houseboat licenses to protect the jobs in the houseboat industry was also discussed. The Minister took on board the presentation and gave the meeting certain undertakings which were greatly appreciated.
Before the Minister departed, we were able to take him onboard “Imagine” to view the Lake Eildon Solution to manage Grey Water discharge from houseboats. I was able to make the following statement to the Minister. “Minister, when this system is formally approved and is being installed on newly built houseboats, we will have the most Environmentally Friendly Houseboats in the World at Lake Eildon”. The Minister appeared to like this statement.
We thank Minister Dimopoulos for his time, and we look forward to welcoming him back to Lake Eildon in the near future. A big Thank You to the BIA Vic for making this visit happen.
At the time of writing this article Irrigation Season has finished for this season and we enter Recharge Season. Today Lake Eildon is at 90.4% of capacity; this leaves 9.6% available to fill over the Winter & Spring. An average Recharge is around 30% of Capacity; an extremely low recharge is around 10% (bad Drought times).
With this in mind, there is a very high probability that Lake Eildon will be as good as full for the next Summer Season. This is great and positive news for Recreation and Houseboating on Lake Eildon not only for next season but also for the following years. The only concern after the recent Technical Report on Release Practices is that GMW will be able to manage pre-releases to minimize any possible flooding impacts on communities and farms below Lake Eildon. However, that will be very much dependent on what, where, how and when Mother Nature decides to send down the rain and snow from the heavens.
Winter is one of my favourite and special times to be out on Lake Eildon; you can really feel the peace, the quiet, the serenity of this magical place. The modern houseboats of today make it so much easier to enjoy this magic in comfort all year round. Hope to see you on the Lake.
Love Lake Eildon
Mike Dalmau President, LEHIA, 15-05-2024