We’re planning to complete a dam safety upgrade to Cardinia Reservoir in the summer of 2025, as part of our proactive management of our water supply reservoirs. The upgrade will protect and prolong the life of one of Victoria’s most pristine water catchments, helping us to continue supplying world-class drinking water to Melburnians.
Cardinia Reservoir will continue to operate within Melbourne Water’s water supply system throughout the upgrade works.
Temporary closure of the Cardinia Reservoir Park
To help inform the detailed design of the upgrade, geotechnical investigations involving drilling several boreholes along the embankments will need to be undertaken.
To ensure public safety while these works occur, the Cardinia Reservoir Park will be closed from Monday 15 July to Friday 16 August 2024. Please note, the works will take place from Monday to Friday so the park will be open over the weekends.
Why this is important
Cardinia Reservoir was constructed between 1970 and 1973 to the best standards of the day. As dam design standards have improved over the years, the proposed upgrade will ensure Cardinia Reservoir complies with best practice dam safety management standards in line with our Statement of Obligations and the Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) guidelines.
Dam safety regulations
Under the Water Act 1989, Melbourne Water is responsible for the safety of our dams, including Cardinia Reservoir.
We regularly review the risk associated with all our major water supply reservoirs, so we can prioritise maintenance and upgrade works to meet new engineering standards and practices.
We reduce risks by conducting routine dam surveillance, inspections and detailed risk assessments, as part of our proactive approach to managing dams.
The management of all our dams is in line with the ANCOLD guidelines, which represent the best Australian and international engineering practice in the safe design, management and operation of dams. They provide a consistent framework for assessing risk across all dams and allow Melbourne Water to prioritise safety upgrade works across our portfolio of dams.
In Victoria, the ANCOLD guidelines are further underpinned by state dam safety regulations in Melbourne Water’s Statement of Obligations from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) – the Dam Safety Regulator for Victoria.
The Cardinia Reservoir dam upgrade project is part of our ongoing Dam Upgrade Program to ensure continued compliance with the ANCOLD guidelines into the future. Under this program, we have completed upgrades to the Frankston, Tarago, Toorourrong, and Greenvale Reservoirs, and upgrade works are almost complete at Upper Yarra Reservoir.
What’s happening and when
These dates may be subject to change as the planning and design stage progresses and as more information becomes available.