Rathjen supports plan to capture creek water


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Rathjen supports plan to capture creek water

By Anthony Radford

Candidate backs water plan

BENDIGO federal election candidate Eril Rathjen has thrown her support behind a plan to capture storm water from Bendigo Creek and add it to the city’s supply.
Mrs Rathjen, a staunch water advocate, has applauded the plan, first mooted by Nationals Member for Northern Victoria Damian Drum.
New Coliban Water board member and community water leader Don Erskine also came out in support of the plan earlier this month.
Mrs Rathjen said not capturing the water was irresponsible.
“The potential is there to capture it. Why would you waste this resource in the current climate,” she said.
“Not harvesting it with our situation at the moment is a crime.”
Mrs Rathjen, a Colbinabbin irrigator, was initially an outspoken opponent of the Waranga to Lake Eppalock pipeline.
However, she now believes it hasn’t gone far enough.
“Why would people want to move to Bendigo if they know they are going to have a dead garden,” she said.
“I think it is appalling people can’t have green gardens. Bendigo has been completely failed from a water point of view.
“The pipeline is now only a short-term solution. They should have done it a decade ago.”