On 31 August 2025, the Concerned Waterways Alliance lodged its submission on ENGIE’s Draft Hazelwood Declared Mine Rehabilitation Plan (DMRP). Our message is pretty straightforward: decisions made at Hazelwood will ripple through the Latrobe River, the Lower Latrobe Wetlands and Lake Wellington, core parts of the Gippsland Lakes. Therefore, rehabilitation must be done in a way that heals this connected system rather than shifting harm downstream.
We make the point:
"From the CWA’s perspective the Hazelwood rehabilitation proposal is ultimately a water story.
Hazelwood is part of the three “declared” mines in the Latrobe Valley. All propose employing
what amounts to the cheapest rehabilitation method available upon closure, filling each void
with mostly fresh water stripped from rivers. The volume to do so is astounding. The Latrobe
Valley Regional Water Study found that up to 3,000 gigalitres (GL) of water could be needed to
completely fill all mine voids to their crests. This is over 50% more than the volume of all the 10
of Melbourne’s water storages combined."
At the heart of our submission is a “no-net-ecological-harm” test for the Latrobe–Lakes system. We call for a hybrid pathway of mine rehabilitation that first exhausts non-water-intensive options (backfill, engineered landforms, dry covers, revegetation) before any tightly conditioned use of water, preferably manufactured sources like recycled or desalinated water. If water is needed, rivers should be last in the queue. We also argue that any commercial supply arrangements must be brought under Victoria’s bulk entitlement regime, transparently priced to reflect true opportunity cost, and paired with real-time reporting.
We highlight several risks that demand upfront solutions: the Hazelwood Ash Retention Area (which poses long-term water-quality and geotechnical concerns if submerged), proposals to decommission or repurpose the Morwell Main Drain (which currently protects the community from flooding and pollution), and any routine diversions of the Morwell River or Eel Hole Creek into the pit. Conversely, the eventual restoration of Eel Hole Creek presents a major opportunity for cultural and ecological renewal if done with strong buffers and leadership from Traditional Owners.
Our broader principle is to treat the river–wetland–estuary as one living, integrated entity, connected across banks, floodplains and aquifers, and to manage Hazelwood in a climate-realistic way that protects Ramsar values and strengthens environmental flows. Read the full submission below for the detailed recommendations, conditions and safeguards we’re urging government and proponents to adopt.