Following a fire in the Thomson Reservoir catchment in January 2019, Melbourne Water needed to manage the incident to reduce the likelihood of ash and fire debris contaminating the water supply which could cause a reduction in chlorine efficiency, aesthetic degradation and an inability to supply water.
This is one of two case studies from Melbourne Water about recovery from the Thomson Reservoir catchment bushfires and provides an overview of how Melbourne Water’s research program and hydrodynamic modelling assisted in bushfire management and recovery in the Thomson Reservoir catchment. The other case study provides an overview of mitigation works installed by Melbourne Water in the catchment and reservoir to address debris flow risk.