VPRS 3083 Main Urban Supplies Division District Weekly Reports

The State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (VA 723) had the general responsibility of coordinating and managing the States rural water resources and itself directly managed water supply schemes in rural areas. The Commission took on urban supply schemes as well..The records in this series consist of weekly reports sent to the headquarters of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission from the Executive Engineers in the Mornington region (for the two sub-regions of Frankston and Dromana-Sorrento) and the Otway region.Supply to the Mornington District became part of the commissions responsibilities when, having been invited to prepare a scheme for the supply of water to the Naval base near Crib Point they decided that it would also provide a number of popular seaside resorts and other townships on the peninsula with a supply of water that had long been asked for. (Eleventh Annual Report, 1915 1916)The establishment of the Otway District was directly related to the provision of a reticulated water supply to the towns in the Western District such as Camperdown, Terang and Warrnambool. (Twenty-Sixth Annual Report, 1930 1931)For both districts there was an accepted set of information to be included in the reports. Those from the Mornington district included details of work done under sub-headings such as District Maintenance, Town Supplies, Construction, Replacement of mains and Extensions, finishing with details of labour employed during the week and, for earlier periods, the Number of Commission horses in the District.Detail in the reports from the Otway region were broader in their scope including, as well as the details of works carried out and employment for the week, greater detail regarding the contents of water storages, comprehensive data regarding stream flow and a summary of weather conditions, particularly rainfall. Each report had a table showing the contents of water storages, the General Position, the Rainfall, and details regarding Stream Flow and regulation, Works, Quality and Casual Staff employed. Comprehensive standard tables were appended or forwarded separately showing readings from Bulk Meters, Contents of Storages, Stream Flow at Diversion Weirs and a Pumping Report. Separate tables were forwarded showing the data from regular Gauging at specified points.