North East Water (NEW) is looking to progress plans to sure up water supply security for Mounty Beauty, Tawonga and Tawonga South.

NEW intends to apply to Goulburn-Murray Water for a works licence to construct its new raw water offtake pump station at Embankment Drive at Mt Beauty to extract water from the Kiewa River to supply the domestic needs of all three communities.

Authorities say the existing raw water offtakes servicing these communities were constructed during the 1970s and have outlived their operational purpose, with an emergency, temporary raw water line currently delivering supply until the new offtake and pump station are commissioned.

The location of the site for the new station has been the subject of strong community debate and significant public engagement over the past four years.

The proposed offtake will be built approximately 75 metres downstream from the Mount Beauty pondage outfall, set back on the eastern side of Embankment Drive away from the river frontage.

Guy Wilson-Browne, NEW's general manager of planning and infrastructure, said the water corporation has 'listened to the community and adopted an alternative pump station design at Embankment Drive that was strongly supported by our Community Reference Group and the majority of survey participants in 2024'.

He said the revised design moves the pump building further away from the river to the pondage side of Embankment Drive 'and importantly, it does not include a weir across the river'.

“North East Water is continuing to progress with detailed engineering work based on this preferred configuration and we are currently working with Goulburn-Murray Water to secure the necessary works licence for the project,” Mr Wilson-Browne said.

“Over coming weeks, we will be seeking further community feedback on potential aesthetic and amenity enhancements in the area where the construction will take place.”