Highlands Midlands Master Plan

Current

About the region

The Highlands Midlands region in central Tasmania combines large agricultural and grazing plains with remote wilderness areas. There are many thriving heritage towns on the plains like Oatlands, Fingal, St Marys, Hamilton and Campbell Town while communities around the region’s lakes and mountains are mainly populated during holiday seasons.

Current services

The Highlands Midlands region has 13 water and 14 sewerage systems as well as recycled water schemes to support the region’s residents, businesses and farms. In addition to the TasWater systems, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service owns and operates small sewerage schemes in natural areas.

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Growth Areas

Highlands Midlands growth will remain low over 50 years. About 4,500 lots could be developed if zoning permits, mainly near Oatlands and Campbell Town. Forecasting is uncertain; spillover demand or tourism could boost housing and service needs, especially in shack communities. TasWater will monitor trends and adjust its Master Plan as needed.

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Case Study: Water quality a focus for regional towns

TasWater’s Regional Towns Water Supply Improvement Program has been underway since 2024 to improve water quality in St Marys, Oatlands and Bothwell. The program involves increasing treated water storages and upgrading or replacing water treatment plants to ensure a more reliable supply of high quality drinking water. In 2025, the Australian Government joined the Tasmanian Government to provide funding for the new Bothwell and Oatlands Water Treatment Plants.

To date, a new water storage has been installed at St Marys, while plans are progressing for construction of the new Bothwell and Oatlands treatment plants by about 2028. Bothwell’s new facility will also have a connection to the Tasmanian Irrigation’s Southern Highlands Irrigation Scheme, and increased storage capacity.

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Huon Bruny region key statistics

Forecast

The big issues

In developing our Master Plans, we have has considered challenges that our state will face in future, as well as ones that are unique to the Highlands Midlands region. We also thought about the flip side – what opportunities are there for us to better support local people, our environment, cultural heritage and the economy?

Lack of reliable water sources
Inadequate water allocations in our licenses
Infrastructure approaching capacity and ageing
High risk discharges from some of our sewage treatment plants
Dispersed small communities, making it hard to streamline systems
Opportunity to produce more recycled water

Challenges and opportunities

Climate change

Climate change in Tasmania is likely to bring warmer temperatures, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather, impacting water supply, quality, and demand. These changes threaten water treatment and sewerage infrastructure, potentially requiring new solutions and adaptations.
Water security

Our drinking water comes from rivers and bores before treatment. Some rivers already have low flows, and licensed allocations don’t always meet demand. Drier conditions could worsen this, making unrestricted supply harder. To avoid restrictions, TasWater promotes conservation and follows its Water Security Strategy to ensure long-term supply.
Keeping up with growth

With expected population growth and ageing infrastructure, the region must upgrade or replace water assets to maintain service quality. Improvements will be prioritised by development timing, community benefit, and compliance needs.
Water where it belongs

About 43% of water produced in the Highlands Midlands region is lost due to leaks, theft, metering errors, or operational use. Efforts are underway to cut these losses and reduce stormwater infiltration into sewerage systems, aiming to delay costly upgrades and extend infrastructure lifespan.
Achieving compliance

TasWater must meet environmental and health standards, but ageing and underfunded infrastructure sometimes falls short. Progress is being made, especially with water quality and reliability through the Regional Towns Water Supply Project.

Case Study: Floating Wetlands helpting to protect our waterways

Some of our sewage treatment plants, including those at Ross and Fingal, are more than 50 years old and use lagoons as part of the treatment process. Since 2023, an innovative trial has been underway to improve water quality and environmental outcomes. At the treatment plant lagoons, constructed floating wetlands have been planted on specially designed platforms to naturally absorb excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, before the purified water is discharged into local waterways. The wetlands were designed by Clarity Aquatic with support from local company Resonance Consulting, while the wetland plants were cultivated by Wildseed Tasmania.

The trial is the first of its kind in Tasmania and is expected to reduce nutrient levels in waterways by up to 60% when fully established. This offers a cost-effective, low-energy alternative to traditional wastewater treatment upgrades.
With the trial ending in mid-2026, TasWater is excited by the results so far. Monitoring of the wetlands’ performance has shown that they are enhancing water quality and providing habitat for insects and birds.

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Future

Our 50-year vision for the region

After looking at a range of options to guide our long-term investment in water and sewerage infrastructure, our preferred approach balances climate resilience, water security, customer expectations, environmental and health compliance, and cost. Download the PDF for more details.

We believe our approach:
Tackles the most urgent issues right away.
Delays major spending until later, helping manage budgets and adapt to future changes.
Reduces the need for, and number of, complex projects like new dams, treatment plants and long pipelines.
Has a lower long-term cost (net present value) and development cost (capital cost) when compared with other options considered.