ONLY TWO locations are safe for swimming in the Yarra River out of a dozen locations monitored for water quality, a report by the Environment Protection Authority reveals.
A commitment by then opposition leader Ted Baillieu in the lead up to the 2006 election that the Yarra would be safe to swim in within a decade is dead. Mr Baillieu's office said it was an old election promise not binding on this government.
The report by the EPA on the water quality in the Yarra from 2009-2011 found swimming was safe only at Millgrove and Warrandyte.
Ten other locations - including Healesville, Templestowe, Heidelberg, Kew and Abbotsford - were not. Tests at South Yarra and Southgate recorded E. coli levels almost three times the safe swimming level.
The news is not all bad - all four test sites in the upper reaches of the river showed an overall improvement in bacterial water quality over the last six years and all locations of the river were safe for boating.
The EPA said the main causes of poor water quality in the river during dry weather were leaking sewers, illegal or cross-connections between sewage and drainage systems, illegal connections of septic tanks to stormwater, poorly operating septic tanks, animals, agricultural run-off, and boat sewage discharge.
Sam Austin, sustainable development general manager with Yarra Valley Water, said there were ''14,980 properties remaining on Yarra Valley Water's program to replace septic tanks'' and connect to the sewage system.
He said priority areas in coming years would include Wonga Park, Avonsleigh/Emerald and Warrandyte.
South East Water has 22,000 properties waiting to have septic tanks replaced by connection to the sewage system.
On a much larger scale, Melbourne Water released millions of litres of raw sewage directly into the Yarra River at Kew during heavy storms in February and April.
A spokesman for Premier Ted Baillieu said the Coalition's soon-to-be-released Living Victoria water policy would have major benefits for the Yarra's health.
''These benefits won't happen overnight, but over time the Coalition government's policy will help reduce stormwater run-off into the river and its tributaries, reducing pollution,'' he said.
''We need this river to be safe for the public and currently it is not,'' said Ian Penrose, of the community-based Yarra Riverkeeper Association.
He said raw sewage should never be allowed to enter the river.
''We think it is a terrible indictment on our system that we are having to put human waste into our waterways.''
But Mr Penrose said encroaching urban development was now the biggest threat to the Yarra River.
''We have got to protect the bits that are important to our liveability,'' he said.
''We have got to protect the parts that contribute to our public health. The Yarra River corridor is critical to that and we are losing it brick by brick - over time the corridor is going to become a concrete canal.''
Opposition planning spokesman Brian Tee said there needed to be planning protection for the Yarra.
''The last remnants of bush in the city are being concreted over, and I urge Mr Baillieu to consider buffers before it's too late,'' Mr Tee said.
