South-west water authority Wannon Water has had a major board overhaul, with five of its eight non-executive board members being replaced by the state government. Two of the board members - Labor Party stalwarts Jacinta Ermacora and Kylie Gaston - were forced to step down when Ms Ermacora was elected to parliament in November 2022 and Ms Gaston chose to join her as a senior advisor. Ms Ermacora had just been reappointed to a four-year term as board chair, and Ms Gaston said both would have continued on the board if Ms Ermacora hadn't been elected to the Victorian upper house. But apart from those forced changes the government also turned over a further three positions, ending the lengthy tenures of Michael Crutchfield and Mick Murphy, as well as the more recent appointee Adrian Panow. Mr Crutchfield and Mr Murphy had both served since October 2015, while Dr Panow had been on the board since October 2019. Replacing the five departing members are well-known south-west residents former Moyne Shire CEO Bill Millard and South West TAFE brand and marketing manager Narelle Allen. The three other appointees come from outside the region. Disability and inclusion expert Emma Olivier will be joined by Bureau of Meteorology climatologist Neil Plummer and former Melbourne Liberal politician Gordon Rich-Phillips. Three incumbent board members are continuing in their roles: former senior bureaucrat Ken King, agriculture and health expert Susan Brumby, and economics professor Helen Scarborough, who has also been appointed the new board chair. The biggest project the new board will oversee is the completion of the $85 million Warrnambool Sewage Treatment Plant upgrade, as well as the start of the $52 million project to fix the drinking water supplies in Portland, Heywood and Port Fairy.