opposed to its current 17 acres which remain fenced off from the rest of Eastern Park. The Geelong botanic gardens and its surrounding Eastern Park are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register for their vast assortment of plant life. Furthermore, the gardens also contain singular trees listed under the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Register of Significant Trees, as well as some of Geelong's original heritage buildings such as the statue of Queen Victoria, the Cabman's Shelter, and the Market Square fountain. Irrigation System As the Geelong Botanic Gardens is home to plants from around the world, their water requirements can differ vastly. Furthermore, the Geelong Botanic gardens is situated in the middle of eastern park, a large public space close to the Geelong waterfront and home to a vast arboretum. This arboretum landscape surrounding the gardens has a much lower water requirement then a majority of the imported and indigenous plants which reside within its walls, as these plants have originated from differing climate conditions. To ensure all plant life meets its necessary survival requirements, the gardens house a large irrigation system capable of outputting up to 28 megaliters of water annually. This output is also capable of adjusting to the climate which particularly helps during the summer months depending on the incoming rainfall and temperature. 2006 Water Restrictions In the summer of 2006 Australia was at the height a of crippling drought. As a response to the crisis, stage 4 water restrictions were enforced upon the Barwon area which prevented residential, commercial, and public gardens from being watered. However, an exemption was granted to the Geelong Botanic Gardens to allow mains water to be used, this was mainly due to the fact that the gardens house heritage trees and collections of plants used for scientific purposes. Despite this, the garden was still negatively affected by the drought. Every part of the gardens irrigation system was throttled to output the minimum volume of water needed for the gardens to survive, thus stunting the photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration processes in the plant life affected. This caused minor wilting, discoloration and even death in some specimens, but by and large the garden survived and now thrives to this day. In 2011, the Australian government provided funding to the city of greater Geelong in order to develop a storm water treatment facility that would allow the storage and reuse of storm water.