Future-proofing Dubbo’s water supply from drought will be greatly improved with the construction of vital groundwater expansion works ramping up.
Member for the Dubbo electorate Dugald Saunders and Dubbo mayor Ben Shields visited the site of construction on Friday, with the project being part of a $30 million-dollar grant to Dubbo Regional Council to help drought-proof the area.
“This is about delivering water security to the community by enabling better access to groundwater and developing new technologies in the event of a cease-to-flow in the Macquarie River,” Mr Saunders said.
“We need to be looking at things like recycling waste water, and how that can be used, to lighten the burden on our river and our underground aquifers.
“Without additional water supplies, the current water sources available to Dubbo would not be able to meet restricted demand if water supplies from the Macquarie River were unavailable. This could cause significant economic and social which we were able to avoid this time around thanks to welcomed rain.”
The $30 million-dollar investment includes the delivery of a groundwater pipeline network designed to link new and existing water sources to the Dubbo Water Treatment Plant.
Mr Shields said council is planning to lay dual groundwater and recycled water delivery pipelines, which will maximise the efficiency of this stage of the project.
“Council is proud to be delivering this large scale and complex project that not only has the ability to deliver shorter term drought security, but also provides long term strategic benefits,” he said.
The $30 million grant to Dubbo Regional Council is part of the NSW Government’s Drought Stimulus Package, a subset of the NSW Drought Response.
Since 2017, the NSW Government has committed over $275 million to critical water infrastructure projects and town water carting for regional NSW.