Eurobodalla Council is celebrating the announcement of $51.2 million funding for the shire’s new southern water storage in last night’s federal budget.
The Council now has three quarters of the funding for the $105 million project, after the NSW Government also allocated $25.6 million last year. Council will fund the remainder.
The 3,000 megalitre storage will be built west of Bodalla, pumping water from the Tuross River in times of high flow to an off-stream storage and water treatment plant.
It will complement Council’s Deep Creek Dam and water treatment plant in Batemans Bay, providing drought security and bushfire resilience, and increasing capacity for peak holiday water demand and predicted population growth. Councillor Anthony Mayne was delighted with the news when The Beagle caught up with him after the announcement. "The storage will be a game changer in bringing greater resilience to the Shire and offering certainty to an essential human need. In a region that has been impacted by a changing climate, from severe floods to bushfires, we know that there are no guarantees. "With a new storage dam we can be better prepared. The shire is already well prepared with its options to deliver water from Deep Creek Dam to anywhere in the Shire. Now we have a second source. Greens Councillor, Pat McGinlay said "I am pleased that the Federal Government has finally come to the party and taken an unusually longer term view (for them) and committed funds to this dam project. We need more long term decisions being made to try to mitigate the potential and still uncertain but undeniably real impacts of climate change.
Clr McGinlay added "I recall a year or so ago, an urgent request from a Federal Greens Senator, Mehreen Faruqi, herself a qualified environmental and civil engineer, seeking advice from me as a person on the ground as a local Greens Councillor in Eurobodalla as to my views on whether the Greens should support a motion in the Senate regarding this dam project. Thankfully, I had been well briefed by professional council staff on this matter.
"From memory it was a Labor motion, essentially asking the Lib/Nat government to basically stop prevaricating and to get off their reluctant bums and commit funds to a new dam in Eurobodalla Shire. I strongly advised support by Greens Senators.
"People can research Hansard, to see the wording of the said motion and the outcome of the voting, which I believe was positive and put pressure on a reluctant Lib/Nat Government to stop dragging their heels and get on with it.
"So yup ! happy to see the outcome, and as to the ‘spin’ via the ratepayers’ funded council media team releases, I am just resigned to it, but happy to add some perspective to a collectively influenced good outcome," the Greens councilor remarked.
Last weekend at the Climate Solutions 4 Eurobodalla: Bringing practical solutions home one of the key issues discussed was the fragility of water supply.
The suggestion of a storage dam that is fed from the Tuross River has been on the table for several terms of Council going back to the drought of 2003/4. The project was first flagged in 2003 but was put on the backburner due to the success of Council's water-saving programs and less-than-predicted population growth.
In 2016 the NSW Government water sharing plans, which limit the amount of water that can be extracted from local rivers, came into force, bringing forward the need for the storage facility.
The plans allow for the facility to expand to 3,000 megalitres to meet future demand and will eventually include a new water treatment plant and delivery system.”
The proposed works will be located about 30km south of Moruya, on an unnamed third order ephemeral stream about 950m east of the Tuross River, within the Tuross River catchment. The majority of the works will be in Bodalla State Forest. Road access will be via the Princes Highway to Bodalla and then Eurobodalla Road. The works consist of an off-stream water storage facility and associated ancillary facilities. Raw water will be extracted from the Tuross River from a new river intake pump station and an existing borefield for transfer to the new water storage facility.
Water will be pumped from the Tuross River to the proposed water storage facility in accordance with the Water Sharing Plan for the Tuross River Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources 2016 (Tuross River WSP). The Tuross River WSP sets a maximum amount of water that can be taken from the Tuross River depending on current flow conditions. Water will be stored in the proposed water storage facility to supplement the existing water supply network during periods of drought.
The water storage facility will also supplement peak summer demands and provide sufficient water storage to allow the system to provide a secure yield in accordance with State Government guidelines, and comply with the requirements of the Tuross River WSP. This storage facility will ensure ongoing water supply security for the Eurobodalla Shire. As water will be selectively withdrawn from the Tuross River depending on flow conditions, environmental stress on the Tuross River system will be minimised.
Above: Eurobodalla Council can now proceed with its new southern water storage with confidence after the federal government allocated $51.2 million to the project in last night’s federal budget. Construction of the dam’s water pump station is already underway.
Construction of the Tuross River pump station is expected to be complete early next year, while the dam site is expected to be cleared in February 2022.
More information about the project is at https://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/council/major-projects/current-projects/roads-and-bridges/southern-water-supply-storage
