Wyangala Dam
Central NSW Councils have welcomed the announcement of a joint investment of $650 million by the federal and state governments to upgrade Wyangala Dam.
“The region supports investment in long term options that offer substantive improvements in security and reliability of water for town, agricultural, industrial and mining needs,” says Cr John Medcalf, Chair of Central NSW Councils Joint Organisation and Mayor of Lachlan Shire.
The proposed upgrade of Wyangala Dam will see the dam wall raised by 10 metres to increase its capacity by 650 gigalitres.
Since the millennium drought exposed the vulnerability of the Lachlan catchment, Central NSW Councils have advocated for increased storage for the region. “While we have immediate water security concerns, the augmentation of Wyangala has the potential to provide increased reliability and security of supply for towns in the Lachlan River catchment including Cowra, Forbes, Parkes, Condobolin and Lake Cargelligo, as well as flood management benefits into the future,” he says.
“The long-term reliability of water supply is a major factor in having the confidence to plan ahead, invest and run a profitable business. In the face of the drought, we need this to ensure our local communities are sustainable and thrive into the future. The reality is that with the right storage and pipe network there is plenty of water for town water supplies for Central NSW communities and to enable substantive growth in high value agriculture.”
“At the moment, our focus is very much on working with the state government on solutions to get our communities through to the next drought breaking rains,” says Cr Med- calf.”