Catering for the worst case drought protection is the Bogan Shire Council’s main focus for their Nyngan Cobar Water Security Business Case.
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The council discussed water security at the March meeting and moved to put a draft copy of the business case on public exhibition for 28 days, highlighting the importance of public consultation in the project. They also resolved to prioritise water storage for Nyngan and Cobar, along with recognising the importance of the Albert Priest Pipeline.
The council resolved the business case be developed at the October 2016 meeting. The case includes three aspects of water security, priority one is off-river storage, priority two is the Albert Priest Channel upgrade to pipeline and priority three is ground water investigations in Warren.
A 700-megalitre (Ml) off-river storage for Nyngan is funded and due to commence construction in 2017, another 700Ml storage is already planned and the council resolved to include an additional 3000Ml off river storage on a site to be determined.
These three components make up the council’s water security infrastructure plans
Bogan Shire general manager Derek Francis said the plans were crucial for the future of both Nyngan and Cobar.
“This is significant for the future of Nyngan and Cobar. Council is of the view storage is of the highest priority. If there is no water down the Macquarie River or Burrendong, there is no point to the pipeline,” he said at the meeting.
Mr Francis pointed out $850,000 was promised to work on the pipeline at the federal election.
“If we put in a proposal we’ll get that for the initial work...public consultation and legal work,” he said.
Mr Francis and mayor Ray Donald both agreed on the importance of public consultation, especially for the pipeline work.
“It’s a key component, especially for those directly affected,” Mr Francis said.
The council’s resolution read: “Not withstanding that council priorities stages 1a, 1b, 1c of water as the most effective way of ensuring water security for Nyngan and Cobar, it recognises the importance of the Albert Priest Pipeline as also contributing to water security and acknowledges 1c and two should run concurrently,” and “the Business Case should be on public exhibition for 28 days.”