The Bogan Shire Council has located a potential emergency town water supply north-east of Nyngan.
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In a statement released by the Bogan Shire Council it was said test drilling had been completed on two potential bore sites in the Bogan Shire, with one producing promising results.
"Indications from the test site approximately 13 kilometres from Nyngan on the old Warren Road show sufficient flow at a depth of up to 290 metres," the report said.
This amount would supply the town in times of critical human need, however full testing of the water and the bore has not been completed.
It is the council's intention to use the bore only as an emergency supply to provide water to Nyngan, if water is no longer available from Burrendong Dam and the Macquarie River.
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Nyngan uses around one megalitre of treated water per day in winter, and up to four and a half megalitres per day in summer with an average daily use of 1.9 megalitres.
The average annual treated water usage for the shire is 700 megalitres.
The preferred yield from a bore would be 24 litres per second, which would provide two megalitres per day as an emergency supply for the town.
The Bogan Shire Council will now be required to go through the full application process for the bore with the Natural Resources Access Regulator.
It is the same process any property owner constructing a new bore would have to go through.
Assessment of the application includes the effect on the relevant water source and surrounding bores, and involves advertising of the proposal with a period available for objections.
A full assessment will be undertaken which will include a hydrological assessment and consideration of the relevant water sharing plan rules.
Funding for the exploration and drilling was allocated to Bogan Shire Council in 2019 by the NSW Government as part of the $10 million emergency water infrastructure package.
This would also include the construction of a second off-river storage.
Consultants were engaged to conduct a hydrogeological desktop review to determine potential groundwater bore locations.
Test drilling was also undertaken at an existing bore site within the Nyngan township, however the water quality was not suitable.
