YOU have to feel a bit sorry for Bathurst Regional Council in its recent wrestles with the question of whether to enforce water restrictions.
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When an early move to restrictions was discussed in May and June this year, but was rejected, the region was as dry as a biscuit.
Now that the restrictions debate has returned to council and something will be done about it, the spring storms are rolling in regularly and a lot of people will be wondering what all the fuss is about.
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Not that it was easy for council to decide that restrictions will come in at the end of November unless Chifley Dam reaches 75 per cent capacity by November 12.
As reported this week, there was a tied vote among the eight councillors (one wasn’t at the meeting) before the mayor used his casting vote to decide the matter.
The tightness of that vote probably accurately reflects the community feeling on this topic – which is why you have to feel a bit sorry for council.
Back when council wasn’t going to do anything until the dam got to 40 per cent, there were a lot of people wondering why you would possibly want to wait that long, particularly when the rainfall outlook was so pessimistic.
Now that council has decided it will enforce restrictions unless the dam hits 75 per cent by a certain date, there will be a lot of people wondering whether it’s worth hitting the panic button if the dam manages to get close to that capacity by the deadline set.
For every person who wants prudence, there will be another who thinks that it is all a bit of an over-reaction to be worrying about a dam that is still around 60 per cent.
Council’s role, of course, is to find the balance – and to ensure the dam has enough water to supply Bathurst not only during this summer, but during the next summer as well.
It’s all very well assuming Bathurst will get its usual weather patterns, but as 2018 shows, there are absolutely no guarantees.
The storms have started in the past couple of weeks, but we shouldn’t forget that there were months and months this year when the heavens barely opened and the outlook was dire.
If council is going to be over-cautious when it comes to Chifley Dam, that’s not such a terrible thing.
When it comes to Bathurst’s water supply, we’re much better off looking at it rather than looking for it.
