RE: "Dry arguments in a hot summer" (February 12).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An abundant constant water supply, regardless of rainfall, would not only supply public needs in this area, but would enable irrigation to make better use of the land to produce food for a hungry world.
An abundant water supply would also attract industry to supply the jobs required for a much larger population attracted to the area.
In the future, if water supplies in Bathurst are limited as at present, industry will be put off from coming here.
A pipeline from Warragamba Dam to Bathurst, with water being replaced by the desalination plant at Kurnell, would provide a permanent supply of water to the Central West.
It would make good sense for such a pipeline to continue to Orange, giving that city and area the same reliable supply.
READ MORE:
The whole of the Central West would benefit from such a venture. It would be nation-building, in effect.
This has already been accomplished in other parts of Australia, so why not here?
A pipeline to supply water to the city of Broken Hill, population under 20,000 people, was constructed and completed in 2017-18 from the Murray River at Wentworth - distance 270 kilometres.
The diameter of the pipeline is 750 millimetres and the cost of the project was $467 million - $1.73m per kilometre.
In contrast, the distance from Warragamba Dam to Bathurst is only 75 kilometres. Granted, the terrain is more challenging for at least 30km, however, it's not impossible by any means.
The Broken Hill pipeline has six take-off points along its length to enable water supplies to future ventures along the 270 kilometres.
A similar provision may assist future commercial enterprises in the Bathurst, Oberon and Lithgow areas.
Seventy-five kilometres at $1.73m is around $130m - which, in my opinion, is not a lot of money for the end result, particularly if the federal and state governments financed it, which should occur under the same auspices used in the business case to justify the Broken Hill pipeline.
Unlimited water is available from the sea and it is the only source of supply which is constant and available forever.
It makes sense to use it, as other countries around the world are doing.
The desalination plant at Kurnell can supply 240 million litres a day in its present form, but the plant and associated pipelines delivering water to the Sydney basin have been designed and constructed to produce twice that amount with some additional works.
Our current water consumption per day is around 20 million litres - which is only two hours' production for the current desalination plant.