IT'S a topic that has never quite gone away and now, with water storage dropping, the call for it has become more urgent.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Councillor Warren Aubin wants to see Bathurst Regional Council invest in a secure water future by raising the Chifley Dam wall before it is too late.
The project that the councillor envisions is comprised of three components: raising the wall, enlarging the spillway and finally building a pipeline from Chifley Dam to the Bathurst water filtration plant.
"In this particular climate, we should be looking to make water security our number one goal," he said.
As of Tuesday, Chifley dam sat at 43.6 per cent, which was a slight increase on the previous week after months of the water level steadily falling.
Cr Aubin said that if the dam level were to fall much further, it would not be possible to raise the dam wall.
"That's why I brought it up again," he said.
"I think it's time to get a plan together, to put the three items together, and put it to the governments to say 'If you want us to be drought-proof and secure our water for the future, then this is what we have to do'."
One of the things holding council back from raising the wall is the cost, which is estimated to be in excess of $150 million.
However, Cr Aubin said that it really isn't that high of cost when you take into account how this would position Bathurst into the future, particularly if higher levels of government were to come to the party.
"That is a drop in the ocean of what the government's spending on other infrastructure right now," he said.
"I'm not saying anything is wrong with rebuilding the sports stadium in Sydney, but there's $3 billion. $200 million would give us a higher dam wall, a new spillway and a pipeline, which will keep Bathurst drought-proof for years and years to come."
The key reason why he wants to see the three-item project to proceed is because Bathurst's population is growing and expected to hit 55,000 people by 2036.
He said that, with more people relying on the dam over time, water would be consumed faster and another dry period like what is being seen now would likely spell disaster.
"We've been through droughts before, drought always ends in a flood and we will fill up, but I think we should be looking at increasing the capacity of our dam," he said.
He said it would be a "godsend" for Bathurst and the region's future if the dam's current capacity could be increased by 50 per cent.
