Even though it has been at capacity for almost two years, raising the wall at Ben Chifley Dam is not a priority

According to the Mayor of Bathurst Regional Council, Robert Taylor, council's current water security priority includes upgrades to Winburndale Dam and the stormwater harvesting project.

"We've been busy with Winburndale Dam, which is a multi-million dollar development out there. We've had to pin it all down," he said.

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"It's getting close to completion. Hopefully around August. It's around that time we're hoping it'll be close to finish. We're definitely in the last stages of that being finalised.

"Once that's finished, we'll be looking at renewing the pipeline. That's one area we're working on, that being our water security.

"The water harvesting project, there's still a few more small details to get that ticked off. We're looking at a few weeks for that, before we send out tenders for that.

"At this moment, [raising the dam wall] is not a priority but it is something we'll look at down the track."

Ben Chifley Dam has been at capacity since August 2020, the longest period of sustained capacity at the dam for two decades.

This comes after the dam was at its lowest point in over 20 years in February 2020, when water levels fell below 30 per cent full due to a prolonged drought across NSW.

Considering how low the water levels were just two years ago, Cr Taylor said he's thrilled at how long the dam has been full.

"It's unbelievable. We needed it full out there and if it keeps raining like this, we'll be keeping it full," he said.

Currently, Ben Chifley Dam is at 100.4 per cent full, which equates to roughly 30,210 megalitres.

Construction of Ben Chifley Dam started in 1948 and was completed eight years later, replacing Winburndale Dam as the main water supply for Bathurst.

Since opening in 1956, the dam wall has had only one significant rise to its level, back in 1999.

The top of the wall was raised by 5.4 metres and the spillway was extended by 30 metres, increasing the dam's capacity from 16,000 megalitres to 30,800 megalitres.

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