Bathurst Community Climate Action Network decides to oppose proposed pumped hydro project near Yetholme

Bathurst Community Climate Action Network (BCCAN) has supported proposals for solar farms on Bathurst's eastern and northern outskirts, but says it will not support the pumped hydro project for reasons including its use of water.

It follows the pumped hydro project being awarded a $9.44 million recoverable grant from the NSW Government but failing to win the support of Deputy Premier and Member for Bathurst Paul Toole.

The project is being proposed by ATCO, a global company based in Canada that has been operating in Australia for about 65 years, and will involve the construction of a reservoir at the top of Mount Tennyson, near Yetholme, and another in a nearby valley.

A statement from BCCAN on Thursday said the group was concerned about the project's reliance on extraction from the Fish River, "which forms part of a complex ecosystem supporting remnant biodiversity in the Yetholme area as well as being a designated part of Bathurst's drinking water catchment".

"With climate change and predictions of increased frequency and intensity of drought, local water sources must be protected," the statement said.

ATCO has previously told the Western Advocate that only natural flows from the Fish River would be taken for the pumped hydro project - and "only when the flows are sufficient to do so".

As well, Professor Andrew Blakers - who was part of an Australian National University team that did an audit five years ago of potential pumped hydro sites across Australia - told the Western Advocate earlier this month that the initial water taken from the Fish River for the pumped hydro project would "remain in the system for the next 50 to 100 years, going up and downhill several hundred times every year".

BCCAN spokeswoman Sally Neaves said the group supports renewable energy "as part of the urgent shift away from fossil fuels", but "there are other local alternative renewable projects proposed and underway".

"We are supportive of projects that are appropriate for our region," she said.

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In terms of its concerns about the pumped hydro project, BCCAN also pointed to what it said was the plan to blast away the top of Mount Tennyson "with explosives to create a 75-acre dam" and the 60 metre-deep shaft that it said will be blasted adjacent to Frying Pan Creek.

"Blasting creates noise, dust, and vibrations which can carry long distances. It also releases harmful contaminants and causes sediment run off," the BCCAN statement said.

"Contaminant activity within the project area can be transmitted by water to downstream users."

Ms Neaves said action on climate change "is not only about the switch to renewables; it is also about protecting water and biodiversity in a changing climate".

In terms of blasting, ATCO says the project will not involve blowing up the top of Mount Tennyson and, instead, the "top reservoir will be built using modern civil works construction techniques".

"These techniques involve the movement of soil and rock, primarily using earthworks machinery. Blasting will only be used where necessary," ATCO says in a question and answer document about the project.

"Where rock is particularly dense or difficult to 'break up', controlled blasting techniques will be employed during construction to fracture this rock to permit the material to be worked, most likely in the vicinity of the reservoirs.

"These techniques are strictly controlled and carefully employed under vibration and noise regulatory requirements and will consider prevailing wind conditions to reduce potential dust and noise impacts."

ATCO also says the project will "adopt dust management measures to reduce and effectively manage dust generated from construction activities ... for the protection of water and air quality".