The lack of rain is having a big impact on a small western town, with Coonabrabran’s continuing level six restrictions a worry for the town’s residents.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Warrumbungle Shire Council are enacting emergency measures around the town, with the state government stepping in to assist with funding before the town runs out of water.
Warrumbungle Shire Council mayor Peter Shinton said at the moment the springs along the Castlereagh River had been the towns ‘saving grace’ with the amount of water the town has left being ‘extended all the time’.
READ ALSO: Coonabarabran rain baffles preschooler
The town receives the majority of its water from Timor Dam, which is sitting at 22.8 per cent capacity. The outflow from the dam is expected to cease operating under gravity when the level reaches 20 per cent capacity.
According to the Bureau of Meterology, Coonabarabran has recorded just 3.9mm of rain during June, 3.5mm in May and 2.4mm in April.
“At the moment we are sourcing water from the river and four existing bores in town, which is supplementing the supply and satisfying the level of water needed by the community,” Cr Shinton said.
Cr Shinton said residents were naturally worried about the water situation.
“There are many people in town who are very garden proud, and they have been let down by the water restrictions as they can only use second-grade water (from washing machines, or bath water) to water their garden.
“There are many residents who are very critical of council because of this. Council should have been keeping an eye on the water levels.”
The level of water needed within the town has decreased from one mega-litre per day to about half a mega-litre per day because of the restrictions.
Seven test bores have been drilled, with six bores cased and three day pump tests completed. Water samples have been sent for analysis to determine if the water is suitable to be treated before being used in the town water supply.
Council have said they are ‘hopeful it will receive licenses for the other five test bores in the coming weeks.’
Cr Shinton said he hopes once the bores are in place they can be used to increase the water supply to the town in the short term and restrictions could be lowered to level four or five.
“At this stage we need to keep the demand for water under control.”
In the long term Cr Shinton said they had been discussing increasing the Timor Dam by three metres, with safety checks to make sure the dam can support the larger structure taking place, however the current estimate for the works are around $8 million.
“We aren’t sure how much extra water this would give us, as the study has not looked at the whole catchment area, but it would be a lot more water.”