Gifts of bottled water from people in Orange have helped quench the thirst of locals in Walgett who are suffering a major water shortage.
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Organiser Maree Glohe drove from Orange to Walgett this week with a truck loaded up with water bottles given by supermarkets and residents at a donation day in Robertson Park last Saturday.
On the way she collected more bottles in Molong and then met up with police in Dubbo who had co-ordinated a separate collection.
Mrs Glohe said they were warmly received by locals when they arrived in Walgett.
The north-west NSW town has been on level five water restrictions for months and suffered a blow last week when its bore water supply was knocked out of action for a day.
A meeting of locals this week has called for action to provide a constant water supply.
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Mrs Glohe said she was overwhelmed by the reception.
“It was awesome. The people in Walgett are amazing,” she said.
“I was not expecting it go as big as it did. We went out to the mission and the reservation to make sure they got water too.”
Mrs Glohe said they had about 500 slabs (of 24 bottles each) to hand out.
She said Walgett was in dire need of rain and water supplies.
“Orange is green. You get out there and you are walking on dirt. We’ve still got grass in the paddocks,” she said.
Mrs Glohe said she was keen to organise another delivery for Walgett.
She has organised another collection day in Robertson Park for Saturday January 19 and hopes to take the water to Walgett the following day.
Mrs Glohe said she was looking for help to transport the next load of water to Walgett.
“I’m going to approach transport companies in Orange and ask if they could provide a truck, or a truck and driver to help out,” she said.
Mrs Glohe said more water was also being collected in Dubbo.
“It has gone absolutely mental. I wasn’t expecting it go this big,” she said.