THE council is certain it will have a solution in place before the year's end to keep one of the region's biggest employees running through the drought.
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Tamworth Regional Council is still working a plan to divert treated wastewater down the Peel River to Baiada to keep its chicken processing enterprise going.
However, there are a few factors the council has to balance.
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The recycled effluent is currently used by a lucerne farmer who was happy to see the water go to Baiada for the greater good of the community.
But the hay farming enterprise was seeking a substantial financial compensation for the potential loss of income.
Also, weirs on the Peel will be completed in coming days which will have a largely unknown effect on the river's flow and connected groundwater supplies.
There are also questions about the volume of water the Westdale treatment plant would need to release with the possibility of transmission loss downstream.
The council deferred a decision on the proposal last fortnight and didn't consider it at this week's meeting either.
There is only one more ordinary meeting scheduled for 2019.
Mayor Col Murray said the solution wasn't dragging on and was confident it would be resolved before the year's end. "We're still discussing what the fallout might be from the decision," he said.
"We need to understand how much to release into the river.
"We're working closely with Water NSW on how we might do that."
The council also had to consider whether it was more efficient to release the water in "pulses" or in bulk every few days.
The council came under some criticism earlier this month with some people asking why one business in the region should be so heavily supported by local government. Cr Murray said the chicken processor's livelihood had wider implications.
"We've been working closely with Baiada because those jobs are so important to the region's economy," he said.