COUNCILLORS from Goulburn Mulwaree endorsed the final draft of an Integrated Water Cycle Management Plan (IWCM) report at last Friday’s special meeting.
The report calls for the construction of the Highlands Source Project (HSP) from the Wingecarribee Reservoir to the Goulburn Water Treatment Plant with an initial transfer capacity of five mega litres (or five million litres)?a day.
It recommended a centralised effluent reuse scheme, augmentation of the Goulburn Sewerage Plant to produce effluent of a quality suitable for farms and further expansion of the Demand Management Program.
It also included Marulan tapping into the HSP.
But Cr Neil Penning raised a new motion, saying there was a need for more investigation into stormwater harvesting and evaporation control.
“We have a renovation of a report on water that recommends we move our water supply to Moss Vale based on a lot of figures,” Cr Penning said.
“But what is more interesting is the figures you don’t see in this report.”
Cr Penning claimed there were major differences in the growth projections in the report to the council and reality.
“Our required yield is not 3600ML a year as presented in the document but will more likely be 2700ML a year, and until 2035 we will still be in surplus,” he said.
“Environmental flows will have to be renegotiated and this could drop by 30-50 per cent - we don’t know that yet.”
He said the report did not have enough detail about stormwater harvesting or evaporation control.
“There is one paragraph on evaporation control with an example of a primitive chemical and a nonsensical explanation,” he said.
He said the average evaporation out of Sooley Dam was 1800ML a year and from Sooley and Pejar Dams together was 3600ML a year.
“We lose more water to evaporation each year than we use,” he said.
“This should be given more consideration, especially with climate change and inter-dam transfers (between Sooley and Pejar Dams), which is a critical component of more stormwater harvesting.”
Cr Nina Dillon spoke against the motion. She said evaporation control and stormwater harvesting had been considered in the report.
“This report is based upon triple-bottom line analysis and we have to do what we can within our limits,” Cr Dillon said.
“We need to concentrate on what can give us the best bang for our buck.”
Cr Andrew Banfield also said he did not think enough emphasis had been placed on stormwater harvesting.
Cr Geoff Kettle said he did not want to see the project “delayed in any way” but would support more investigation into stormwater harvesting later.
Cr Bob Kirk asked if the request for further investigations could be included in the motion as an addendum, but that council move on and endorse the recommendation.
Cr Penning then moved that the motion be re-worded to state the following:
“A. That Council endorses the final draft version of the IWCM Strategy report and lodges it with the NSW Office of Water for consideration and approval.
“B. This endorsement is given subject to future inclusion in the IWCM of up to date and detailed scenarios regarding: (1) the actual population growth of Goulburn, (2) the actual current demand, (3) the current average rainfall, (4) a stormwater harvesting proposal, and (5) an evaporation control proposal.
“C. The Project Reference Group meeting dates, attendees and minutes be included in an appendix to the IWCM.”
This was the motion resolved by Cr Penning and seconded by Cr O’Neill and this was the motion that was carried.
After the meeting, Goulburn Mulwaree water services manager Greg Horvath said this was a significant motion by the council because the $40 million pledged from the state and federal governments was dependent upon the council’s endorsement.
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