Alstonville farmers fear water woes if Rous extracts from Plateau
As part of the Northern Rivers' future water strategy, Rous is planning to extract water from the Alstonville Plateau. But farmers are worried.
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Alstonville farmers want assurances from Rous and the NSW Government their water allocation will not change in the future.
Rous unveiled its new Future Water Project 2060 outlining where water will come from to meet demand in the Byron, Ballina, Lismore and Richmond Valley areas.
Rous is planning to extract 1.2GL of water from the Alstonville Plateau, and will prospect water from deeper aquifers in order not to impact water used by farmers in the area.
Save Alstonville Aquifer conveyor and local farmer Mike Hogan said
"What we fear is, when we had the recent drought we saw hundreds of water trucks pulling water out of this area to service the rural communities, is that still happens and we also have water coming out of the aquifer because of population growth (...) there will be a huge impact in the aquifer," he said.
The farmers on the Plateau, who normally don't have access to town water and rely on rain and bores for their irrigation, fear a future drought will make domestic-use water a priority and will allow Rous to take more water from that area in case of a crisis.
"All the scientific reports done on the aquifer have told us that it is 'over-allocated and under stress', and nothing has changed, and that's what our fear is, if Rous starts bore pumping and gets an increase in allocation because there is no water, the impact on locals who rely on this would be big."
Mr Hogan has owned a custard apple and avocado farm in the area for decades, and said other farmers in the area grow macadamias, limes, medicinal cannabis, nurseries and a number of other products.
"They all depend on water, they are well established businesses, and last year we saw already a drop in productivity," he said.
The farmer said there was no scientific proof yet that Rous digging deeper bores on the Plateau would not affect the aquifers farmers currently use, or that they would offer good quality water.
"The Plateau aquifer being the way it is, get the infiltration or recharge of water - as they call it - only from rain," he said
"This aquifer only gets water from rain, so at the moment it will be fairly full and its unique."
The current five-year average water consumption for our region is 11.3 gigalitres per year.
Population growth forecasts indicate a 37 per cent increase in drinking water demand by 2060.
On current growth, the amount of water consumed a year by the Byron Shire, Ballina Shire, Lismore City and Richmond Valley will exceed reliable supply by 2024.
The Future Water Project 2060 is on public exhibition at Rous County Council's website until May 28.
>>>Full details: Where will our water come from?
>>> NEW PLAN (AGAIN): How our water strategy will be developed
Originally published as Alstonville farmers fear water woes if Rous extracts from Plateau
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