NSW Government’s review of water strategy could bring Dunoon Dam back

A proposed 50GL dam that was rejected by a Northern Rivers council is being floated as an option to shore up the region’s water supply.

Rous County Council general manager Phillip Rudd says his organisation will need to learn more about a new review of water infrastructure that could lead to a reprisal of the Dunoon Dam project.

The council last year rejected the 50GL project but Mr Rudd on Wednesday acknowledged the state government could mandate the project be a part of the area’s future water strategy.

“The state government can direct us but they have to offer good reasons and I don’t think we are at that point,” he said.

His comments came after the state government announced the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation would review options being considered in the Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy, which is designed to support the management of healthy rivers, communities, industries and the environment over the coming decades.

Mr Rudd said he would be contacting the organisation to get further details about the review.

“I don’t know what they are actually reviewing,” he said.

He said he was unsure if the methodology of the current regional water strategy or the criteria of how projects were short-listed were being reviewed.

“That’s the unknown from our point of view,” he said.

Rous County Council is the water supply authority for about 40,100 customers in Ballina, Byron, Lismore and Richmond Valley areas.

The catchment and buffer zones of the proposed Dunoon Dam.

The principal source of the region’s water is Rocky Creek Dam, about 25km north of Lismore near the village of Dunoon.

The current water strategy for the area is a mix of use of underground water from different aquifers.

That plan has been criticised by farmers from the Alstonville Plateau who have called on Water Minister Melinda Pavey to organise an inquiry and set aside the Rous council until that was completed.

Ms Pavey said the new review would form part of the evidence base for the final strategy.

“We’re exploring new dams, storages and pipeline options, desalination, water efficiency, additional groundwater schemes and recycled water options, among many other diverse and innovative solutions highlighted in the draft strategy published last year,” she said.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier and for Water Infrastructure, Sam Farraway, said the review would look at a range of water storage and delivery options.

They include the use of recycled stormwater and wastewater, groundwater access and a new dam at Dunoon.

The review is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

Mr Farraway has been lobbying the government to bring back the Dunoon dam despite the decisions taken by Rous councillors to shelve the project.

The Dunoon dam project was expected to cost $220 million in the first 10 years of its construction.

It was rejected by Rous County councillors in December 2020 and again in July 2021 when councillors cited cultural, scientific and social reasons against it.

Environmental activists and scientists also joined the opposition to the dam project.

The vote came after the exhibition process of the Future Water Plan attracted more than 10,000 pro-dam submissions, of a total of just over 13,000.