The Bowraville Dam carried a price tag of $56 million and the responsibility of assuring the continued water supply to the Nambucca Valley through even its most drought-ridden times ahead.

Despite $24 million of the cost being shouldered by both the State and Federal Governments, this has still left a sizeable legacy of debt for our tiny shire to pay out over the coming generations – a debt which may prove justifiable if global warming has its surly way with us.

None of this is news to those of you who keep abreast of local matters.

But what might be news, is that the dam may now potentially cost us quite a few million more, should we fail to secure enough financial support from our big brothers in government.

You see, the Bowraville Dam was never fitted with a filtration plant, despite it being known that it might be needed in future if turbidity was high.

Our council baulked at the exorbitant quotes for a ‘high end’ microfiltration plant, which came in at around $25 million.

“This was unaffordable and also there was a possibility that a filtration plant might not be required given we source high quality water from an aquifer beside the river,” council general manager Michael Coulter said.

“The collective view of the experts from the Office of Water, Public Works, consultants, Council staff etc. was that in the event of an extended drought it would be better to have water (even if there were quality issues) rather than none.

Just as council predicted, there hasn’t been any major issues regarding water quality to date, and the Nambucca is indeed better placed than most communities to weather a period of aridity.

But Councillor David Jones – who was the mayor of the Bendigo Council during the ‘millenium drought’ – is concerned that there has been a lack of transparency about the situation and its implications within the wider community.

“I’ve been on about this for two years now, and as I've mentioned in council meetings before, the majority of people in the Nambucca Valley simply don’t know that we’d be faced with a boiled water notice in times of drought,” he said.

“Nor do they know that this is an ongoing issue – the infrastructure is not complete. And a filtration system with a price-tag in the tens of millions – that is significant.

“I think it’s important that this is widely known.”

The reason this issue is bubbling to the surface now, is council is “currently in the process of sourcing grant funding from the State Government to prepare an options report for a water treatment plant”.

According to Mr Coulter, the Federal Government has drafted a new standard for the quality of drinking water.

“This standard, if adopted by the States, will effectively require treatment plants for most if not all water storages,” he said.  

“This options report can now be informed by the actual turbidity of the water in Bowra Dam as well as the risk of cryptosporidium [cause of respiratory and gastrointestinal disease] from water extracted from the borefield. 

“I anticipate it will present a range of options and of course the one the Council will be interested in will be the least cost means of achieving the quality of potable water necessary to avoid a boiled water alert.”

BACKGROUND READING: 

When asked if the clay lining of the dam (used to reduce seepage) could contribute to high turbidity levels, Mr Coulter said that he didn’t believe this was the case.

“I am not aware of any water storages with artificial liners.  Now the water has had the opportunity to settle for a number of years I don’t believe the clay liner is a major factor in the turbidity of the water,” he said.

But Cr Jones was skeptical: “I find it hard to believe that you could pour water in a clay-lined dam and pull that water out without turbidity.”