We asked Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council’s (QPRC) Public Forum about planning to secure Braidwood’s water supply. Below is some background and what the council told us.
During the 2016-2020 drought, numerous towns across NSW ran out of drinking water. Braidwood was one of them.
After hitting level four water restrictions, the water level in the Shoalhaven River was too low for pumping. Following a request from QPRC, the ACT agreed to help.
For three weeks, potable water was trucked from the ACT’s reservoirs to Braidwood, at a cost of almost $60,000, paid for by the NSW Government.
The drought broke with a deluge but the water shortfall quite rightly prompted QPRC to order a review of Braidwood’s water supply system. NSW Public Works, which conducted the review, concluded that additional water storage is not needed.
Instead, it seems the focus will be on more stringent conservation measures introduced earlier in a prolonged dry period (that’s our interpretation of ‘a more defined water restriction activation policy’). Also, ‘reigning in issues with non-revenue water’, which sounds like water that is used but not paid for.
The Council is expected to consider a report on the matter soon.
You can read the question and response in the minutes of the 27 October 2021 meeting, when available on the QPRC website
Image: Shoalhaven River below Bombay Bridge (Credit: Grahamec, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons]
Authorised by Sylvia Hale for The Greens NSW, Suite D, 263-279 Broadway, GLEBE NSW 2037