Warren has boosted its drought resilience thanks to the completion of a four-year groundwater project. It will provide better access to water for firefighting and help safeguard the region’s drinking water.
The $1 million initiative, funded by the NSW Government, delivers the infrastructure that gives the town a new flexible approach to managing its residential water supply. It also offers firefighters access to bore water for the first time whenever the Macquarie River is low or has no flow.
“Through this million-dollar investment, we’ve been able to build Warren a robust groundwater system,” NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Executive Director Development, Lisa Hingerty, said. “It will give residents more reliable access to drinking water and provide an alternative source for firefighting. Improving firefighting capabilities in regional towns vulnerable to drought is critical, as is safeguarding water for the community.”
Warren relies on bore water for town supply, which is sourced from the Bore Flat and Ellengerah bore fields. The river is used for firefighting and irrigation.
The project will enable Warren Shire Council to move bore water between the two locations. The construction of a new 2.5km pipeline will improve water reliability, particularly during dry times.
Three new crossover connection points are now along the town’s existing pipelines. When opened, these points can transfer bore water into the river pipeline. It will give firefighters another water source to lean on in an emergency.
To ensure no cross-contamination between the two water sources, control devices have been installed that only allow flow in one direction, preventing untreated river water from entering the bore mains.
“Having limited firefighting capacity during a drought is a significant risk to our community,” Warren Shire Mayor Milton Quigley said. “For the first time, this project will offer us access to bore water for firefighting. This will help to boost community safety when there are extremely low flows in the Macquarie River or if flows in the river are below the Warren Weir and are suspended.”
The project has also funded new water storage after completing a 1ML reservoir at Bore Flat.
A new industry-leading chlorination system to disinfect the water supply at each site is further advancing the town’s groundwater system.
The project started in February 2020 and was completed in April this year after significant delays due to COVID-19 and multiple flood events.
“While the project has been a long time coming, I’m pleased to see the job is done and that we now have a reliable and increased water supply to fight fires in dry times. It will also see improved reliability of our potable water supply with the connection of our two bore fields. In a broad sense, these two initiatives provide greater drought resilience for our entire community,” Mr Quigley said.
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