WATER Northern Rivers Alliance welcomes the diverse water supply options featured in the Far North Coast Water Strategy released by the NSW Government on Friday. WATER Northern Rivers is an alliance of groups and citizens who want smart water options for our region.
“We are pleased to see a list of diverse options, not all of which will be progressed” said Annie Kia, spokesperson for WATER Northern Rivers. “We have been very concerned about the narrow focus of Rous County Council Future Water Strategy 2060, which has ignored many of the modern solutions available that, when combined in a mixed portfolio, help create a resilient and drought-proof water system.”
“The broad-options approach in the draft strategy is exactly in line with the recommendations of Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) in their document All Options on the Table. WSAA recommends a suite of diverse options and strong water efficiency measures. In particular, they note that new dams, being rainfall-dependent, do not provide drought-resilience. If new supply is needed it’s advantageous if these sources are independent of rainfall, such as water re-use and desalination. Dr Stuart Khan recently echoed this when asked about the Rous Future Water Strategy, noting that a drought-resilient system would have 30-50% of its water coming from sources not dependent on rain.
The group has also welcomed other initiatives within the strategy, supporting Aboriginal rights and a focus on improving the health of the Richmond and Tweed Rivers.
“WATER Northern Rivers is ready to assist the development of this new vision of water supply in our region.” Ms. Kia said “and we look forward to the public consultation process empowering our community”.
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