There has been lots of debate over the efficacy of building the proposed Dunoon Dam to supply the ever increasing population of the Northern Rivers with water.
Rous County Council is the organisation that is responsible for ensuring that there is enough water available to supply the current and future population. With no current limits on growth across the region and the impacts of the last drought they have proposed that the Dunoon dam be built to secure future water supply.
Online self-guided tours
To help the community understand the proposed dams impacts Rous County Council this week launched an online interactive tool that ‘allows residents to fly a virtual drone over the region’s future bulk water supply system’.
Rous County Council Chairperson Keith Williams said the interactive ‘map journal’ is the first of its kind for the region.
‘This innovative tool presents the story behind Council’s proposed future water project using real satellite maps and detailed graphics that our community can easily navigate to explore project areas and other crucial information more closely,’ Councillor Williams said.
‘From the location of the proposed Dunoon Dam through to sites that formed part of our groundwater, recycled water and desalination investigations, with the click of a button residents can take a 360-degree, step-by-step tour of all the new water source options we’ve looked at.’
Currently on exhibition
The proposed Future Water Project 2060 is currently on public exhibition until Wednesday, 12 August 2020. The proposal’s preferred option involves two key actions:
- Upgrading the existing Marom Creek Water Treatment Plant near Wollongbar and utilising the Alstonville underground aquifer’s existing groundwater infrastructure to meet short-to-medium term water demand; and
- Ultimately, constructing the new Dunoon Dam with a storage capacity of 50 gigalitres to meet long-term water demand through to 2060 and beyond.
‘Our new online tool provides the perfect complement to the range of public information resources we’ve already deployed as part of the proposed project’s public exhibition period,’ Rous County Council’s general manager Phillip Rudd added.
‘Now that it’s up and running, we’re confident the virtual catchment tool will give residents a unique way to better understand what our bulk water supply could look like over the next 40 years.’
More stories about the Dunoon Dam
Dunoon dam and future water strategies to remain contentious on Rous
The election of Byron Shire Councillors Mayor Sarah Ndiaye and Elia Hauge to the Rous County Council (RCC) will see them working with six other elected councillors from Ballina, Richmond Valley and Lismore Councils with a key issue of contention being the Dunoon dam over the next four years.
Ballina mayor vies for second term ‘leading the rebuild’
Ballina Shire’s mayoral race this September looks to be a competition between two women, one progressive, the other conservative, after both candidates announced campaigns last week.
How to supply water to the increasing population?
It is predicted that the next 40 years will see the demand for water increase by 50 per cent in the local government areas that Rous County Council supply with water.
Is our drinking water supply threatened by Dunoon Dam?
Most people don’t know that the proposal for Dunoon Dam has never been part of Rous County Council’s 40-year, adopted, strategic plan to increase water supply, resilience and security, known as Future Water Plan 2060.
Will the Dunoon Dam go ahead?
We have not heard much about the Dunoon Dam lately and many people are asking ‘What is happening with that dam?’
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