Let’s doughtproof Dubbo
Ask the NSW Government to provide a drought reserve in Burrendong Dam!
The summer of 2019/20 was shocking in the Wambuul/Macquarie Valley. The sharp severity of the drought was unprecedented and showed us all just how vulnerable we are in terms of water security.
By early 2020, the Wambuul/Macquarie River came extremely close to running out of water, when Burrendong Dam almost hit empty.
Dubbo was among 90 Regional NSW towns that came within months of evacuation.
Dubbo needs a drought reserve for our communities, wildlife and the river!
Over a decade of poor water management has put our river and towns in inland NSW at risk of running dry.
Without meaningful improvement to the way water is managed in inland NSW, we will be back in the same situation in the next drought.
Now is the time to fix the broken system and make sure there's enough water in public dams when the next drought comes.
It's common sense to leave enough water in the dam for the basic needs of the river, wildlife and people when the dam starts to get low.
We call on the NSW Government to establish a 'drought reserve' of up to four years water supply for town water supplies, critical base river flows, basic landholder rights and high security water needs in Burrendong dam.
Once the dam drops to that point, then the only water that should be released should be:
- Town water supplies, including Dubbo, Wellington, and villages
- Basic needs of the river (base flows to the end of the regulated river system)
- Basic Landholder Rights
- High Security entitlement owners, like the zoo and other businesses.
Our valley will not survive another severe drought unless the rules that allocate water are strengthened.