Construction Wraps Up on Warren’s New Flexible Groundwater System
15 July 2024
Warren has boosted its drought resilience thanks to the completion of a four-year groundwater project that provides better access to water for firefighting and helps to safeguard the region’s drinking water.
The $1 million initiative, funded by the NSW Government, delivers infrastructure that gives the town a new flexible approach to managing its residential water supply while also giving firefighters access to bore water for the first time whenever the Macquarie River is low or has no flows.
Warren relies on bore water for town supply, which is sourced from the Bore Flat and Ellengerah bore fields, while the river is used for firefighting and irrigation.
The project will enable Warren Shire Council to move bore water between the two locations thanks to the construction of a new 2.5km pipeline which will improve water reliability, particularly during dry times.
Separately to this, there are now three new crossover connection points along the town’s existing pipelines, that when opened, can enable bore water to be transferred into the river pipeline, so firefighters have another source of water to lean on in an emergency.
To ensure there is 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.
The project has also funded new water storage following the completion of a 1 megalitre reservoir at Bore Flat.
Further advancing the town’s groundwater system is a new industry leading chlorination system at each site to disinfect the water supply.
The project kicked off in February 2020 and was completed in April this year after significant delays due to Covid-19 and multiple flood events.
NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Executive Director Development, Lisa Hingerty said:
“Through this million-dollar investment, we’ve been able to build Warren a robust groundwater system that gives residents more reliable access to drinking water, while also providing an alternative source for firefighting.
“Improving firefighting capabilities in regional towns that are vulnerable to drought is critical, as is safeguarding water for the community.
“It’s great to see this project crossing the finish line months ahead of the next bushfire season with Warren in a much stronger position to protect its community during an emergency.”
Warren Shire Mayor, Milton Quigley said:
“Having limited firefighting capacity during a drought is a significant risk to our community.
“For the first time, this project will offer us access to bore water for firefighting, which 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.
“Providing greater connection between the two bore fields, along with new storage and state-of-the-art chlorination systems that purify the water onsite, is also a major win for our residents.
“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 as well as seeing 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.”
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Media Contacts:
Elle Whittaker
Media Advisor, Water Group
NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
P: 0417 885 984
E: elle.whittaker@dpie.nsw.gov.au
Gary Woodman
General Manager, Warren Shire Council
P: 02 6847 6600
E: gary.woodman@warren.nsw.gov.au
Raymond Burns
Town Services Manager, Warren Shire Council
P: 02 6847 6600
E: rjb@warren.nsw.gov.au