Portable desal plant to be brought to Walgett to give access to water

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They are two quick-fix gestures that will go a long way to alleviating the suffering in a water-starved town.

A portable desalination plant in a shipping container and household deliveries of bottled water are among urgent measures being considered by the state government to help Walgett, in northwest NSW, after the town’s river ran dry, forcing locals to rely on bore water.

Work on a pipeline to pump water from the upper Namoi River to the local water treatment plant will also start this week.

Walgett, on the Namoi near the junction of the Barwon River, about 650km from Sydney, is one of a number of towns in the west, including Walcha, Coonabarabran, Murrurundi, Wilcannia and Bourke, that are suffering “high or extreme” water stress.

With much of the state sweltering through 40C-plus temperatures, the crisis hit home this month when a breakdown at the town’s treatment plant left locals effectively without water for a day.

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Walgett plumber Robin Beckwith, a member of the water committee, said the normally resilient residents were suffering.

“I’ve never seen the town as down as it is at the moment,” Mr Beckwith said.

“There are people that are talking about maybe leaving — it’s a hard environment to see the river not flowing past the town.”

Only a few years ago, Mr Beckwith and his family spent a day canoeing on the Namoi. But now, as he stands overlooking the same spot, the father-of-three is confronted with a different picture. The riverbed has dried up.

With no rain forecast, Regional Water Minister Niall Blair said he was “going to do everything” to provide relief for residents.

“We need to do something and that’s what is happening at the moment,” he said.

Mr Blair, who visited Walgett last week, said the desal option would extract salt from bore water after recent tests revealed the sodium levels exceeded Australian drinking water guidelines.

Health experts will also travel to the community this week to examine the quality of the underground water supply from the Great Artesian Basin, with many residents concerned by its high sodium levels.

Using water outside the house is also banned and Mr Blair said the pipeline could alleviate the tough restrictions that have left the town looking wilted and brown.

“It will even help them do things as much as water the local football oval,” he said.

“They’ve been doing it tough and it’s as much of a morale issue as it is anything else.”

Sixth generation Walgett farmer Sam Evans said he and his father Mark have never seen conditions so dry on their Netherby property.

“This is extreme compared to any other droughts we’ve had,” Mr Evans, 33, said.

“It proves you have to be ready and have everything in order. And even if you do, it still wouldn’t be good enough at times.”

Mr Evans’ girlfriend, Walgett schoolteacher Bec Crawford, 30, who moved to the property a few months ago, said the stark landscape was a sad contrast to plains once covered by long, green Mitchell grass. She said: “Sam is used to arid conditions, but for me to look out there and see nothing is still shocking.”

Dust storms are now common occurrences on farms, with some so severe, they knock down power lines.

Mr Evans, who relies on household water from dams and rainwater tanks, said the town was also “doing it tough”.

“As farmers, we get a lot of subsidies and the town gets nothing, so they rely on everyone outside which makes it hard for a lot of the businesses in town,” he said.

And Walgett isn’t alone.

Water NSW spokesman Tony Webber said meetings were also held this week in Mudgee, Narromine and Dubbo to warn of an impending crisis with the Burrendong Dam.

He said the worst-case scenario was “it could well run dry as soon as March, 2020”.

“The communities in these areas have really been under siege for a long time. There has been a lot of economic hardship.”

The plight of Walgett has led to bottled water donations from across NSW, with the latest convoy arriving yesterday.

The next step to ensure Walgett’s long-term water supply involves increasing the height of the town’s weir by 1.2m but locals believe it should be raised even higher. Mr Blair said the tender for the $8.3 million project will be released soon.

“I think one thing that everyone needs to be reminded of is that this isn’t something that has just happened overnight. Walgett and communities like it have been struggling for many years because of drought,” Mr Blair said.

Local businessman Troy Yeomans said a plan to ensure the town’s water supply for future droughts must be enacted now.

“Instead of looking ahead to having two years’ supply of water here in Walgett, we’re looking to 100 to 150 years,” he said.