Council investigates town water supply for Tabulam
Kyogle Council endorsed the Tabulam Water Supply Scoping Study and the Tabulam Town Water Supply Groundwater Supply Position Report at the council meeting last week.
The Tabulam Visions of Village Life Master Plan identified the desire for the village of Tabulam to be provided with a town water supply. Council was successful in securing $103,500 (75%) towards a project value of $138,000 under the NSW Government’s Safe and Secure Water Program (SSWP), for the scoping study to investigation options for the provision of a town water supply for the village of Tabulam. The initial scoping study was completed in June 2021 and endorsed by the NSW State Government regulatory bodies and funding partners. The Scoping Study recommended additional investigations be undertaken into the two new test bores that were drilled in the village of Tabulam as part of the emergency drought works associated with the Bonalbo Water Supply. The additional groundwater supply position report was completed in January 2022.
The Scoping Study identifies an opportunity for a staged approach to the provision of a town water supply for Tabulam. The first stage is to commission and undertake additional testing and monitoring of the Hall Bore to ensure its viability (estimated at $0.2 million). The second stage would see the Hall Bore used as the raw water source for a town water supply, with minimal treatment, and a new reservoir and reticulation to the existing houses constructed (estimated at $1.95 million). The third stage would see the raw water source accessing the Clarence River alluvial groundwater expanded, the treatment plant upgraded, and the additional population growth serviced (estimated at $0.65 million)
The fourth stage would see the raw water system upgraded further, an additional reservoir, and a truck main constructed to supply the Jubullum Aboriginal Land Council site with water in addition to the village of Tabulam (estimated at $5.73 million) Council has budgeted $155,150 in 2022/23 to commission the Hall Bore, with $50,000 of grant funding through the Australian Government’s Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants.
This will allow for the ongoing testing and monitoring program to commence, and for the bore to be used for fire-fighting and other non-potable the bore to be used for potable uses.
Note that the use of the Hall Bore for potable water may be limited while the onsite sewerage systems remain in place, and the ongoing monitoring program is intended to assess if this is a barrier to its use in the interim while the village waits for a reticulated sewerage system to be developed.
The current Long Term Financial Plan includes a provisional sum of $2.462 million in 2025/26 for construction of stage 2, subject to 75% external funding being secured. In order to have the best case for funding applications to cover the 75% of construction costs, Council will need to secure land for the treatment plant and reservoir and progress the preferred option identified in the Scoping Study through to concept and detailed design. There may be funding opportunities to assist with this work, however it may also be necessary for Council to fund the next stage of the process, including the land matters.
