TAMWORTH Regional Council's push for water reform hit a dead end after a meeting with the NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey on Wednesday.
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Several big-ticket water issues were on the agenda, including changes to the Peel Valley Water Sharing Plan, environmental releases and use of the Chaffey Dam pipeline.
Council's water director Bruce Logan said plenty of exciting ideas were put forward at the meeting but no changes were made.
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"It's good the government wants to keep talking about these issues and we certainly raised with them issues regarding the use of the pipeline," Mr Logan said.
"We would like to see that be available to use all the time. I think it's fair to say the government has some concerns about possible impacts on the environment through doing that."
Mr Logan said the council presented alternatives to Water NSW's daily environmental releases from Chaffey Dam, which were reinstated after the dam passed 20 per cent capacity.
"We suggested that rather than releasing three megalitres a day, that water be stored and that water be used when there is an environmental issue or they need to do some aquifer recharge," he said.
"That may allow the pipeline to continue to be used and I think the government was interested in that idea, they said they would have to do some modelling to see what effects that would have."
The meeting comes after Tamworth mayor Col Murray last week vowed to continue the fight to change the Peel Valley Water Sharing Plan, to boost the city's share of the water.
"I think both Minister Pavey and [NSW Environmental Minister] Matt Kean are prepared to have a look at that," Mr Logan said.
"These are complex issues, water is a finite resource, there's lots of different customers competing for it and it is a difficult job to get that balance right.
"I accept that, but from a council perspective we think the balance needs to be a bit more towards the city than it is to the other users at the moment."
Mr Logan said he believed Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson was supportive of the council's cause.
"Kevin Anderson was certainly there and while I'm not sure he supports all of the council's ideas, he was certainly supportive of what we were saying yesterday afternoon [Wednesday] and we can't ask for anything more than that."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
