The state government has not committed to doing enough to guarantee last year's water crisis never happens again, according to a local mayor.
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Gunnedah Mayor Jamie Chaffey said a "ridiculous" and "embarrassing" degree of bureaucracy delayed a local pilot project designed to save local water by using recycled H2O on road projects, even after utility dams ran close to dry.
"This is a pilot program that needs to be proven up as quickly as possible, because every day we're closer to the next drought," he said.
He said not enough has changed to make sure the hold ups never happen again.
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"I don't see any significant changes. There's work obviously going on in dams in both of those two areas [Walcha and Tamworth]; if that infrastructure is finished in time for the next drought and there's adequate rainfall in those catchments, that will help. But it's only one part of the picture. Change is still required," Cr Chaffey said.
His comments come after the state government committed last week to adopt a standardised system of water restrictions across NSW.
The government committed to follow all 10 interim recommendations of the Inquiry into Support for Drought Affected Communities in NSW, which has spent the last year considering the 2019 water crisis.
Local councils, operating as Namoi Unlimited, told the parliamentary inquiry no other region had been as affected by the crisis, and asked for a full-scale review of rules governing recycled water.
Mayor Chaffey, who also Chairs Namoi Unlimited, told the Leader government bureaucracy had been inundated with councils applying for approvals for water projects.
Local councils found one of their projects - a plan to use recycled water to replace drinking water on road projects - held up in the backlog.
"I think it's clear when you're in drought and the pressure is on communities for survival every single aspect needs to be looked at that makes a difference," he said.
"It only makes sense that under this particular program, if it's successful, it could be rolled out right across regional, rural and remote parts of NSW."
The government committed to "review" the "approval process with a view to removing duplication and improving timeliness".
"State and Regional Water Strategies currently being developed will identify priorities and actions for building resilience of regional towns and communities to changes in water availability," the government response said.
MPs in all political parties have floated the idea of permitting regional communities to drink recycled water during a drought crisis as a silver bullet solution.
Inquiry chairperson Justin Clancy said Australia needs to have a conversation about drinking recycled water.
Tenterfield Shire Council started the conversation about recycled drinking water last year, beginning a local investigation of whether recycling could prove a solution for the town's then-severe water security crisis.
Namoi Unlimited is currently conducting a community survey into recycled water, but the inquiry and the government response are both silent on the controversial issue.
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
