Draft Regional Water Strategy warns of 'real and urgent risk' of dried-out Tamworth after climate change

With climate change hitting the region hard in the coming decades, rainfall could halve during the worst droughts in the driest climate scenario.

That's the nightmare scenario the state government attempted to prepare for when it developed a new water strategy for the region.

The second round of the Draft Regional Water Strategy for the Namoi, released this week, includes a shortlist of 30 projects and policies the state could consider to resolve the region's water security crisis. The plan is open for public consultation until September 18.

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The proposed new Dungowan Dam would easily halve the risk of Tamworth running out of water alone, but "in the long term, without additional action to reduce demand or improve supply, the risks to Tamworth's water supplies increase as the city's demand on water sources grows in a changing climate".

Aside from $1.3 billion dam and pipeline, the state is considering "dismantling barriers to Aboriginal water rights", permitting water licence holders to change a portion of general security licences to high security licences, and investing in water treatment facilities for industries reliant on town water supplies.

Options included under "longer-term planning", the state would also consider constructing additional water treatment facilities, a pipeline from Namoi Valley dams to Tamworth, a pipeline from Manning Valley to the Peel Valley, and increasing the water reserved for urban use in Chaffey Dam.

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It follows an earlier report released for public comment in early 2021. Many projects have been abandoned in the last 12 months including a pipeline from a proposed new weir at Blue Hole, and operating the Chaffey to Tamworth pipeline constantly, even outside droughts.

"Even without growth, there is a real and urgent risk that Tamworth could run out of water in a severe and prolonged drought, going from full dams to running out of water within six years," the document reads.

"The townships of Manilla and Barraba, in the Tamworth Local Government Area, are also at risk of running out of surface water in future extreme droughts."

The water-dependent agriculture and mining industries together employ more than 33 per cent of the region's workforce, representing a quarter of the area's economic output.

Webinar and face-to-face consultation sessions will be held in September.

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Executive director Kaia Hodge said the Department of Planning and Environment consulted with Aboriginal communities, local residents, businesses, irrigators, landholders, stakeholder groups and councils during the first round of consultation in 2021.

"This helped refine the strategy and identify the shortlist of options to deliver a more secure water future for the region," she said.

"As towns and businesses in the Namoi grow, and as we face a drier and more variable climate, we're preparing for more pressing challenges than ever before."

She said many towns in the region depend on groundwater, so the state needs to to make sure the Namoi's aquifers are used sustainably.

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