Tamworth Regional Council to give Dungowan Dam $825,000 renovation

It comes after the federal government pulled the plug on building a new dam for the region.

A report going to councillors for approval recommends spending the money across four major projects in 2023/24.

The projects detailed in the report would pour money into powering the dam's CCTV in the event of a major power outage, replacing the "debris boom" used to control pollution, dam gate maintenance, and planning for pursuing further safety works.

The proposed projects would address the findings of two recent risk assessments on the safety of operating Dungowan Dam, which indicated that while the dam currently meets the required safety thresholds, there are opportunities to to further enhance its safety.

When Dungowan Dam 2.0 was announced, safety improvements met a dam of their own, the council report says, as "these would have been resolved with the construction of the new dam and proposed decommissioning of the existing dam."

But with cost blowouts sending the price of the dam soaring - making it worth less than a third of its cost - the federal and state Labor governments were quick to retract funding, sinking the project.

With the new dam canned, council is compelled under state law to reduce safety risks at the existing dam as "far as is reasonably practical," according to regulations that went into effect three years after the Dungowan Dam expansion's announcement.

"The decision to not proceed with the new Dungowan Dam, will mean that significant costs will be incurred by Council to complete operational improvements, maintenance, investigations and potential capital works," council's report says.

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The report also recommends council commit to $500,000 of funding in next year's budget to go towards improved water pressure monitoring, and mentions three more safety projects which could be required in coming years, subject to the findings of further risk assessments.

Those three additional projects, if required, have a combined price tag of $2.5 million.

Adding that to the $850,000 spend planned for this year, plus $500,000 next year, means council is looking at a potential cost of $3.85 million on dam safety over the next few years.

"There's a massive cost to bring that dam facility up to the standard that the dam safety committee are looking at, many many millions of dollars. We've got to look at what we're doing now and what we're going to do in the future to meet the requirements the dam safety committee keeps moving," Tamworth's mayor Russell Webb said.

It's a bitter pill for council to swallow given its dire financial position, but Cr Webb said the council's hands are tied.

"Any money we spend on any safety upgrade to any of our facilities is not done because we just want to, it's done because we're bound to by government requirements," he said.

Cr Webb said the death of the Dungowan Dam 2.0 has "put us into a position where we have to go back and reconsider our approach," but that he didn't want to comment further until after council has had further discussions.

The report councillors will discuss says that since the costs are the result of state and government actions, they should be the ones to foot some of the bill.

As such, the report recommends council makes submissions to the NSW and Federal water ministers "detailing the costs incurred by council given the decision not to proceed with the new Dungowan Dam and request consideration of funding contribution to reduce Dam Safety Risks."

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