Tamworth council asks for community input on water security future

The local government is embarking on a round of community consultation to inform a new Tamworth Water Security Plan, and project manager Naomi Schipanski says it's vital the community has its say.

"The first phase of this project will be reaching out to our community to understand what they value about water, and that will feed back into understanding how much we need," Ms Schipanski said.

"I'm not here to preempt what the community wants. I'm here to listen to what it is that they value."

The first phase of designing the new plan will combine public feedback with technical studies and investigations to produce a list of options.

Those options will then go back out to the community in early 2025.

Ms Schipanski says the new Tamworth Water Security Plan was in the works before Baiada Poultry's recent decision to pull out of the city's industrial water recycling plant.

"Water recycling is one source of water, but this plan covers all sources of water," Ms Schipanski said.

"We've been working with the state and federal governments over the last few years and Dungowan Dam was our major option. The end of that project prompted us to kick off in earnest again."

Council is urging the community to submit as much feedback as possible on council's Have Your Say website.

One issue the Leader has heard from the community is concern over what level of cancer-causing 'forever chemicals,' commonly known as PFAS, currently sits in our drinking supply.

National reporting on PFAS has led to growing calls for Australian water standards to be lifted following findings the US Environmental Protection Agency declaring there is "no safe level of exposure" in drinking water.

A TRC spokesperson took questions of PFAS on notice but said they weren't in a position to discuss them in relation to the Tamworth Water Security Plan.