Chaffey Dam is currently sitting at 21%. We expect that it will continue to fall and as per Council’s drought management plan we will introduce level 5 water restrictions at 20%.

Over the last week Council has faced issues with the treating of the water in the Peel River. This lead to a reduction in the amount of water we could provide to residents on a daily basis. This issue was caused by algae in the temporary weir pool at the Peel River intake which was difficult to remove from the water supply.

The temporary weir ponds water at the Peel River intake making it easier for us to pump water from the river and to the Calala Water Treatment Plant. Council was given approval to put the temporary weir in place due to low river flows which make it difficult to access water as it flows past.

To overcome the issues caused by the algae Council ordered additional water from Chaffey Dam. This additional water was required to achieve two things:

• To flush out the temporary weir
• To replenish the reservoirs that had become depleted whilst we were finding a solution to the water treatment issue

We have now found a solution to treating the water if the algae issue reoccurs. Moving forward the quality of the water in the Peel River is going to fall and these occasions are going to happen more regularly so we are assessing our treatment processes and will change them accordingly.

All water produced and released by Council into the town water supply meets the National Health and Medical Research Council Drinking Water Guidelines. There is various control points throughout the water treatment process that we must, and do, comply with. If the treated water does not comply then we do not release it into the town water supply.

The Peel River intake temporary weir is not related to the temporary weirs being built by WaterNSW as part of their Peel Valley project. The treatment measures we have identified and will be implementing will allow us to treat this water if the algae issue occurs at this site.