A PIPELINE proposed between Carcoar and Cowra would benefit from water released from Wyangala Dam, according to Orange City Council.
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The NSW government announced earlier in the week it would grant $5.5 million to upgrade the regional water pipeline.
The project would include building a number of extra pump stations and a new reservoir, along with an upgrade to the inlet system at Cowra where water is pumped from the Lachlan River after its release from Wyangala Dam.
Wyangala Dam has a capacity of 1217 gigalitres and is currently at 24.6 per cent, with planning under way to boost storage to 1800 gigalitres.
By comparison, Suma Park Dam has a 19-gigalitre capacity and Orange's total water storage is about 24 gigalitres.
We're not going to prevent droughts, but with government help we can be better prepared.
- Mayor Reg Kidd
Upgrading the pipeline would allow potable water to be transferred from the Cowra Water Treatment Plant to the Central Tablelands Water network at Carcoar.
In an emergency, the water could then be pumped from Carcoar to Orange by the recently completed Orange to Carcoar pipeline, which has the capacity to deliver up to five megalitres a day to the city.
Pending approvals, the project could be operating within 12 months.
Staff from Orange and Cowra council and Central Tablelands Water will meet on Thursday to start preliminary planning for the project.
The Central Western Daily understands until this point, only high-level discussions have occurred.
Orange mayor Reg Kidd welcomed the government's willingness to explore infrastructure ideas with the potential to increase councils' capacity to manage droughts.
"Orange's experience over the last decade building water pipelines and developing pioneering stormwater harvesting schemes shows what can happen, and puts us in a better position than some regional centres," he said.
"We're not going to prevent droughts, but with government help we can be better prepared.
"As well as drought conditions, there are opportunities here to build-in extra reliability in case of other emergencies like an equipment breakdown."
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