FINDING a Riverina dam site has become a hotly contested topic after the government’s $2 billion rural water scheme “all-but confirmed” the development of a local catchment.
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Riverina MP Michael McCormack on Wednesday praised a budget funding boost to build local dams, which he said “the region will capitalise on”.
It comes just weeks after Mr McCormack dashed hopes a local dam was within reach.
Build More Dams committee chairman Dino Zappacosta told The Daily Advertiser the scheme had brought the prospect of a local dam “closer” than ever before.
“It's certainly something that I welcome wholeheartedly; farmers in the Riverina are suffering from a lack of water allocations more than anywhere else in Australia,” he said.
“We desperately need more water in the Murrumbidgee Valley area to assist in growing more rice and food crops, and to revitalise the area that has been damaged by the Murray Darling Basin Plan.”
Cr Zappacosta suggested two possibilities for the site – at Lake Coolah, or the joining point between the Tumut and Murrumbidgee rivers.
But the proposal for a new dam in the Riverina has been branded a “threat” to the environment by the Nature Conservation Council (NCC) of NSW.
“If the Turnbull government really wants to help the Riverina deal with water scarcity, it should spend money on climate change, water efficiency, demand management and recycling,” NCC campaigns director Daisy Barham said.
“It does not matter how many dams you have, if it doesn’t rain you won’t fill them.
“They degrade river systems, cause a host of environmental problems, and fail to provide water security for local communities.”
A dam at Lake Coolah would have the potential to store half a million megalitres of water, if built.
The boost in funding for a dam feasibility study comes after a $9.5 million budget cut from the Rural Research and Development for Profit Program.
It is slated to begin in July.