WaterNSW - MEDIA RELEASE
Published on 30 May 2025
Water quality experts partner with Gwydir Shire Council
30 May 2025
Water quality experts from WaterNSW will be in Warialda and Bingara on 5-6 June continuing our collaboration with Gwydir Shire Council on ways to reduce risks to local source water quality.
“We’re delighted to have our team on the ground working alongside Gwydir Shire Council to enhance the management of source water quality in the region as part of the NSW Government’s Town Water Risk Reduction Program (TWRRP),” WaterNSW Executive Manager Strategy and Performance, Fiona Smith, said.
“On day one WaterNSW will host Council staff for a site visit to Copeton Dam for inspections and discussions with our dam operators to better understand the dam’s operations and how it influences source water quality. Our experts will also visit Council’s water treatment plant at Bingara.
“On day two the team will visit Council’s groundwater bores at Gravesend and Warialda. Theses inspections will enable our experts to better understand Council’s current operations, source water management practices and risk controls, so that we can provide the best and most practical advice.
Gwydir Shire Council is also one of 13 local water utilities participating in the baseline water quality monitoring program. As part of TWRRP, WaterNSW and Council are collecting additional water samples in order to facilitate improvements in local water quality knowledge and management of drinking water supplies.
Collecting and reporting on local water quality samples is part of the source water quality stream of the TWRRP, an initiative of the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).
“One of the big lessons from the most recent drought is the water sector must collaborate more closely to build expertise and provide better access to niche skills,” Fiona said.
“Some of those niche but critically important functions include catchment management and better ways to monitor and reduce risks at the source of water used in local town water supplies.
“WaterNSW is a national leader in the water sector, operating most of the large dams in NSW and protecting the health of the drinking water catchment that supplies more than 5 million people of Greater Sydney.
“This is why our experts are well placed to help identify risks and fast track improvements to local source water quality across the State under the TWRRP,” Fiona said.
Collaboration at heart of TWRRP
The TWRRP brings the strengths of major entities in the water sector, like WaterNSW, to local councils, to provide extra support to help improve water security, quality and reliability by enabling them to tap into the skills and knowledge that will best assist them.
“This program already has plenty of runs on the board with more than 90 local water utilities receiving technical support, boosted workforce capability and training opportunities since it started, but we want to keep that momentum going which is why we’ve extended it until June 2028,” DCCEEW Director of Local Water Utilities, Jane Shepherd, said.
“We’ve teamed up with the best in the business to give Councils the tools and expertise they need to continue providing clean and reliable drinking water to residents and businesses for years to come. That includes helping them to maintain their infrastructure, such as dams.”
“Our friends at WaterNSW manage some of the biggest storage dams in the state so it’s great to have them working with us and passing on their knowledge to help ensure regional communities are better prepared for drought, floods and water quality challenges in the future.”
WaterNSW has received NSW Government funding under the TWRRP to work with LWUs on dam safety risk assessments and to help improve the monitoring of source water quality. Under the program, DCCEEW provides ongoing support and expertise, free of charge to LWUs, to improve water treatment including providing training to water operators and funding to LWUs to carry out upgrades to plants.
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About WaterNSW
WaterNSW operates the state’s dams, capturing and storing water, and then supplying it ready for distribution – for the environment, agriculture, industry and the community. With 41 major dams and hundreds of waterways across the state, we play a vital role at the source of the state’s water, delivering two thirds of all water used in NSW. We’re the people taking care of the state’s water at the source – capturing, storing, delivering. Find out more at waternsw.com.au
WaterNSW media team: Media@waternsw.com.au 02 9685 4350