Central Coast Council is planning the future water needs for our region and is looking to the community to be a part of the conversation.

Residents can have their say on two important water projects:

• the Integrated Water Resource Plan: an online survey is now open for community members, looking for their preferences on which are the best options to secure the Coast’s water supply for future generations.
• the drought response desalination plant: the community is invited to provide feedback on the proposed modifications to the existing planning approval for the intake structure for a possible drought response desalination plant.

Council Administrator, Mr Dick Persson AM said that these two projects were critical to securing the Coast’s water supply for future generations.

“I strongly encourage community members to get involved in planning the regions’ water future," Mr Persson said.

“We can only achieve a resilient and sustainable water future by learning together as a community to value our precious resource.”

Integrated Water Resource Plan

Central Coast Council is developing a plan that will secure the Coast’s water supply for the future – the Central Coast Integrated Water Resource Plan.

This plan will help our collaborative work with Hunter Water and the Department of Planning Industry and Environment to make sure both the Central Coast and Lower Hunter regions have water strategies that can work side by side.

Council Director Water and Sewer, Jamie Loader said that there are many things we need to consider to ensure there will be enough water for the Coast in the future.

“This plan will address the many uncertainties we face not just at a local level, but also at a global level,” Mr Loader said.

“Climate variability and change, population growth and advances in technology, as well as more acute stresses such as drought – these are all issues we need to address in our planning, especially when it comes to our water supply.

“We’ve developed a survey, so you can understand what the different water supply and demand options we are considering are and let us know how you feel about them.

“I encourage all residents to jump online and participate in this survey – we want to hear from you.”

Visit yourvoiceourcoast.com/waterplan to fill out the survey.

Drought response desalination plant

In case of unprecedented drought conditions, Central Coast Council is seeking to modify the existing planning approval for the possible construction of a drought response desalination plant.

The existing planning approval for the intake structure will be modified from being located under the sand dunes at Budgewoi Beach, to a direct ocean intake structure off the coast between Jenny Dixon Beach, Noraville and Pelican Point Beach, Magenta.

Council Director Water and Sewer, Jamie Loader said that for many years Council’s drought response contingency plan has included the possible construction of a desalination plant if water supplies fell to critical levels.

“Studies since 2005 have supported the construction of a desalination plant and associated infrastructure adjacent to the existing Toukley Sewage Treatment Plant,” Mr Loader said.

“The initial proposed location of the intake structure for the plant was under Budgewoi Beach utilising a horizontal collector well intake design. A constructability assessment of this proposed model revealed a number of potential risks, associated construction challenges and ongoing maintenance burdens at the beach site. As a result, this model and intake structure is not favoured.

“The preferred model would utilise a conventional direct ocean intake located approximately one kilometre off the coast, between Jenny Dixon Beach, Noraville and Pelican Point Beach, Magenta. Using this known and proven technology would result in less impact to beach users, pose less construction challenges and would result in significantly lower costs to construct if it were required.”

In order to modify the existing planning approval, Council is seeking community feedback and undertaking a series of studies including intake site selection, water quality reviews, marine monitoring, marine hazard, ecology impact assessment and Statement of Environmental Effects documentation.

Visit yourvoiceourcoast.com/droughtresponse to provide your feedback on the modification of the planning approval.