Googong Water

The pipeline should go ahead.

The important thing to realise is that it’s a backup option. Just because the pipeline is there doesn’t mean it needs to be used. it’s much cheaper just to collect water in the Cotter and Googong catchments than it is to buy water entitlements, so the pipeline would only be put in to use if it was really needed – and if things reach that point, it would be a damn good thing to have a backup plan.

Also, consider that the entire ACT is within the Murrumbidgee catchment. Approximately half of the water taken for human consumption returns to the river via the sewage system – for every 2GL of water that we took out of the Murrumbidgee at Angle Crossing, 1GL would flow back in to the ‘bidgee via the Lower Molonglo.

troutfisher said:

“Burrinjuck Dam holds 1,026,000 megalitres (ML), almost twice as much water as Sydney Harbour.”

I’m sorry, I only understand volume when you talk in olympic sized swimming pools or schooner glasses…

NewCotter Dam will have a larger catchment than OldCotter Dam – presto more free rain caught to supply Canberra humans.

Um… the new Cotter dam catchment will only be the tiniest bit bigger then the old one, because the new wall is a couple of hundred metres downstream of the old one. For all intents and purposes, the new catchment will be exactly the same as the old one.

I agree TROUTFISHER – we do not need the Murrumbidgee to Googong pipeline now that NewCotter Dam is at last being built – several years late. My reasons have nothing to do with current rain but assume a return to rain patterns of the past decade – which could be summed up as – the odd drought in between periods of mediocre rain. Of course the pipeline would provide another option to top up Googong but IMHO would be a Rolls Royce option we do not need. NSW and Fed authorities make sure we have no free lunch where water is concerned. If we buy Tantangara water – they will screw the ACT somewhere else in the water game.
I think mr reason is not correct saying “Cotter Dam provides more storage, but no more water.”
NewCotter Dam will have a larger catchment than OldCotter Dam – presto more free rain caught to supply Canberra humans.
NewCotter Dam will catch some Corin and Bendora environmental flows which have been overflowing OldCotter Dam and heading downstream. I am not talking about during the latest six months of solid rain. Many spring seasons see OldCotter overflow. – presto more free rain caught to supply Canberra humans.

I also think mr reason is not correct saying “..the Murrumbidgee to Googong pipeline provide more water..” – for the reasons I gave above – NSW and Fed authorities make sure we have no free lunch where water is concerned. If we buy Tantangara water – they will screw the ACT somewhere else in the water game.
mr reason could have said “the Murrumbidgee to Googong pipeline provide more water with no more storage but Googong has been underutilised for years.”
There are other reasons I think the pipeline is not required, Tantangara water (which we would PAY for) will have losses due evaporation in the river, then when in Googong those losses continue plus losses due to higher environmental flows. I have not seen the sums which show how much would ever reach our taps.
IMHO ACTEW is being over influenced by doomster CSIRO climate models predicting ever worsening droughts in the future. I just think the proponents of all that Flanneryism stuff need to take a “Bex – cuppa tea – and a good lay down”.
I would suggest ACTEW looks at ways to augment the Cotter to Googong transfer which is pretty small in capacity.
I obviously disagree with mr reason when he says “The current wetter weather shows all the signs of an aberration.”

Thanks for the link yoyo, it pretty much demonstrates that water hasn’t been filling up the dam since the start of 2009,

I agree, water for crops not suited to the climate are a scourge on our precious supplies. Cotton is another prime example. I would however hazard to guess those people employed by the rice and cotton industries, as well as the communities that benefit from the industry would disagree with us.

What if the rice farmer starts to pay more for the water than the city users. Does that mean that allocation now flows past the taxpayer funded pipeline because there now HAS to be a certain amount of flow to provide that purchased water.

Then starts the bidding for the resource and guess who gets to pay for that bidding war, that’s right, the end user, because ACTEW is hardly going to sell it for less than it paid.

Troutfisher, you forgot to mention the part about Burrinjuck supplying water for crops such as rice.

See: http://waterinfo.nsw.gov.au/water.shtml?ppbm=STORAGE_SITE&da&3&dakm_url

“Burrinjuck provides an average of about 1.2 million megalitres a year for the irrigation of crops in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area including rice, fruit and vegetables, as well as pastures for fat lambs and beef cattle.”

I have no sympathy for growing those kinds of crops from a catchment with obviously limited supply. If a rice farmer pays the same for water as a city user, then fair enough, I’ll change my sympathy.

Is this the same Murrumbidgee River coming out of Tantangera (which up until Sept was sitting around 16%) that has been unable to keep Burrinjuck Dam full for the last few years.

Or is it another Murrumbidgee River, a magical one, one that will be able to top up Googong and still provide water for the towns that rely on the downstream outflows from Burrinjuck.

Information regarding Burrinjuck:
Burrinjuck Dam
Burrinjuck Dam, situated high in the mountains of the Great Dividing Range, is near the headwaters of the Murrumbidgee River, 60km from Yass.
Burrinjuck Dam holds 1,026,000 megalitres (ML), almost twice as much water as Sydney Harbour.
It covers an area of 5,500ha, or more than 8,000 football fields. The catchment area of Burrinjuck Dam is 12,953km2, which is larger than the catchment area of the whole of the Snowy Mountains.
About the Dam
Construction of Burrinjuck Dam began in 1909, but due to delays cased by the labour and material shortage during World War I, the original design was not completed until 20 years later. However irrigation supplies from the dam began in 1912.
Burrinjuck was the first major dam built for irrigation in NSW. It was the fourth largest dam in the world when construction began. It was also one of the first dams in NSW to have environmental flow releases based on inflows.
Water Supply
Burrinjuck Dam provides an average of about 1.2 million ML a year for the irrigation of crops in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, including fruit and vegetables, as well as pastures for fat lambs and beef cattle.
Burrinjuck Dam supplies water for towns, river flows, stock and domestic requirements, irrigated agriculture, industry, flood mitigation and environmental flows.
For up-to-date storage level information, visit http://www.waterinfo.nsw.gov.au.
Water Supply Licences
Burrinjuck operates in conjunction with Blowering Dam to supply water to the Murrumbidgee valley. Together there are 1642 licences with a 2,911,263.7ML entitlement within 1340km of river.
High security/industry entitlements 348,702ML•
General security entitlements 1,908,230ML•
Stock and domestic requirements 36,000ML•
Town water supplies 43,355ML•
Conveyance entitlements 376,000ML•
Water users hold access licences which determine their share component. Share components specify how much of the valley’s resource is available for each licence holder to use.
Examples of high security licence holders are local councils for town water supply and permanent crops such as orchards.
Available Water Determinations (AWDs) credit access licence accounts with water, based on the water sharing plan for that valley.
Hydro-Power Capability
Earing Energy operates a 28 megawatt hydro power station. On average, it generates enough power annually to supply 13,500 people.
Water is made available for power generation only when releases are made for water users, the environment and during flood operations.

Only trouble is that we’ll have to let heaps of the water go to environmental flows i.e. farmers downstream.

Gee, no need for that stupid Murray/Darling plan. The “hayseeds” weren’t so silly after all, eh JB?

Only trouble is that we’ll have to let heaps of the water go to environmental flows i.e. farmers downstream.