Water quality experts have assessed the Snowy region’s source water.

Experts from WaterNSW have visited the Snowy region to collaborate with the Snowy Monaro Regional Council on mitigating risks to local source water quality. 

The visit focused on exploring strategies to enhance water management, particularly in response to lessons learned from the recent drought.

“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,” said WaterNSW Executive Manager Strategy and Performance, Fiona Smith.

These niche skills include catchment management and monitoring, essential for reducing risks at the water sources used in local town supplies.

WaterNSW, the operator of most of New South Wales' large dams, maintains the health of the drinking water catchment that serves over five million people in Greater Sydney. 

“This is why our experts are well placed to help identify risks and fast track improvements to source water quality under the NSW Government’s Town Water Risk Reduction Program (TWRRP),” Smith said,

The TWRRP, an initiative by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), aims to enhance water security, quality, and reliability by leveraging the expertise of major entities in the water sector.

They applied a multi-barrier approach, which addresses water quality risks throughout the entire water supply chain.

“The multi-barrier approach recognises that while each individual barrier may not be able to completely remove or prevent contamination all of the time, they collectively provide greater assurance that the water supply will be safe,” Smith explained.

WaterNSW has received NSW Government funding under the TWRRP to assist Local Water Utilities (LWUs) with dam safety risk assessments and the monitoring of source water quality. The program provides ongoing support and expertise, including free training for water operators and funding for plant upgrades.