An opening ceremony was held on 24 September at the New South Wales-based Glen Innes Aggregates Quarry to celebrate the completion of the local council’s off-stream water storage project.
When Glen Innes Severn Council purchased the quarry in July 2011, the operation supplied aggregate – including gravel, sand and road base – to the NSW Roads and Maritime Services and the general public, in addition to the council itself. However, it was said that the aggregates business was secondary to the quarry’s primary function as a water storage solution to “drought-proof” the town.
After acquiring the quarry, the council alternated extraction across the site’s two pits in order to progressively expand their volume and prepare them for water storage, with the state government contributing $970,000 towards the works as part of its Water Security for Regions program.
Glen Innes Severn mayor Col Price said the recently completed quarry upgrade – which totalled $1.02 million – combined with the development of a number of nearby water bores could supply the community with water for up to two and a half years during periods of drought.
By comparison, the town’s previous main water resource, Beardy Weir, only had the capacity to supply the town for five months.
“Additional groundwater supplies have been identified at the off-stream storage, and an additional bore is also designed and ready if ever required in the future,” Price added.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, who attended the opening ceremony, praised the council for its “innovative and visionary approach” to addressing water security issues.
“There aren’t too many communities across the state that can say their town is drought-proof, but Glen Innes can and now has certainty of supply and huge capacity to grow,” he commented. “To use the quarry in this way, boosting water storage by 565 megalitres, is a great example to other communities throughout NSW.”
NSW Minister for Lands and Water Niall Blair, who was also in attendance, added, “Major infrastructure projects like this one bring security to our regional areas and create economic benefits by using local skills during construction.”
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