Storm water harvesting is expected to save up to 200 megalitres of recycled water a year – the equivalent of 200 Olympic swimming pools.

The Minister finished his visit to the town with no doubts as to Oberon Council’s position on the shrinking level of the Oberon Dam.

The Minister was treated to a very clear statement from council about their belief that the out-take from the dam by major users is too high, and that major users are dominating decisions made by the Fish River Customer Council about water allocations.

“State Water are failing in their job as custodians of the resource,” Mayor Keith Sullivan told the Minister.

Cr Sullivan told Mr Costa that some major users of the dam seem to be wasting their allocation or not requiring the amount of water they take from the dam.

“The dam is a big milking cow to them. But it’s life blood to us,” he said.

Cr Sullivan said that Oberon is unable to grow due to the lack of water, and that Oberon has lost a number of investment opportunities in the timber industry because council cannot guarantee a plentiful supply of water.

Another frightening fact shared with the Minister is that at no point are major users completely cut off from the dam.

This means it is possible that with current allocations the major users could continue to draw on the dam until it is empty.

Cr Sullivan asked the Minister to return the exit level of major users from the dam to 10 per cent, and requested that the Minister ask for a full review of the management plan of the dam.

The Mayor also argued that re-entry levels of the dam need to be changed,

so that the dam can be allowed to recover before is it drawn on again in a big way.

Minister Costa said he is sensitive to Oberon’s plight and made a commitment to investigate the situation and discuss the situation with all dam users.

“I won’t close the door on this,” he said.

“I can’t let a town like Oberon run out of water or not be able to grow.”