Uralla Shire Council mayor, Robert Bell, has welcomed a $27 million upgrade of Malpas Dam, but said more needs to happen to fully secure water in times of drought.
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Announced in the recent state budget, the dam will be raised by six-and-a-half metres, which will more than double its existing 13 gigalitre capacity.
But Cr Bell said it's important that more now happens to give Uralla and Invergowrie access to the water, considering how the towns suffered during the 2020 drought.
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"Last time the water level got to 25 per cent we had significant arsenic issues," he said. "And we're now looking at how we'd manage that if it happened again, around our own storage, whether it should be increased or we use more recycled water."
Cr Bell said council currently has plans to use recycled water for roadworks but "it doesn't seem right to have fully treated water being put out on the road to get dusty".
For now though, the best option appears to be providing piping that will channel a secure supply of water from Armidale, similar to pipes running to Guyra, according to Cr Bell.
"In the long term maybe one of the options is that we can pipe water that's now at the Armidale airport. It's almost downhill to Uralla," he said.
This would work around the difficulty of transporting water, which was encountered last time Uralla needed supply from outside.
Cr Bell said in the last drought the Uralla shire faced the challenge of water carriers not being allowed to fill up in Armidale and deliver to Invergowrie.
"And at the same time Uralla had the arsenic issues, and Invergowrie people were really caught between a rock and a hard place," he said.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said they had planned the dam's expansion with the expectation it would be used to service both Uralla and Invergowrie, provisioning them in times of drought.
"Since the end of the drought in 2020, Armidale Regional Council has been investigating ways to protect local communities from future dry periods," he said.
"Raising Malpas Dam wall is the quickest and most cost effective means of achieving that outcome."
Mr Marshall said the alternative - building an entirely new dam - would be very costly and time consuming.
"The beauty of the Malpas Dam project has always been that it's an expansion of an existing dam, not the building of a new one, meaning reduced planning and approvals are required to get to construction stage," he said.
Mr Marshall recognised Armidale Regional Council mayor Sam Coupland and general manager James Roncon for spearheading the development of detailed plans and costings for the Malpas Dam expansion.
"Through the efforts of council, our region's next generation will have greater ability to withstand future droughts," he said.
Mr Marshall will begin discussions with Armidale Regional Council going into the dam's construction.