Bermagui faced challenges to its water supply from drought and bushfire in recent years. Photo: BVSC Facebook.
The NSW South Coast’s town with the highest risk to its water supply is now the focus of a major project to improve its water security.
This week, it was announced that the NSW and Federal governments will spend $3 million on a preliminary business case examining the best infrastructure and non-infrastructure solutions to address Bermagui’s water reliability issues.
Bermagui’s supply system has the highest unaddressed risk on the South Coast, particularly during drought, the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said.
“Bermagui draws its town water from the Brogo Dam, which fell to historically low levels in January 2020 as the region suffered the worst dry period on record,” it said.
“Likewise, river levels were so low that the pumps delivering drinking water to the town couldn’t operate properly.
“It meant dam regulators had to make emergency operational adjustments so Bermagui didn’t run out of water.”
Bega Valley Shire Council’s director of assets and operations, Ian Macfarlane, said January 2020 was a challenging time for getting drinking water to those reliant on the Brogo-Bermagui water supply system.
He said the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires burnt about 80 per cent of the drinking water catchment for the Brogo River pump station and Brogo Dam was at 10 per cent capacity.
Also, he said a period of low water releases from Brogo Dam caused the water level at the pump station to fall and pumping to operate intermittently, restricting water availability while bushfires were still burning near towns and villages.
Brogo Dam in late December 2019 when the water level was extremely low. Photo: Will Stewart, Facebook.
“Council urgently sought an increase to the volume of water released from the dam by the dam regulators, which was provided,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“The catchment rain that fell on 11 February 2020 refilled Brogo Dam within 10 hours, alleviating concerns over water availability.
“Water quality became the focus and emergency contingency plans, such as trucking water and operating a temporary water settling plant, were implemented.”
Bermagui’s 3000 residents now have access to high-quality filtered drinking water, thanks to the Brogo Water Treatment Plant which was commissioned in 2023.
“The availability of water for Brogo Water Treatment Plant to treat and supply to residents is only a concern in drought when the dam is very low and water releases are low,” Mr Macfarlane said.
He said the $3 million for the preliminary business case was “good news and is most welcomed”.
Brogo Dam was looking desperate in January 2020. Photo: Matt Creek, Facebook.
“Council has advised and engaged with the NSW Government on the risk to town water security caused by Brogo Dam operations during drought and is eager for a workable solution to be implemented,” he said.
“In 2024 council proactively commenced a project with consultants, Alluvium, to investigate potential weir types and heights for pumping from the existing pump station site during low water releases from the dam.
“This work is expected to be completed by June 2025 and will provide valuable background and technical information for the co-funded preliminary business case project.”
The $3 million preliminary business case will look at several options to secure and drought-proof the town’s water supply.
It will investigate whether changing the reserve set aside in Brogo Dam could improve water supply during extreme conditions, as well as the feasibility of constructing a weir at the supply offtake site with enough water depth during low-flow periods for pumps to continue to operate.
Also, it will look at weir pool volumes and whether a redesign or relocation of the supply offtake would improve water security for the town.
The preliminary business case will deliver early planning and development work, including studies that will inform the final recommendations.
It is expected to be completed by December 2026.
“We want a safe, secure, resilient, and enduring drinking supply for Bermagui, which we know is incredibly vulnerable to extreme conditions,” NSW DCCEEW executive director of infrastructure development Lisa Hingerty said.
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