Echo, 10 July 2024, Residents face being cut from Mullum’s water, excerpt:
More than 30 affected residents say their properties are at the bottom of Wilsons Creek and some areas of Mullumbimby Creek, and they were only told they will likely be cut off from town water after questioning Council staff about the Mullumbimby Water Supply Strategy.
Spokesperson for the Wilsons Water Rights Action Group (WWR) Mel Macpherson said she was shocked to find out from a neighbour about Council’s plans to remove their connection to town water without any direct written or verbal communication.
‘One would think the appropriate action for Byron Shire Council would be to talk to us individually, and let us know that their preferred water strategy means cutting us off – for the 30 residents this has drastic ramifications, we have a right to know.
‘I honestly feel the communication from Byron Council has not been acceptable at all. This decision directly affects our health, businesses, infrastructure and property values. Relying on us to scan social media or listen to the radio to find out we are getting cut off has left me baffled.
‘I only found out because my neighbour who has lived here for 90 years told me, and knew the history of the weir and local infrastructure, and noticed this in the water strategy plans......
Echo, Letters to the Editor, Losing town water access,13 July 2024:
I grew up and live in Mullumbimby, and I know locals have a strong opinion about the Byron Shire Council. I had always given them the benefit of the doubt – as it’s not an easy job. But last week I changed my mind.
Our neighbour, Ray Musgrave, alerted us and other neighbours we’d be losing town water access on our properties. At first, I thought this was simply the Mullum rumour mill, but I called around at Council and found out it was true. Without any doorknocks, phone calls, or letters, we found out dozens of residents at the bottom of Wilsons Creek, including us, would lose town water access if Mullum is connected to Rous water.
While this decision has not been officially made by Council – yet – we all know it is the likely decision. I work in media and communications, sometimes as a consultant for state and federal government, and I’ll admit that tactics are sometimes a little underhanded, but, when it comes to infrastructure and impacting households like this, there would always be doorknocks to every home at a minimum in the communications plan. So, I’m simply shocked at these sneaky tactics by our local council.
Luckily, we have all been neighbours for decades or generations here and were able to quickly agree to work together to try and save our town water. Wish us luck!
Casey Fung, Wilsons Creek
According to the Byron Shire Council website as of 15 July 2024:
All urban areas in Byron Shire are supplied water from Rocky Creek Dam, which is managed by Rous County Council.
Mullumbimby is supplied from Council's Lavertys Gap Weir.
Rous County Council supplies drinking water to seven reservoirs in the Byron Shire Council from the Nightcap Water Treatment Plant.
Under the Water Supply Agreement, we are responsible for maintaining water quality in the reservoirs and reticulation system......
The Mullumbimby Water Treatment Plant provides treated, filtered, and disinfected drinking water to Mullumbimby.
The drinking water supply is sourced from Wilsons Creek via the Lavertys Gap Weir.
Water flows to the plant by gravity through a heritage-listed race, via a mountain tunnel.
Council documents indicate approximately 13 properties along Wilsons Creek Road are connected to the trunk main from the water treatment plant.
The preferred option of council staff coincides with advice contained in a Hydrosphere Consulting Pty Ltd report (updated May 2024) which clearly stated in 12.4 Option 4 - Full Connection to RCC Regional Supply:
The customers along the Wilsons Creek Road trunk main would not be serviced with this arrangement.
In an alternative scenario within Option 4 Hydro Consulting suggested an Option 4B - emergency connection to regional supply:
As an alternative, the existing RCC emergency supply pipeline could be extended to service the remaining areas of Mullumbimby as an emergency supply only. BSC would then retain Lavertys Gap Weir and WTP as the normal supply regime with future augmentation with another raw water supply source. The customers along the Wilsons Creek Road trunk main would still be serviced by the weir supply and WTP if there was sufficient water in the weir storage. [my yellow highlighting]
However, Byron Shire Council on its public exhibition webpage did not immediately draw attention to the fact that some properties may lose a reliable long-term connection to town water.
In the first instance it presented the case thus, with the fate of Wilsons Creek Road concealed in webpage links:
Mullumbimby’s water supply scenarios
The consultant’s report short-listed four water supply scenarios, summarised below.
Each scenario has associated benefits and costs.
Council’s engineering staff recommend Scenario 3 – permanent connection to the Rous County Council water supply.
For each scenario, some factors remain the same, including:
continued use of the weir and Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in the short term
short-term WTP upgrades to ensure consistent, safe water supply
extension of the Rous County Council emergency bulk water supply connection to all of Mullumbimby.
Indeed within its boasting about the benefits of what it calls "Scenario 3" it is clear that the potential loss of a long-term reliable town water supply for 30 shire residents & ratepayers is a short-term cost cutting measure.
Scenario 3 – Full connection to Rous County Council
Rous County Council is the regional water supply authority for the Byron Shire, with the exception of Mullumbimby.
Rous also supplies:
Ballina Shire
Lismore Shire
Richmond Valley Shire.
Permanent connection to the Rous regional water supply would mean that water is no longer sourced from Lavertys Gap weir and the Mullumbimby water treatment plant (WTP).
As a result, there would be no need to build a new WTP at Mullumbimby.
Permanent, full connection to the regional water supply is the option recommended by the consultants and Byron Shire Council staff based on the environmental, economic and social assessment.
Benefits of full connection
Connecting to the regional supply has significant benefits over local supply scenarios. [my yellow highlighting]
Full connection offers:
minimal environmental impact
lower energy consumption
reduced infrastructure modifications.
There are significant capital cost savings in avoiding the need to replace the WTP and upgrade the weir supply in addition to constructing new infrastructure. However, the ongoing costs of a regional supply are higher than local scenarios. [my yellow highlighting]
Permanent connection to the regional supply means Mullumbimby’s long-term water security is determined by Rous County Council's bulk supply system, as is the case for the rest of Byron Shire.
Byron Shire Council is scheduled to decide on its water supply strategy at its August monthly meeting.
