Research & Planning

Water Supply Options ACTEW has considered

Background

A fundamental responsibility of ACTEW, as the ACT’s water supplier, is to ensure a safe, secure and sustainable water supply for the ACT and region into the future. Part of this responsibility is to identify potential new water sources and to assess their feasibility.

Over the years many options have been considered. These are detailed in the reports Options for the Next ACT Water Source (2004), Future Water Options Implementation Plan (2005) and most recently in advice provided to the ACT Government by ACTEW as a result of the 2007 water security review.

What has been considered?

Dam Options

Enlarged Cotter Dam	Enlarging the existing Cotter Dam with a new dam wall
Coree Dam	New dam on the Cotter River upstream of Cotter Dam
Tennent Dam	New dam on the Gudgenby River near Mt Tennent
Riverlea Dam	New dam on Paddy’s River near Black Hill
Welcome Reef Dam	New dam on Upper Shoalhaven River – shared with Sydney
Carwoola Dam	New dam on the Molonglo River near the Kings Highway in NSW
Enlarging Existing Dams	Enlarging Bendora, Corin and Googong Dams

Other Options

Water Purification	Treating water from Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre to drinking standard and reintroducing it into the water supply network
Tantangara	Accessing water from Tantangara Dam in the Snowy Mountains
Murrumbidgee River	Extracting and treating water from the Murrumbidgee River
Sea Water	Desalination of sea water and pumping from the coast to the ACT
“Fuse Plugs”	Involves raising the spillway levels on existing dams with a collapsible plug
Groundwater	Accessing ground water from aquifers within the ACT
Stormwater Reuse	Reusing urban stormwater runoff
Accelerated Demand Management	Encouraging more efficient use of water
Water Mining	Accessing and treating water from local sewers for irrigation
Cloud Seeding	Technology to facilitate greater precipitation
Grey Water Use	Treatment and use of household used water
Rainwater Tanks	On block installation of tanks for household use
Effluent Reuse	Large scale reuse of effluent for irrigation

Assessment

All of the above options have been the subject of detailed investigation. This has included an assessment of cost, technical feasibility, environmental impact, community benefit and yield. As other options are identified, they too will be the subject of rigorous assessment.