Rous Water Regional Drought Management Plan

There are five local water utilities providing potable water to approximately 43,000 residential properties and 5,500 non-residential customers within the Ballina, Byron, Lismore and Richmond Valley local government areas (LGAs). Rous Water is the regional water supply providing bulk water to the majority of the region as well as retail water supply services to rural and urban connections direct from the bulk supply system.

 

Hydrosphere Consulting prepared a Regional Drought Management Plan to document a regional restriction regime that applies to all customers served by the Rous Water regional water supply. This regional approach aims to ensure consistency and community acceptance and therefore improve the success of drought management in the region. The water restrictions triggers contained within the Plan are based on the Rous Water system (i.e. Rocky Creek Dam storage level) but are intended to be adopted for all local water supplies managed by the councils in the region. The Plan includes an Operational Readiness Plan with actions to be taken to ensure that Rous Water and the constituent councils are prepared at all times to implement a robust, timely, efficient and affordable response to drought conditions. The Communication Plan provides actions to be implemented prior to and at each restriction level to ensure successful communication of drought management requirements.