The proposal to build a new dam on Coombings Creek near the existing Lake Rowlands would provide the Blayney shire with water security forever, according to Blayney Shire Mayor Councillor Bruce Kingham.

The proposal comes as part of the Centroc Water Security Study conducted by the sixteen councils in the group and funded by the state government.

Cr Kingham said that if the proposal to extend the lake goes ahead it would increase the capacity by six times.

“The lake can hold 4500 megalitres at present and the dam would increase this to 26,000 megalitres,” Cr Kingham said.

Cr Kingham said the purpose of the study was to ensure there was water security in the Central West for the next fifty years.

“This study if funded and implemented would supply ample water for any further development or mining activities in the Blayney shire in the future,” he said.

Developments in need of water would be attracted to the Blayney shire because of the readily available water supply, Cr Kingham said.

“It would shore up water for Cadia Mine which provides so much employment in our region,” he said.

“They would be able to use up to ten megalitres per day.”

Cr Kingham said that Central Tablelands Water (CTW) would be the ideal organisation to control the new water structure throughout the Central West as it is based in the Blayney shire where the water is coming from.

The three tiers of government would also have to work together to ensure that the development goes ahead.

“My major concern is the funding of the new structure,” he said.

“We would have to have massive involvement from the federal government to help fund this new water structure.”

The Centroc councils will present the findings of the study to the federal government cabinet at the community cabinet meeting in Bathurst next Monday.

“We will deliver the results and put pressure on the government to support the new structure financially,” he said.

The Centroc Board is calling for community members to come and see a presentation on the water security study at a forum in Orange on Tuesday November 10 at 6:30pm in the Council Chambers.