Cootamundra
Indicator: Water Use
Results for this indicator are also available for [an error occurred while processing this directive]
What the results tell us about Cootamundra
Cootamundra is fortunate to have an assured water supply coming from the Murrumbidgee River. This supply is part of a large drinking water supply system operated by Goldenfields Water County Council, which is fully treated at the Jugiong drinking water treatment plant. This water is then supplied by pipeline providing water to Cootamundra.
The application of Level 1 water restrictions to domestic use, and the watering of town parks and gardens from recycled water, has cut overall water consumption by about 40% since 2003.
Supply- how much water could we have?
Cootamundra and the surrounding communities are supplied through Goldenfields Water County Council. The supply is sourced from the Murrumbidgee River and treated at the Jugiong water treatment plant. The nominal capacity of the plant is 40 ML/day and is currently operated at 54% above capacity. Goldenfields Water indicate that they regard this as unsustainable. This plant has full treatment facilities. A pipeline links the Jugiong plant to Cootamundra and the other towns supplied through this system via the Cowangs reservoir. The overall system has 14 sets of reservoirs and 8 pumping stations, and supplies 40,000 people living between the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers in NSW.
The water intake from the Murrumbidgee is downstream of Burrinjuck dam, which is the major water storage reservoir on the river supplying water to irrigation users downstream. The only limitation on supply volume is the extraction licence and any variations due to overall water availability. The current policy is to provide water to domestic consumers as top priority, so that the security of town supplies from irrigation systems is assured. Limited water storages are operated by town councils from the pipeline supply, and are held constant at 85-90% of capacity.
How much water is available?
The ongoing drought has had major impacts on irrigation supplies on the Murrumbidgee, but limited impacts on town supplies. As an illustration, only 5% of the General Security licence water for irrigation is currently allocated, due to insufficient water in storage in the Murray-Darling system.
Consumption – how much water was used?
Reticulated water use in Cootamundra Shire Council area 2001 to 2007. No data are shown in Table 1 and Figure 1. No data are available for use of non-reticulated water, but private rural water use for domestic, stock and irrigation can be expected to be considerable.
Total Use
See Table 1 and Figure 1 below. No data are available at present for overall 2007-2008 water use in Cootamundra Shire.
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total volume of reticulated water used per year (ML) | 944 | 1231 | 1003 | 898 | 704 | 838 |
Figure 1. Water use in Cootamundra Shire Council area
Use by sector
| Sector | 2000/ 01 |
2001/ 02 |
2002/ 03 |
2003/ 04 |
2004/ 05 |
2005/ 06 |
2006/ 07 |
2007/ 08 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 632 | 688 | 741 | 668 | 598 | 542 | 574 | 464 |
| Commercial | 55 | 109 | 62 | 53 | 51 | 74 | 121 | 113 |
| Industrial | 44 | 54 | 62 | 41 | 34 | 10 | 16 | 15 |
| Rural/Irrigation | 3 | 3 | 2 |
It is apparent that the most substantial use is in the domestic supply, with the commercial use about 20% of the overall use.
The progressive reduction in domestic use during the drought period has been heightened by the imposition of water restrictions.
Figure 2. Total water use by sector – Cootamundra Shire Council area
Environmental flows
This is not relevant to Cootamundra, apart from the water quantity and quality discharged by the wastewater treatment plant, and its use.
Managing water use and demand
Water conservation
The control of water use has primarily come from the imposition of water restrictions. Level 1 restrictions have been in place continuously since 2004, with a relaxation currently allowed which allows the use of sprinklers and drippers for garden watering between 5pm and 9am. Examination of the domestic water use since 2002-2003, prior to water restriction, shows an almost 40% reduction in consumption.
Between 2004 and 2008, a total of 758 ML of treated wastewater were used for irrigation of parks and gardens in Cootamundra, which is about 35% of the domestic water used in the town.
Future water supply
The supply is primarily controlled by licence, and secondarily by the ability of Goldenfields Water County Council to supply the required volume. The Jugiong drinking water treatment plant is running well over nominal capacity, and this is regarded as unsustainable. If further development in the Cootamundra area requires additional water the capability of the present treatment plant to supply this water is open to question
About the data
Cootamundra Shire Council supplied quantitative data
