Riverina Water has laid out its draft plan to supply Wagga during the next 30-year period when the number of residents in the city is forecast to hit 100,000.
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Some of the city's largest single water users are factories in Bomen, which has been targeted for industrial business growth via fast-tracked planning approvals.
The authority's Integrated Water Cycle Management plan aims to meet these challenges while keeping the typical household bill under $1000 for most of the years up until 2050, with capital works between $15 million and $25 million per year.
Riverina Water chairman and Lockhart deputy mayor Greg Verdon said the strategy was a "significant piece of work" that "sets out how we manage our drinking water supply network until 2050, including all of our assets and financial plans; as well as contingency plans for droughts or emergencies".
Committee 4 Wagga chairwoman Justeen Kirk said a stable water supply was vital for the city's growth, but Riverina Water would have to balance the cost to consumers. "There are families that are not so well-off financially and we can't afford to hit them with really high water prices so that we can pay for an industrial precinct at Bomen," she said.
Ms Kirk said she was "very confident" that Riverina Water's management and board could pull off the "balancing act" between costs and infrastructure.
Riverina Water currently supplies water for Wagga City Council, Lockhart Shire and parts of Greater Hume and Federation councils, representing 73,000 customers spread over 15,000 square kilometres.
"This region is undergoing unprecedented growth, with Wagga in particular benefiting from new residential development, expansion in Defence facilities and the NSW government-led special activation precinct at Bomen," Cr Verdon said.
"Safe and secure water supply is crucial and we are committed to having the plans in place to both facilitate and manage that growth."
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In line with Wagga's predicted growth areas, the draft strategy calls for building a new 11 megalitre Estella Reservoir starting in 2028 and a new six megalitre East Bomen Reservoir starting in 2032.
Riverina Water engineering director Bede Spannagle said most of the major works would take place between 2030 and 2040 under the strategy.
"We have only recently finished the main water treatment plant here in Wagga, which was $40 million worth; we won't be needing to replicate that in the next 30 years," he said.
"There's some big reservoirs at Bomen and Estella and more solar plants similar to the one we are proposing behind the main [treatment] plant here.
"They are all $20 million-plus projects, but most of them are beyond 2030 so we are very well set for the next nine to 10 years."
The solar project is listed in the strategy as contributing to higher projected spending in 2021-22, rising from less than $20 million to almost $35 million, but also reducing energy costs.
The draft strategy also notes that Wagga's RAAF Airbase and Kapooka Army base are expected to need more water due to recruit levels rising by 10 and 33 per cent, respectively.
Kapooka's water use was forecast to rise by 80 megalitres per year over the next decade.
Mr Spannagle said Riverina Water had "close consultation" with all large water users about "what their future might hold".
"In some cases they can't tell us everything, but what they indicated was that Kapooka in particular was looking at an increase in recruits over the life of this strategy," he said.
"If that materialises, we have got to make sure they can access that water."
Cr Verdon said Riverina Water was "in a strong financial position" and "water charges will not need to increase significantly over the next 30 years", with a "preferred option" for a 1.5 per cent increase "which would be about $3.39 in 2021-22 on an average bill of $660 per annum".
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