It takes something big to divide a usually close-knit community like Dungog.
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The Tillegra Dam proposal certainly did it.
Since work first commenced on the project in 2006, until it was suddenly scrapped in late 2010, the dam was a highly divisive subject for all living up in the hills.
Now a local groundswell of support for a dam, led by Dungog man Michael Dowling, is seeing a push for the controversial project to be revisited.
At a base level, the reasoning is sound.
A multitude of global warming study points towards a hotter, drier climate in the coming years. The drought currently wracking the Hunter region points to the calamities of a sun-baked future.
Many Lower Hunter locals claim this drought the worst they’ve seen in 50 years.
Mr Dowling’s push revolves around the need for water security over the next several decades for the region as the population explodes.
The most recent update on Chichester Dam has it sitting at 45 per cent.
The combined dams in the Hunter Water catchment sit at 68 per cent. A drop to 60 per cent would trigger water restrictions.
In addition to the big dry, Mr Dowling said ongoing concerns over PFAS chemicals leeching into the Tomago Sandbeds was an additional reason for an alternate water source to be dammed up.
Contrasting Mr Dowling’s view was current Dungog Mayor Tracy Norman, whose personal opinion revolves around exploring new technologies instead of a dam.
It’s something Hunter Water have taken to, with their Lower Hunter Water Plan – a 20-year water security blueprint – including a desalination plant at Belmont as part of an ‘on the shelf’ insurance policy in case unprecedented drought hit the region.
Water security is a problem that’s not unique to the Hunter.
Heated debate at State and Federal levels broke out last week over proposed changes to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, an initiative to keep the river healthy and supply farmers water into the distant future.
Such heated debate, and the thousands of livelihoods – and indeed, lives – shows the critical importance of nailing water security.
Whichever tactic is adopted, be it dams or new technologies, any future strategy needs to be undertaken with an eye on servicing populations and a climate undergoing unprecedented, rapid change.
Lachlan Leeming is a Maitland Mercury journalist
