While MidCoast Council's current focus is increasing production at its Nabiac Aquifer Borefield while simultaneously getting the community to use less water, there is a plan in place to significantly strengthen the region's water security moving forward.
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The plan involves the construction of the estimated $100-150 million Peg Leg Creek Dam at Tinonee - but don't expect it any time soon.
"At the moment we're still in the very early phases of concepts," council's infrastructure and engineering services director Rob Scott said.
With plans to build the dam at a property off Clarkes Road, Mr Scott said council still needed to acquire an adjacent portion of land owned by the NSW Forestry Corporation before it could proceed further, but he believed this was imminent.
Provisionally scheduled to be delivered in the next 10-15 years, Mr Scott said the dam would provide a significant resource during future drought scenarios.
Planned to be roughly three and a half times the size of Bootawa Dam, at full capacity Peg Leg Creek Dam would hold just under a year's supply of water.
"Having the dam up our sleeves also means we can take water when it's in high flow and it's really good quality, and then we can store it in the dam and use it when there's low flow and low water quality, like at the moment," Mr Scott said.
But while the project would require an estimated three years worth of planning followed by an 18-24 month construction period to deliver, the length of time it would ultimately take came down to cost.
"The financial capability for us to do it hasn't been there," Mr Scott said.
"If we were to put more resources into it we could do it a lot quicker. You can always do things quicker if you're prepared to pay a premium."
However, Mr Scott said that wasn't something council was prepared to do as it would require them to increase the price of water to pay back the loans they would be forced to take out.
Asked if the dam was being built because it was assumed the region would continue to face drought, Mr Scott said the project was part of a State Government-driven strategy to safeguard against water shortages.
"The assumption is we know there's a shortfall in our overall drought security," he said.
"We know that in this area if we didn't do anything we can expect to have water restrictions more often than the government would prefer us to have."
Ultimately, he believed the dam's delivery, combined with alternate sources such as the Nabiac aquifer and the soon-to-be commissioned mobile desalination plant, would make the Mid Coast one of the most drought-secure regions in the State.
