HOW MUCH WATER IS ORANGE CURRENTLY USING?

This graph shows the average daily water consumption of residential households (expressed in litres per person per day) in the Orange City Council area.  The light shaded areas provide a comparison of water usage during the corresponding three months of 2022 and 2023. The target water usage under the current Permanent Water Saving Standards is 220 litres per person per day.

PREVIOUS MONTHLY AVERAGES

Month	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
January	257	272	224	134	165	150	177
February	288	249	229	126	151	162	180
March	208	251	225	140	157	157
April	182	233	177	123	148	145
May	171	192	153	125	141	137
June	178	170	146	131	154	134
July	171	179	138	138	128	132
August	167	168	138	138	137	136
September	196	177	145	147	131	130
October	200	182	136	138	138	127
November	205	208	137	148	141	131
December	221	202	145	157	148	157

Orange City Council has developed a plan aimed at ensuring that the environmental requirements and commitments made during the approvals process for the Macquarie River to Orange pipeline as well as other relevant licensing conditions, are implemented, monitored and reviewed as Orange’s (raw) water supply system is operated.

The Operation Environmental Management Plan (OEMP)  for the Orange Raw Water Supply System was formally approved by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment on 7 September 2016. Here is the formal Letter of Approval.

The version of the OEMP Orange Raw Water Management Plan from June 2018 is available here.

The OEMP is a large document. It can be downloaded from these links in its component parts.

OEMP Attachment A – Risk Management_Ver 2.1

OEMP Attachment B – Annual Management Calendar

OEMP Attachment C – Decision Support Tool

OEMP Attachment D -_Acquatic Environment Monitoring Program

OEMP Attachment E_- Hydrology Monitoring Program

OEMP Attachment F_- Scour Water Management Plan

OEMP Attachment G – Inspection and Maintenance Plan

OEMP Attachment H_- Stakeholder Engagement Plan

OEMP Attachment I – Adaptive Management Strategy

OEMP Attachment J_- Groundwater Monitoring Program

OEMP Attachment K - Management Studies_Ver 2.1

OEMP Attachment L -_Staff Training Register

OEMP Attachment M_- Agency Consultation

OEMP Attachment N - OCC Incident Management Procedures_uncontrolled

Decision Support Tool

Part of the OEMP, the Decision Support Tool (DST) is a document which determines how the raw water supply system will be operated, year to year, and particularly which sources of water will be used.

Using this document to guide its meetings, a water management team meets every three months to review a number of factors including :

• climatic conditions
• water supply levels
• potential water sources

The group then recommends the mix of water sources to be used.

After each meeting, this team produces a Decision Support Tool Quarterly Report.

Previous reports:

• April 2022
• January 2022
• October 2021
• April 2021

An annual analysis of the year ahead has been completed – Decision Support Tool Water Year report 2022-23 

 

The quarterly reviews of the DST contain the Current Operating Rules.

Water Access Licences (Statement of Conditions)

The Orange Raw Water Supply system operates under a number of NSW Government-issued water licences. These documents include the conditions that govern how water from each source may be used.

WAL36161 80AL722751 Summer Hill Creek

WAL33891 80AL718055_Bell River

WAL29148 80AL715358_Lachlan Fold Belt MDB Groundwater Source

WAL36374 80AL722854 Macquarie River above Burrendong

WAL30283 80AL715991 Clifton Grove Bores

Integrated Water Cycle Management Plan

Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) is a planning process developed by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment – Water (DPIE Water), with defined steps to effectively integrate water supply, sewerage and stormwater to achieve sustainable management of these services. The Orange IWCM Evaluation Study has followed these guidelines.

IWCM is a way of managing water in which all components of the water system are integrated so that water is used optimally. For a local water utility such as Orange City Council (OCC), this means that the three main urban water services – water supply, sewerage and stormwater – should be planned
and managed in an integrated way to ensure that the maximum value is obtained from the resources and that benefits to the environment and community are realised.
IWCM deals with the complex linkages between the different elements of the water cycle. It addresses issues facing local water utilities as well as the more general issues facing the environment. IWCM considers issues such as:

• The future urban water service needs and customer expectations;
• The availability of water including water sources such as surface water, groundwater, rainwater, effluent and stormwater; and
• The impact of water, sewerage and stormwater on other water users including the environment and future generations.

IWCM  Evaluation Study -Executive Summary

IWCM Evaluation Study

Technical Note 1 – IWCM Obligations and Targets

Technical Note 2 – Orange Water Resources

Technical Note 3 – Potable Water Demand and Effluent Production

Technical Note 4 – Typical Residential Bill Analysis

Ever wondered how water from different sources, finds its way into Orange’s main water supply storage dam, Suma Park Dam? And, how it gets to your home?

And then what happens to the waste water after it leaves your home?

The water in the dam is pumped to the water treatment plant or, released as an environment flow, into Blackmans Swamp Creek, downstream of the dam.

After leaving the treatment plant, water flows into reservoirs around Orange through pipes and then to residents’ homes and businesses.

A network of sewers then takes waste water to the Sewerage Treatment Plant before the treated effluent is used by the mining industry or returned to the environment.

WATER SUPPLY STORAGE LEVELS

The combined storage of Suma Park and Spring Creek Dams.

The combined storage of Suma Park and Spring Creek Dams is currently 93.42%.

INDIVIDUAL WATER STORAGES

Location	Date	Level below spillway mm	% of capacity
Suma Park Dam	24 March 2023	922	91.90%
Spring Creek Dam	24 March 2023	3	99.93%
Lake Canobolas	24 March 2023	0	100.00%
Gosling Creek Dam	24 March 2023	44	98.72%

DAM SAFETY

Orange City Council is required to inspect, operate and maintain all four of its declared dams (Suma Park dam, Spring Creek Dam, Gosling Creek Dam and Lake Canobolas) in accordance with the Dam Safety Act 2015, Dam Regulations 2019 and associated guidelines.

Council is required to complete Annual Dams Safety Standards Reports for each dam. Each Report can be found by following the links below:

Dam Safety Report – Suma Park Dam
Dam Safety Report – Spring Creek Dam
Dam Safety Report – Gosling Creek Dam
Dam Safety Report – Lake Canobolas Dam