An ambitious $180 million plan to pipe water from Burrendong and Wyangala dams to other centres, including Orange, has captured the attention of the Federal Government, despite repeated claims from Cowra Shire Council in the past 12 months that nothing definite had been decided on the matter.

The plan, floated by the CENTROC group of councils of which Cowra is part, has been included in a report prepared by the Rudd government’s infrastructure advisory body, Infrastructure Australia.

Wyangala Dam was originally

established for irrigation along the Lachlan.

The Infrastructure Australia report, complete with CENTROC submission, has now been handed to the Council of Australian Governments for the next stage of assessments.

The CENTROC proposal would link Wyangala, Burrendong and Lake Rowlands dams with the storage supply and water systems of Orange, Bathurst, Lithgow, Parkes, Forbes, Young, Wellington and Condobolin.

The proposal is the subject of an ongoing $550,000 feasibility study

funded by the NSW State Government.

Consultants engaged in the study have spent the last few months assessing the technical, environmental and commercial challenges and opportunities such a plan would present.

A final report is expected to be

completed and presented to the

CENTROC board by the middle of 2009

Former CENTROC chairman, Cr John Davis of Orange, floated the plan during his chairmanship and said he had been lobbying the Federal Government to

support the project.

“This is not pie in the sky stuff this is the kind of projects that make no mistake will be supported because they are of national significance and not bandaid solutions,” he said.

“This thing has been through state cabinet and they have pushed it to get to the federal levels and there’s no risk if it wasn’t considered affordable or sustainable then it wouldn’t have gotten a guernsey to even

get to this stage.”

NSW Premier Nathan Rees gave the pipeline plan his full support during his tenure as water minister, support that could catapult the regional pipeline plan to the top of the State Government’s wish list for

joint funding by the Federal Government, Cr Davis said.

“Nathan Rees loved what we took to him and we remain confident it will happen sooner rather than later,” Cr Davis said.