Wednesday January 24, 2024
Volume 39 No. 01
$2 inc. GST
The Cobar Weekly No one’s complaining about the rain Pg 3
Long list of Australia Day nominees Pg 4
Drought Resilience Planning Pg 6
Filtration plant Collaborative masterpiece! is struggling It seems strange with all the recent rain we’ve had that Cobar Shire Council would need to impose water restrictions. However for the past two weeks Cobar residents have been asked to curb their water use as council works to sort out a problem with our water quality. Mayor Jarrod Marsden advised residents (via a letterbox drop on January 12 and through social media) that Level 1 water restrictions would take effect immediately as the Cobar Water Filtration Plant was struggling to treat the poor quality water we were receiving from the Bogan River. “We have been using our reserve storage supply to minimise the use of the Nyngan raw water. However this has reduced our storage levels significantly,” Cr Marsden reported. Council’s policy is to keep three months worth of water in local storages and the restrictions are a proactive move by council to ensure the storages remain topped up. Council’s general manager Peter Vlatko told The Cobar Weekly on Monday that a Bluegreen algae Red Alert had been issued for the Bogan River and Cobar Shire’s weir pool (at Nyngan) which was being monitored by the NSW Health Department. Mr Vlatko said the Cobar Water Filtration Plant can normally handle treating poor quality water however the current supply “has been proving difficult”. “There’s nothing wrong with the plant. “We’ve had a number of experts come and have a look and work out what we can do,” Mr Vlatko said. Continued Page 2.
A big, colourful mural on the wall of the Bruce Mitchell Stadium at the Cobar Youth & Community Centre created by artist Seigrid Peters and local youth as part of the Regional Youth Holiday Break Program funded by Cobar Shire Council and the NSW Government, is nearing completion. Pictured are Cobar Shire’s Youth Development and Community Services Coordinator Brytt Moore with mural participants Zara Patterson and Tillie Cain and artist Seigrid Peters. Full story Page 4.