A Parkes water pipeline still lies damaged near two years on from the catastrophic November 2022 flood event, because it doesn't fit funding for disaster recovery.
Eight kilometres of water supply main from Lake Endeavour was destroyed and the Beargamil dam wall damaged in the unprecedented flooding of the night of November 13 to 14, 2022.
Repairs remain unfunded, Parkes Shire Council general manager Kent Boyd has explained, because water supply and sewer infrastructure is not covered by standard State and Commonwealth Disaster Recovery arrangements that cover roads and bridges.
"Water supply and sewer assets ... do not meet the requirements that damaged assets must be owned (or operated) and maintained by state or local government and that in the operation of the asset provides services free of charge or at a rate that is 50 percent or less of the cost to provide those services," Mr Boyd said.
"Unfortunately, now nearly two years after the catastrophic floods which devastated the Central West of NSW, damaged water and sewer infrastructure remains unfunded.
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"Funding of damaged water/sewer infrastructure now relies solely on direct funding by the NSW Government."
The issue has ben raised with all levels of government: Member for Orange Philip Donato bringing it to NSW Parliament and our Federal MP Michael McCormack with Senator Perrin Davey touring the site.
Parkes Shire Council has lodged a motion to the Local Government NSW Conference, "That Local Government NSW lobbies the NSW State Government and the Australian Government for explicit inclusion of Water Supply and Sewer Assets in State and Commonwealth Disaster Recovery Funding arrangements."
Mr Donato has announced he'll be raising the matter in the next NSW Parliamentary sittings, noting that Parkes and Cabonne shires still require funding for critical water infrastructure damaged in the floods.
Ms Davey, while in Parkes, said it was an issue she'd endeavour to look at.
"It is about looking at it with fresh eyes, going okay well how can we actually make it fit (into funding models) because there’s no point bandaiding these things, we are talking long term infrastructure," she said.
