NSW water minister Rose Jackson calls an executive meeting over Walgett water worries

The meeting comes after calls from Indigenous community groups in Walgett for an independent multi-agency task force to address issues of water insecurity in the town and nearby villages.

Due to concerns over the town's water quality, many locals report they are "going to bed thirsty" or opting to buy expensive bottled water which can put them out of pocket up to $50 a week.

Water researchers from UNSW say the town's drinking water has 15 times the level of sodium than what is recommended for long-term consumption by people with hypertension or renal and heart issues.

Exacerbating Walgett's water woes, the town's water is also without fluoridation.

Asked by the Daily Liberal if the NSW government was aware of Walgett's concerns and whether she was open to the idea of establishing a task force to investigate, minister Jackson said she has called a meeting of government departments to explore options.

"As an immediate response I have called an executive level meeting that will bring together a range of departments to look at what measures we can take to improve Walgett's water quality," she said.

"The Independent member for Barwon, Roy Butler will also attend."

"I am also working on getting out to Walgett as soon as possible to meet with the community and Mr Butler to see what else we can do to get this fixed."

Asked what he hopes will come out of the meeting, Mr Butler told the Daily Liberal he will be encouraging local government minister Ron Hoenig to engage with the Walgett Shire Council on how to better manage their water infrastructure.

"The town has the capacity - or should have - to utilise river water, it isn't largely because of lack of trained workforce for the filtration plant, that is being addressed now. It's up to local government to raise the issue and provide outcomes when they struggle to fill roles, this will be some of the focus of our meeting in a constructive way, it' not about blame," he said.

"I hope to discuss the issue of local government needing better water infrastructure including filtration and reverse osmosis plants and the capacity to train and retain staff to maintain these systems."

He said he will also urge ministers to engage with local Indigenous organisations who have already been working on this issue.

"There is already a local Aboriginal Walgett working party that hosts a whole of government working group, I will ask the Minsters to respectfully engage with this group," he said.

The town's water concerns have been ongoing since 2018 when the Namoi and Barwon rivers stopped flowing due to drought. Since then, the town has relied on bore water with "unacceptable" sodium levels pumped in from the Great Artesian basin, an ancient underground aquifer.

In May 2020 a desalination machine was brought into the town in response to community concerns, however, only a few months later in September it ceased operating due to waste disposal issues.

Despite record rainfall events in recent months, Walgett's river water remains unsuitable for household use due to contamination from industrial farming practices upstream and the presence of blue-green algae.

The Walgett-based Dharriwaa Elders Group and Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service say urgent action needs to be taken to address this issue.

As well as the establishment of a task-force, they would like to see the desalination machine reinstated, potable water supplied to Aboriginal communities, fluoridation of local water supplies and accessible safe public drinking water sources.

"We need a multi-agency task force to improve Walgett's water quality and security comprising local, state and national agencies, drinking water experts and local ACCOs," Virginia Robinson, secretary of the Dharriwaa Elders Group, said.

"These threats to our public health would not be tolerated in Sydney so why is it acceptable that we have to live with them in Walgett?"

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: