2nd November 2026   

Don’t Take Our Water 

Tamworth Regional Council is proposing building a pipeline to Keepit Dam to secure the city’s water supply during drought. The Member for Barwon, Roy Butler, says that would be fundamentally unfair. 

Mr Butler says Tamworth needs to take any growth in their water use from their local irrigators rather than from communities downstream.  

“Keepit Dam on the Namoi River is a key resource that provides critical human needs, keeps crops irrigated and maintains strong communities downstream,” said Mr Butler. 

“Chaffey Dam currently supplies Tamworth via water releases down the Peel River, much of which are lost to seepage,” said Mr Butler. “There is a pipeline from Chaffey that doubles the amount of water that arrives in Tamworth during low-flow releases, but it is currently only used during drought.” 

“The obvious solution, which doesn’t require construction of any new infrastructure, is for Tamworth to use the Chaffey pipeline much of the time,” said Mr Butler. “This would have the effect of doubling the amount of water that can be delivered from Chaffey Dam.” 

“Peel Valley irrigators should be offered a voluntary buyback with this water being redirected to Tamworth’s town water supply,” said Mr Butler. 

The Namoi Water Sharing Plan says that any growth in water usage by the city of Tamworth needs to be offset by irrigators in the Namoi Valley. 

“Why should irrigators in the Lower Namoi be forced to subsidise Tamworth, when the impacts could be confined to Tamworth’s own Peel Valley?” asks Mr Butler. 

“Earlier this year, I asked Water Minister Rose Jackson to consider the Chaffey pipeline as an option,” said Mr Butler. “I’m disappointed that we still don’t have any clarity on this issue, which is causing unnecessary alarm in downstream communities.” 

“While towns such as Narrabri rely on sub-artesian bore water rather than river water, the district’s irrigators are major contributors to the local economy,” said Mr Butler. “A growing Tamworth is good for the region, but not at the expense of downstream irrigators and downstream economies.”