Bega to Yellow Pinch Dam Water Transfer System

Bega Shire, New South Wales

Australian Government Funding: $9,952,215

About the project

The Bega to Yellow Pinch pipeline and pumping stations provides an additional source of water to secure water supplies for the Bega Valley Shire.

This project involved the construction of a high lift pump station, capable of pumping up to 20 megalitres per day from the lower Bega River and Bega borefields. This water is carried through a 20 kilometre pipeline to Yellow Pinch Dam.

Towns that benefit from the scheme include Wolumla, Merimbula, Pambula and Candelo. Access to a supplementary water source has enabled the Bega Valley Shire Council to extract water from the Tantawanglo Creek during higher flows thereby allowing for greater protection of low flows that are environmentally important to the upper reaches of the catchment.

Project benefits

The project has:

protected low environmental flows at Tantawanglo Creek by extracting and storing larger volumes of water during high Bega river flows;
increased security of supply to townships in the south of the Bega Valley Shire through the use of water from the lower Bega River; and
provided for greater flexibility and availability of water for landholder extraction in the upper catchment.