The new $1.27bn Dungowan Dam, championed by Barnaby Joyce in his New South Wales electorate of New England, is expected to cost the equivalent of $162,000 per megalitre, compared to a current market rate of $1,500/ML, if cost recovery is pursued, a water expert has estimated.
Drew Collins, a former associate commissioner of the 2020 Productivity Commission National Water inquiry, has described the Tamworth-based project as “a hell of a lot of money to not fix the problem” of the Peel Valley’s existing water supply.
