Blacktown. Seeking underground water

Blacktown City Council is drilling two test bores of between 60 and 200 metres deep in an attempt to locate an underground water source for use at the Blacktown International Sports Park The project makes council’s decision yo go ahead with the $4.4 million investment, a first for the state.

Region. Water entitlements purchased

The Office of Environment and Heritage has purchased 4900 megalitres of river water entitlements from water users across the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, at a cost of $5.7 million, as part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River recovery Program. The water was previously available for licence holders to extract for irrigation and other purposes. Now the water purchases will be reserved for environmental flows

Parramatta. Sydney Water returns to CBD

Sydney Water’s connections to Parramatta date from 1916, when the Sydney Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board took over the supply of water and sewerage services to Parramatta. Sydney Water closed its last office in Parramatta in 2004 but has returned with the opening of its 23,000-square-metre head office, housing 1400 staff., on a site, at 1 Smith Street, bought for $15 million in 2003. Brookfield Multiplex owns the facility. Sydney Water’s rent is $385 per square metre Around 38 per cent of all Sydney Water office staff live in Greater Western Sydney,