The Dunoon Dam has been one of the most debated issues in our community for some time. There are many people against the dam being built and as many people for the dam being built.

At yesterday's Rous County Council meeting a rescission motion was put forward by councillors Sandra Humphrys, Roberto Mustow and Sharon Cadwallader to "Commence work on the exit strategy once the long-term viability of Scenario 1 Groundwater has been confirmed." This was point 2b but the critical component of the rescission motion and the sticking point for those against.

The rescission motion was lost 3/5.

You could be forgiven for thinking that due to December's meeting in which it was decided to dump the Dunoon Dam as an option for good plus the loss of this motion, that this was truly the end. But with projects of this scale there are always more options.

In terms of recent events, let's use Two Mates Brewing as the example.

When a motion is defeated a councillor can re-introduce it to council three months later. It is done this way so the same motion is not brought up month after month after month.

With Two Mates Brewing three councillors did not want it to open for a variety of reasons and pushed hard to get their way including Monday nights rescission motion (which was initially to delay the approval until the March LCC meeting) where it was defeated 3/5.

Technically, this could be brought back to council in three months time but for a small business it is more than likely going to be open and running in that time frame, so no use.

The Dunoon Dam is more like turning the Titanic, it takes a long time to get the job done. So, in three months time not much would have changed in terms of action.

After all, does Rous County Council want a quick fire sale of all the land it has purchased over the years in anticipation of building the dam? No, it wants a decent return on the investment so it can be used for other long term water supply options.

Councillor Sharon Cadwallader represents people from the Ballina Shire at Rous County Council. Sharon told the Lismore App "I want this (the dam) option back on the table."

Why is this so important to Sharon?

"I want to wait until all the studies are finalised and lodged and the long term water supply is identified. We still need more investigation."

Councillor Darlene Cook who represents the Lismore City Council voted against the rescission motion. Cnr Cook's thinking is that taking the Dunoon Dam off the table forces all parties to seriously consider other options and not take the easy, tried and tested dam option.

What are the alternative options for a long term water supply for the fast growing Northern Rivers region?

• Aquifer
• Desalination Plant
• Recycled Water

Aquifer is basically removing water from the ground and is said to support the long term water supply but not be the solution itself, it is considered a supportive option.

Desalination is removing the salt from ocean water then purifying the result to make it safe to drink. It is recognised as an expensive option (Adelaide's is costing $1.8 billion to build and $130 million to run each year with environmental impacts).

(Sydney's desalination plant)

Recycled Water is the less researched and not fully tried option. This is where we take our waste water from our homes, treat it and purify it for drinking. The problem with recycled water is that it includes toilet waste which is quite off-putting to a lot of people. It is also called 'Toilet to Tap' by its detractors.

Finally we have arrived to the main point in the long term water supply debate.

Those against the dam want to investigate the recycled water option. After all we recycle plastics, paper, even our food for compost so why can't we recycle water?

Cnr Cook said "Only 2% of our water use is for drinking while 98% of our water usage is for other purposes such as washing, flushing the toilet, showers and watering the garden."

If you are one of the many that don't like the thought of drinking recycled waste water, you can now picture a house that has two pipes running into it, one with dam water from Rocky Creek for drinking and another using recycled water for the other uses named above.

This is the case in new homes built in Ballina in new estates. The downside is the cost. Cnr Cadwallader saying it costs an extra $1000 per year in rates per household. You still need to build, maintain and run a wastewater treatment plant.

How much are you willing to pay?

It really does feel like a long term choice of what we know, a new dam that is tried and tested and what we don't, recycled water that needs a lot more investigation before it can be considered a viable long term water supply option with an increase in cost.

This Dunoon Dam debate is far from over.

You can still have your say on your preferred options by emailing [email protected].