The NSW Government is staying quiet on the cost of planned drought security projects. 

NSW Water Minister Kevin Anderson, who is new to the water portfolio, has been questioned in a budget estimates committee about progress on promised upgrades at Wyangala Dam at Cowra and Dungowan Dam near Tamworth. 

Wyangala's business case was due last year, but Mr Anderson says it is now expected to be completed this year. 

THe last update, which came in March 2021, revealed that the cost of the expansion had risen from $650 million to up to $2.1 billion.

Mr Anderson would not be drawn on what the estimated cost is now. 

“I'm not in the business of speculating on what the probability of that particular project will cost,” Mr Anderson told the estimates hearing.

“That's kind of your job though, this is budget estimates,” Labor MP Rose Jackson pointed out.

“I'm in the business of providing water security for our regional communities,” Mr Anderson said. 

Mr Anderson and a senior department official were also asked about the potential contributions that water users in the Tamworth region will be expected to make towards  building another Dungowan Dam. 

The NSW Government estimated the cost would be around $480 million when the project was announced in October 2019. 

“What customers will pay gets determined by IPART (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal) and not by government,” chief executive of NSW Water Sector from the Department of Environment, Dr Jim Bentley, told the hearing. 

“It'll be an independent process like with any other pricing thing.

“The National Water Initiative principles don't say all costs must be fully recovered, they say either fully recovered or transparently subsidised.”

The officials said neither business case would be released to the public. 

“Those discussions that will be had further down the track with our community once the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) is released but the issues that are contained in the final business case are cabinet in confidence,” Mr Anderson said.