Australian Water Management Review Vol. 1 2014 | Page 39

example, the total cost of spending per year in stage
3 restrictions is around $180 million. The potential
cost of a year spent on higher levels of restrictions
(stage 4, which does not allow any outside use) is
much higher still at around $540 million.”
Upskilling the ACT construction industry
A key priority during the construction was
considering the needs of the local construction
industry. At its peak around 400 employees were
working on the construction of the dam, and
around 61% of the project team was sourced
locally, together with about 34% of all contractor
businesses and suppliers. This not only helped to
inject $88 million into the local economy, but also
improved the skill base of hundreds of construction
workers who will take many of these vital lessons on
to projects across Australia and around the world.
ACTEW Water Project Manager, Ray Hezkial,
explains further:
“The construction of a dam of this size and type
is a rare occurrence in Australia and many of the
methods used and developed will help to enhance
the industry in the years to come. Through the
duration of this project we have injected tens
of millions of dollars into u 6