Strategic community water supplies are provided for emergency use at times when low rainfall causes on-farm supplies to fail forcing farmers to travel outside the farm gate to collect water for livestock and other essential farm purposes.
It is important that this network of strategic supplies is used sustainably and that water is preserved for times of emergency. The location of the strategic community water supplies can be obtained from the Emergency Farmland Water Response Plans outlined in the previous section.
The Rural Water Planning Program is working with local government and farmland communities to establish water resource management plans for these sites to ensure water supplies are used appropriately and resource infrastructure is well maintained.
These plans will also provide for appropriate responses in the event of there being any abuse or unsustainable use of the emergency supplies.