New Marsfield Reservoir

We own the land at 37 Abuklea Road. It has existing supplementary infrastructure to support a second reservoir. It's common to have reservoirs located within residential areas like this. There are no other Sydney Water sites within the Marsfield area that meet the technical requirements for a new reservoir.

We secured this site to include provision and space for this second reservoir, anticipating a future need to service a growing Sydney. The land is zoned as SP2 Infrastructure for critical water supply services that will contribute to a liveable community and provide quality drinking water for future generations. 

We considered other positions within our site. The first position was next to the current reservoir on the eastern boundary, near Agincourt Road. This option was ruled out because the new reservoir would be too close to the existing reservoir and would not meet our safety and technical standards during construction and operation.

The second position was opposite the existing reservoir. This was chosen as the preferred option because it allows enough space for supporting structures and pipes. This location allows full access for the 2 reservoirs to be maintained. It also reduces the construction and operational risks of having 2 reservoirs very close together.

The reservoirs need to be the same height so the full capacity of both reservoirs can be utilised. Because the 2 tanks need to be connected to each other, decreasing the height of the new reservoir would impact how much of the existing reservoir can be used.

Our aim is to retain as many trees as possible. However, trees will need to be removed if they're where our infrastructure is planned to go, or if any significant roots are impacted by our work. There are also at least 6 trees that have health or structural issues, which means they have to be removed regardless of our work.

We're working to minimise tree removal wherever possible. The Review of Environmental Factors – new Marsfield Reservoir states the environmental impacts of our work allowed for 26 trees to be removed to make space for the new reservoir. We've since developed a new arborist report based on the latest iteration of our designs and reduced the amount of trees to be removed by adopting additional protection controls around the trees closest to our worksite. Currently, 22 trees need to be removed to make way for the new infrastructure and we'll continue to minimise tree removal wherever possible. We'll also have the project arborist on hand while we work to ensure we protect trees when working nearby.

We're working with landscape and vegetation specialists to determine the best possible landscape plan for the site. This includes considering taller tree species that can safely grow on our property without impacting any underground or above-ground services. This may include Blueberry Ash, Grey Myrtle, Lemon-scented Myrtle and species of Lily Pilly. We'll confirm suitable locations with our arborists, subject to space constraints on-site.

We'll schedule our work during the day where possible, but some work will be done at night when our water system is at low flow. We expect to work up to 10 night shifts across our construction period. We'll always let residents know before we work at night.