The launch took place at the Nabiac Aquifer Borefield and Water Treatment Plant and attracted a small crowd of local dignitaries, council employees and associated individuals.

MidCoast Council’s director of water services, Brendan Guiney, opened the ceremony and spoke about his involvement in the $34.6 million project, from its initial conception back in 1998 to the final realisation of the project today.

Local indigenous elder, Aunty Donna Hall, then performed a ‘Welcome to Country’ and said that dealing with MidCoast Council on the project had been a pleasure for the members of the Forster Aboriginal Land Council.

More speeches followed from Mid Coast Council's general manager, Adrian Panuccio, and mayor, David West, before Cr West joined with Federal member for Lyne, David Gillespie, and State member for the Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead, to declare the scheme officially open.

Following the conclusion of the ceremony, Mr Guiney offered everyone the opportunity to join him for a tour of the operation.

Speaking about the significance of the project afterwards, he explained that having a supplementary water supply was vital for improving water security for the local area.

"Right now the Manning River is in quite low flow, so having a second source of water is absolutely essential to prevent going deeper into water restrictions," he said.

With 14 production bores drawing water from the Nabiac aquifer borefield, the scheme will deliver between six and ten million litres of water per day to residents of the Manning and Great Lakes.

Cr West believed the scheme was invaluable to the growth of the local area.

"We are very fortunate as a result of this plant of almost being completely drought-proof," he said. 

"The offshoot of that is, people will have confidence to move to this area to establish enterprises which benefit the economic growth of the area."

He also praised Mr Guiney and his team's efforts on the project and said the region was lucky to have such capable people managing their most important resource.

"We have the most significantly brilliant man in engineering in Australia as far as I'm concerned," he said.

"To work with people such as Brendan and his team is fantastic."

To learn more about the Nabiac Aquifer Water Supply Scheme, click here.