1.5.1.1.2 Water storage in the Macquarie-Tuggerah lakes basin

Mardi Dam is the major dam in the the Macquarie-Tuggerah lakes basin, which is an off-river storage dam located near the Wyong River with a capacity of 6.5 GL. The Mardi storage acts as a balancing storage for Mangrove Dam (190 GL (Bureau of Meteorology, 2015)), which sits outside the Macquarie-Tuggerah lakes basin and the subregion. They are managed as part of the Central Coast water supply system, servicing residents in Gosford City and Wyong Shire council areas. A two-way pipeline links Mardi Dam to Mangrove Creek Dam. During high river streamflow conditions, water is harvested from the Wyong River and Ourimbah Creek to the Mardi Dam and transferred to the Mangrove Creek Dam for storage. During drier periods, when Mardi Dam has exhausted its stores, water stored in Mangrove Creek Dam can be transferred back again to meet user demand.