Aboriginal Site Salvage - Tarro to Beresfield Trunk Watermain Replacement

⁠⁠⁠Hunter Water Corporation (Hunter Water) is in the process of upgrading the Chichester Trunk Gravity Main (CTGM) pipeline in sections. Demolition of the existing above-ground pipeline and construction of a new buried section of the (CTGM) will take place between Tarro and the Beresfield Water Station, a distance of approximately 2.2 km.

On 31 October 2014 Hunter Water obtained an Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit (AHIP) for impact to Aboriginal objects within the construction corridor subject to salvage of a number of surface stone artefact sites by community collection and archaeological excavations of the Glenrowan sand sheet site.

Test excavations within the Glenrowan sand sheet have confirmed an archaeological deposit of stone artefacts to over 1 m depth. The aim of the archaeological salvage is to mitigate the loss of Aboriginal cultural heritage value through the realisation of the research potential identified in the test excavation and, through a thorough scientific accounting of the evidence, interpret the Aboriginal heritage record for the benefit of current and future generations.