The Illawarra dams might be full to overflowing but the region still needs a desalination plant, according to Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery.
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Water Minister Melinda Pavey has said the government was considering a desalination plant for the Ilawarra, but only if the drought worsened.
READ MORE: Dams are full - and overflowing
But with Cordeaux and Cataract dams and 66 and 67 per cent capacity, Avon at 80 per cent and Nepean full, the idea of the plant may have gone of the boil with the government.
Cr Bradbery did not want to see that happen and wanted the government to keep the plant "on the agenda".
Cr Bradbery said the plans would be "ramped up" in the middle of the year if the drought conditions continued.
"In the light of this rain event I suppose it takes the pressure off," Cr Bradbery said.
"But who's to say in another six months time we could be facing the same problem we had last week.
"A rain event like this doesn't mean to say that the drought situation is over."