Contamination from rotting meat used to bait yabbies in Googong Dam would be eliminated before the drinking water reaches household taps, according to an multi-jurisdictional risk assessment.
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The finding alleviates concerns raised in the ACT and region's draft catchment strategy that yabbying in the dam increased the risk of pathogenic contamination of the territory's main drinking water supply.
According to the strategy, the risks of such contamination "can be serious and, under certain circumstances, result in hospitalisation and potential death".
But a risk assessment involving the ACT's Environment and Planning Directorate, Territory and Municipal Services, Icon Water, NSW Fisheries and Water Futures' Dr Daniel Deere found the water treatment plant was capable of dealing with the offending bacteria.
It also found only low levels of yabbying was expected at the dam, factoring in the growth of the nearby Googong township.
A spokesman for Environment Minister Simon Corbell said the greatest risk to water quality in the reservoir was direct human contact through swimming or paddling, both of which were banned.
"Human contact with the dam waters [can introduce] pathogens which cannot be treated by the existing plant," the spokesman said.
TAMS is developing a visitor management concept plan for the dam, identifying the areas of least risk to the potable drinking supply.
"We are investigating ways to improve regulation of the reserve and co-ordination with NSW Fisheries," the spokesman said.
"This issue would have benefited from consideration by the recently established ACT and Region Catchment Management Co-ordination Group, which was established sometime after the event."
Googong Dam is in NSW, but is owned by the federal government, which leased it to the ACT government for 150 years in 2008.
A 2014 change to NSW recreational fishing laws allowed anglers to use up to five hoop nets in Googong reservoir, prompting warnings within the community not to pollute the water with meat and other baits used to lure yabbies.
It was included in the strategy as a case study of how jurisdictional overlap in the region could "result in sub-optimal outcomes for the region".
Consultation for the draft ACT and Region Catchment Strategy closed last month, with a final report expected to be published later this year.
The strategy will help inform state and territory government approaches to issues affecting water and soil quality over the next 30 years, covering an area from Bowning in the north to the Lake Eucumbene in the south.
