Toowoomba tightens up - level 5 water restrictions ...

An excerpt from the Courier Mail:

Toowoomba tightens up

By Peter Morley

25 September 2006

Toowoomba will be the first to taste what much of southeast Queensland is heading apparently inexorably towards – level 5 water restrictions.

From tomorrow, residents of the Garden City and parts of the Crows Nest, Jondaryan and Rosalie shires will be banned from watering outside with hoses or buckets. They will, however, be able to bucket grey water from their laundry, shower or bath on to their gardens.

Reticulated water can be carried by bucket to wash car windscreens, windows, mirrors and headlights, animals, their pens and kennels, and wheelie bins.

Toowoomba and the surrounding shires rely on Cressbrook, Perseverance and Cooby dams now at 20.3 per cent capacity and bores that supply up to 20 per cent of demand.

In a bid to ensure supply, Toowoomba council has sunk new bores and is about to begin a sub-artesian bore expected to hit water at about 700m.

See - Level 5 water restrictions and TCC press release.


It is worth noting that the NO vote on 29 July 2006 in no way contributed to Toowoomba now being on level 5 water restrictions.

A Yes vote at the referendum would NOT have alleviated the situation.

Mayor Thorley's Water Futures proposal would NOT have supplied recycled sewage water before 2011-2012. It would not by itself have resulted in Toowoomba residents being able to use their garden hoese once again.

Toowoomba City Council and the Toowoomba Water Task Force need to examine the water options which are now on the table and move swiftly to resolve Toowoomba current water source issues.

Toowoomba City Council Councillors, the current state of the city's water source concerns has occurred on your watch. How you resolve it will be your legacy ...