Toowoomba Water Task Force - an update ...
From State parliament today:
Election promise:
Finalise report and act on recommendations from the Toowoomba Water Futures Task Force.
Action:
The Task Force met for the first time on August 14 and also met today. By 17 November it aims to have established the amount of water needed by Toowoomba up to the year 2050 and options for immediate action.
The Task Force will provide a final report to the government on its preferred strategy which will then be acted on.
See - Hansard Daily - 11 October 2006 - Page 31.
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 7:06 PM
5 Comments:
Councillors were due to inspect the test borehole for the Great Artisian Basin bore at Wetalla today.
9:59 PM, October 11, 2006
Excerpt from the Chronicle (annotated):
Big artesian bore part of city insurance
12 October 2006
by Lacey Burley
William Beale is busy drilling one of Queensland's largest artesian bores for water, right here in Toowoomba.
Mr Beale, Queensland Drilling Services managing director, said the bore, at the council's Wetalla water reclamation plant, had the largest diameter he had seen for its depth of 650 metres.
It is 600mm in diameter and will be the first Toowoomba bore to tap into the water supply of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB). Mr Beale said the wide diameter would produce a large water supply.
"We're hoping to pump out about 75 litres per second, which will be a very large supply of water," he said.
Toowoomba City councillor Joe Ramia, whose portfolio is water and wastewater, said this could be compared to the city's basalt bores' rate of just five litres per second.
Cr Ramia hailed the new artesian bore as a part of the city Council's Water Futures program. [But Joe, we didn't have any other options!]
"It is a good insurance plan to have," he said.
Drilling is meant to be finished within four to six weeks.
Cr Ramia said the bore had been planned for an emergency, but would be used if, after its completion, there was no rain and dam levels continued to drop.
Mr Beale said this artesian bore was an excellent option for Toowoomba and wanted to raise the community's awareness about the GAB s current water wastage crisis.
Mr Beale said 438 billion litres of water were being wasted each year through soakage and evaporation.
This immense waste resulted from the 450 free-flowing bores which had not been capped when they were sunk decades ago.
The Department of Natural Resources will cap 20 bores by the end of next financial year, leaving 430 bores still to be capped.
11:21 AM, October 12, 2006
How odd that the Toowoomba Task Force scheduled their October meeting at the very time that No campaigner Clive Berghofer needed to attend the Governor General to receive his latest Medal for being
an outstanding citizen? The Artesian Bore was one of the solutions put forward by the No campaigners, now purloined by TCC.
What about bringing Norwin water on line too - another No campaign initiative.
1:51 PM, October 13, 2006
You will find that whatever options the Council wishes to adopt, they will have magically been part of their Water Futures all along.
You will be asked to forget their 'there are no other options' rhetoric.
Expect some major 'spin' before the 2008 Council elections.
8:15 PM, October 13, 2006
Excerpt from the Chronicle:
Water Task Force looking to meet needs up to 2050
17 October 2006
by Susan Searle
THE Toowoomba Water Task Force has extended its focus for a future water supply to 2050, but it will still deliver on the best options for the city and the region by December, according to Water Minister Kerry Shine.
At the latest task force meeting last week, the group agreed to focus on the water needs to 2050, rather than 2040, in line with that planning horizon for the South East Queensland Regional Water Supply Strategy.
"As the Member for Toowoomba North and the Minister, I am determined that we get a sustainable and reliable water supply solution for the Toowoomba and surrounding region, Mr Shine said.
"During the election, the Government said the Task Force would be required to provide recommendations within the first 100 days.
"By November 17, the Task Force will have established the amount of water needed by the Toowoomba region up to 2050 and options for immediate action, Mr Shine said.
11:18 AM, October 17, 2006
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