The *?*?*! hits the fan - Mayors demand water action ...

Excerpt from the Courier Mail:

Mayors demand water action

18 January 2007

Southeast Queensland mayors are on the brink of revolt, yesterday demanding the State Government draft emergency water rationing guidelines to stop the region running dry.

They accused the Government and Water Commissioner Elizabeth Nosworthy – who admits she has no "doomsday" plan if dams drop to critical levels – of gambling on drought-breaking rain falling in the next 18 months.

The Opposition, meanwhile, called for an immediate review of how much usable water was left in the Wivenhoe-Somerset dam system.

Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney said the CSIRO should be called in to work out if ponding or siltation had cut the amount of usable water in the two dams.

Logan Mayor Graham Able, Redland Shire Mayor Don Seccombe and Boonah Shire Mayor John Brent said the Government could not merely hope for rain and that billions in water infrastructure would be delivered "just in time".

"The whole of southeast Queensland is in very deep danger. There should be a Plan B," Cr Able said.

Cr Brent warned dam evaporation rates would accelerate as levels fell further so "the end comes more quickly".

"Our backs are against the wall. A plan should definitely be in place," Cr Brent said.

Without major rain in dam catchments it is unlikely the Brisbane area will have more than 12 per cent capacity in Wivenhoe and Somerset by this time next year. At that level some power stations will have to shut down.

The Government has responded to the crisis by building a water grid, a recycled-water pipeline and a desalination plant, but all the infrastructure is due to be delivered within a month of the dams running dry in 2009.

Ms Nosworthy has declined to reveal any rationing plans, and has not even confirmed the detail of level 5 restrictions, expected in the southeast in March.

"We are continuing to closely monitor dam levels and are continuing to evaluate demand measures and supply options in addition to the programs already in place," she said in a statement.

See - Mayors demand water action.

So if the dams run out of water, just what proportion of recycled water will SEQ residents be drinking ...