Ex-Toowoomba CEO's comments on Water Futures ...

... and the outgoing Mayor's trips to Canberra.

Excerpt from Engineers Australia website:

Would you drink someone else's?

22 July 2006

On 29 July, the good citizens of Toowoomba will vote on an issue critical to their economic future and standard of living. With water resources at an all-time low and water restrictions reaching their most severe, the Australian Government's contribution to a major project to return highly treated recycled water to one of the City's three dams 1o partially replenish supply, is dependent on a positive outcome to a referendum on the question of the acceptability of this form of indirect potable reuse of water.

This is not a new issue for Toowoomba; in my former life, the Mayor and I were making periodic forays to Canberra to try to secure this funding for several years before I took up my current position. Di Thorley and Director of Engineering Services, Kevin Flanagan, have continued to develop and improve the project and, of course seek Queensland and Australian Government support. The state government is now on side.

Regular readers of my column in our magazine will recall that National President, Peter Cockbain and I tried and survived direct potable reuse during our recent visit to Singapore. The Toowoomba project is for indirect potable reuse.

If you were a citizen of Toowoomba, which way would you vote? YES or NO?

See - Ex-CEO comments on Water Futures.