SEQ put on permanent water restrictions ...
QWC shows it has no idea and that the southern capitals are far better at water management.
Excerpt from Courier Mail:
Water restrictions to stay for ever
26 March 2008
Water restrictions will be permanent in south-east Queensland regardless of water levels, the Queensland Water Commission has announced.
The measure is part of a wide-ranging outlook for the state’s water supplies, that has ruled out future dam projects but outlined as many as half a dozen potential sites for desalination plants.
The commission is set to investigate setting up plants in Marcoola and Kawana on the Sunshine Coast, Bribie Island, the Brisbane river mouth, and at north and south Stradbroke Island.
In a discussion paper released today for public comment, the commission has also identified four possible sites for recycled water plants – at Hinze and North Pine dams, the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba, where water levels are at crisis point.
"There really are no other sites in south east Queensland that are suitable for any other major dams," Commissioner Elizabeth Nosworthy.
"Any other future sources of water will be from desalination plants or recycled water." Ms Nosworthy announced today there would be a limit of 230 litres per person per day, regardless of future water supplies.
Currently, the water limit usage level is 140 litres per person per day but that will be eased when and if combined storage capacities reach 40 per cent.
...
See - QWC - Water restrictions to last forever.
The paper released by the QWC is bound to spark some heated responses ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 8:49 AM
7 Comments:
Brisbane Times:
More desal plants mooted
March 26, 2008
Almost one-third of south-east Queensland's water supply could come from recycled water and desalination plants within 50 years, the Queensland Water Commission (QWC) says.
QWC chair Elisabeth Nosworthy will today release the commission's draft south-east Queensland water strategy, outlining a plan for the next 50 years.
"By 2056 we expect 30 per cent of our water to be coming from climate resilient supplies, which are predominantly desalination and PRW (purified recycled water) supplies," Ms Nosworthy told ABC Radio.
The QWC has earmarked six sites for possible desalination plants.
They are at Marcoola and Kawana on the Sunshine Coast, Bribie Island in Brisbane's north, Lytton in Brisbane's east, and on North and South Stradbroke islands.
A desalination plant is already under construction on the Gold Coast.
Queenslanders should not be concerned with an increase in the use of desalinated water, Ms Nosworthy said.
"I don't think they should fear desalination plants," she said.
"Desalination is technology which is used all over the world, and the water is perfectly safe to use."
The QWC also plans to add recycled water to the North Pine and Hinze dams, as well as the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba water supplies.
"I think the public has come to the realisation that with climate change we have no choice," Ms Nosworthy said.
"We can't continue to rely on rain falling regularly enough that we can continue to meet all the needs of a growing population and a growing business population."
11:06 AM, March 26, 2008
Melbourne recycles 25% of its water (so far) and none is used for drinking.
11:07 AM, March 26, 2008
The timing for the release of this report is very interesting - right after the council elections. Clearly it could have been released before 15 March but the government sat on it.
11:10 AM, March 26, 2008
The government sat on it because they were working hard to get their team up in the Toowoomba Regional Council.
The Labour party and the unions have worked tirelessly to get Peter Taylor and his ticket up.
It worked and now we have to wait and see if Taylor is a man of his word and stands by what he has told the people. He has said on more than one occasion that the community have voted and he will stand by their decision.
9:10 PM, March 26, 2008
Yes, and when the western corridor pipeline begins operation later this year, Brisbane will be recycling 100% of its water.
10:00 PM, March 26, 2008
It may be somewhere around 100% but that's in the front door of the sewage works. Certainly not 100% coming out the other end.
Let's see if Anna has any left over after the power stations.
Putting recycled water into dams rather than using it for industry is and always will be the cheap and dirty fix to water infrastructure issues.
And whatever happened to a 3-5 year testing period before forcing people to drink it?
10:16 PM, March 26, 2008
Courier Mail:
Moreton Bay islands focus for desalination plans
March 26, 2008
CONSERVATIONISTS and residents' groups fear future desalination plants on North and South Stradbroke and Bribie islands could endanger Moreton Bay.
They said lack of detail made yesterday's announcement a "total joke" and argued that a sustainable future for the islands off Brisbane was in eco-tourism, not industry.
Plans for desalination plants at Marcoola and Kawana also came under fire, with Sunshine Coast Regional Council Mayor Bob Abbot attacking the State Government for not telling him two desalination plants were planned for his area.
A 53ha site at Finland Rd, Marcoola, and a 28ha site at Milieu Pl, Birtinya, near Kawana – both council land – are among six proposed sites for water plants in the state's southeast.
Stradbroke Island Management Organisation president Jackie Cooper said the Government had released no details on critical issues such as where the water would be drawn from, where excess salt would be dumped and the impact on fragile eco-systems such as Eighteen Mile Swamp.
It was not clear where or how water would be piped or where roads and power lines would be laid, making the proposals difficult to address.
"This looks like somebody without the merest understanding of the island's topography just put an X on the map," she said. "This is a total joke."
The draft strategy proposes a 3110ha 400 megalitre site on Bribie, a 1970ha 400 megalitre site on North Stradbroke and a 63ha 400 megalitre site on South Stradbroke.
Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association spokesman Ian Bell said the size of the site and the plant, salt disposal and electricity towers concerned him.
Nevertheless, the proposal might be a better option than the Caboolture Shire Council proposal to draw 6 megalitres of water a day from the island's wetlands.
"The beauty of desal is it provides 100 per cent reliability even in the worst conditions," Mr Bell said.
"Compare this with the Caboolture proposal. It threatens the local environment, the national park and Ramsar wetlands. They'd be better off getting rid of Traveston and Wyaralong dams and the Bribie borefield and putting in desal."
The plants are part of planning to meet southeast Queensland's water needs for the next 50 years.
Ms Cooper said it was odd that while the Government was revising the Moreton Bay Marine Park, ostensibly to better protect it, it was proposing highly polluting industry.
Residents had already fought off a proposal to take 22 megalitres of water a day off the island. "If they thought the battle over water was difficult, we'll really put up a storm against desalination," she said. "If it's not one damn thing for Straddie, it's another."
Queensland Conservation co-ordinator Toby Hutcheon said it was a major concern that the Government was proposing four desalination plants between Tugun and Bribie.
If the plants were feasible, conservationists would want to ensure there were no impacts from ocean outfalls and that all plants were powered by renewable energy. He said creating water would remove the natural brake on the population explosion, leading to even more unsustainable growth.
Mr Abbot said he was being "treated with contempt" and would be "having words with the Premier", after failing to be told of the possible locations for desalination plants at Marcoola and Kawana.
"The first I heard about it was when a journalist called me this morning," he said yesterday.
Mr Abbot, however, said desalination plants were a better option than the controversial Traveston Dam, which was "not going to do the job in the long and short term".
Sunshine Coast Environment Council general manager Ian Christesen said the plants would not be welcome.
"Desalination must be driven by renewable energy, and we can't put our heads in the sand any longer," he said.
Cane farmer Veli Mantyla, 43, of Marcoola, said his father owned 40ha of land adjacent to the proposed Finland Rd site.
"They're already going to put an airport runway basically behind us, so a desalination is the least of our disturbances compared to an international airport," he said.
"The only thing that concerns me is where are they going to pump out the brine, if they pump it into the ocean it's going to be a problem."
11:37 PM, March 26, 2008
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