Toowoomba water worries washed away by new pipeline ...

The Australian:

Toowoomba water worries washed away by new pipeline

30 December 2009

After a divisive debate over recycled water and years of watching its dam levels dwindle, Toowoomba will soon have what it has been desperate for: water security.

With its three dams at their lowest levels -- just under 8 per cent full -- the ever-expanding regional Queensland city's water woes will be alleviated with the opening of a 38km pipeline at the end of next month. The pipeline will pump water from Brisbane's largest water storage, Wivenhoe Dam, currently 63.5 per cent full, past the rural township of Esk, to Toowoomba's largest and newest dam, Cressbrook.

For residents and authorities in the drought-ravaged city, it's a relief a long time in coming.

Toowoomba Regional Council deputy mayor Paul Antonio, who is in charge of water services at the council, said the opening of the pipeline would signal that the city was still open for business, as gas and coal mining operations continue to develop in the nearby Surat Basin.

"It means water security for our expected growth until at least 2050," Mr Antonio said yesterday at Toowoomba's nearly empty Cooby Dam. "Toowoomba is in a growth corridor here. We have a lot of potential for development. The pipeline means that those negative things that came out of the water debate a couple of years ago can be forgotten."

The pipeline was built after a bitter fight over recycled water that divided the city. More than 60 per cent of residents rejected the idea of using recycled water to solve the city's water woes. The $187 million steel pipeline -- funded by the state government and the council -- will have the capacity to deliver water at a rate of 14,200 megalitres annually.

See - The Australian - Toowoomba water worries washed away by new pipeline.