Queensland water supplies in crisis
Monday, April 25, 2005
A leaked document from Brisbane City Council water body Brisbane Water has said that Southeast Queensland could be only 18 months away from "total failure" of its drinking water supply.
According to calculations by Brisbane Water, over 600mm of rain is required to prevent the region running dry by the end of 2006. The absence of a normal wet season this summer would very likely make meeting this target unlikely.
The three main dams in the region, North Pine, Somerset and Wivenhoe, are currently at a record low average capacity of 41.5%. The memo discusses a worst case scenario where there are no significant dam inflows from rain over the next 18 months, reducing the region's water storage to around 10%.
"Our best advice to date indicates extracting water down to and below 10% will have considerable water quality and engineering consequences," the memo said.
The memo indicates there are no contingency measures in place for extremely low water levels in the dams except waiting for rain, but mentions Brisbane Water has begun investigating possible emergency water supplies.
The information contained in the memo has been disputed by SEQWater Corporation, which manages the three primary dams
OPM
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