September 23, 2019
If summer rains don’t occur, SunWater may be forced to cut South Burnett Regional Council’s “100% high priority” water allocation from Bjelke-Petersen and Boondooma dams.
A Council spokesperson said SunWater was continuing to assess water storages in the region and would advise Council should allocations change.
Bjelke-Petersen Dam is currently at 5.3 per cent capacity while Boondooma Dam is at 27.45 per cent.
Graphs on the SunWater website show that if only minimal inflows occur, Bjelke-Petersen Dam will reach its “dead storage” volume (ie. the level below which water cannot be released from the storage) by the start of next April.
However, if average inflows happen, the dam could be almost a third full by the beginning of May.
Boondooma Dam would reach its “dead storage” volume in September 2020. However, with average inflows it could be more than half full at the same date.
If SunWater cuts Council’s water allocations, current water restrictions across the region would have to be tightened.
However, for the present they will remain at Level 3.
Level 3 restrictions:
- No watering on Mondays unless specifically stated (as per restriction guidelines) / Odd Numbers – Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday / Even Numbers – Wednesday, Friday, Sunday
- Residential watering hours – 7:00am to 8:00am and 5:00pm to 6:00pm
- Hosing or washing of concrete paved areas is banned
- No filling of swimming pools or spas – topping up allowed
For further information regarding Level 3 water restrictions and permitted water use, visit Council’s website
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At last Wednesday’s SBRC meeting, councillors voted unanimously to allocate funds to build a new permanent raw water intake at the BP Dam water treatment plant.
This new intake will allow Council to access its allocated raw water supply at low water levels.
The meeting was told that because of the drought, the current intake point was too high. This would be replaced with a floating, solar-powered intake system.
Without the new water intake, Council would not be able to access water for daily operations at Yallakool Caravan Park once the current raw water supply was exhausted.
Total cost for the project was estimated at $113,500 (exc. GST) although most of this could be recovered from funds set aside for depreciation.
The rest would be allocated at the first quarter review of the 2019-20 capital works Budget.
[UPDATED]
