Updated on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 12:27PM by stevem

The Bligh Government may not admit it but there were quarters breathing a deep sigh of relief after federal Minister Peter Garrett put the ‘stop’ sign up for the Traveston dam project. The wheels were well in motion for damming the Mary River when Anna Bligh took over as premier — it was a Peter Beattie project. Fast forward to 2009 and the State Government simply can’t afford any more big-ticket infrastructure projects. To have the Traveston dam off the books is like winning lotto for this Government. And limiting water consumption to 200 litres per person per day is as much about delaying the need to sign a cheque for another desalination plant as it is about genuine water conservation.

Click to read more ...

Updated on Friday, November 20, 2009 at 07:46AM by stevem

Updated on Friday, November 20, 2009 at 08:02AM by stevem

Updated on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 07:20AM by stevem

Mayor Bob Abbot wants the state government to stop draining the Sunshine Coast’s water supply after Baroon Pocket Dam this week came close to its lowest level in more than two years. The controversial northern interconnector pipeline has siphoned 7800 million litres of water since it was completed in March, while the Coast region experienced less than half its normal rainfall during a long dry winter. The Bureau of Meteorology has also predicted below average rains this summer, with a similar El Nino effect forming to that experienced in 2002, which preceded the worst drought in Queensland’s history. Baroon Pocket’s level dropped by nearly 10% in the past two months and an average of 1% a week to its current level of 86%.

Click to read more ...

IF YOU’VE ever wondered why your garden hose has been reduced to a trickle or the water barely makes it to your shower head - here’s why. In a desperate bid to stop ageing pipes and water mains bursting, Sydney Water dropped the pressure in thousands of homes. It claims its “pressure management program” has already saved an estimated $4.6 million and 400 water main breaks, with the program expected to save the equivalent of 30 Olympic-size swimming pools a day.

Click to read more ...

Updated on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 04:29PM by stevem

Updated on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 10:43AM by stevem

THE Bligh Government is sitting on a high-level report identifying the location of the second-wave of desalination plants planned for Queensland. The report, completed months ago, reveals which of two environmentally sensitive sites at Bribie Island or Marcoola on the Sunshine Coast will host a proposed new desalination plant. A site at bayside Lytton in Brisbane and either the Bribie or Marcoola options - both of which involve building in national parks - were identified last February as “priority” locations. However, despite promising a final decision on sites by mid-year, the Government now says it will not release the report until a decision is made on the Traveston Dam in the Mary Valley.

Click to read more ...

THE Sunshine Coast has been bingeing on water over the past two weeks while Brisbane residents remained conservative despite lifted restrictions to allow for cleaning-up after the dust storm. But it is not residents of the Coast who have been letting the taps flow, rather it is the influx of tourists over the school holiday period who have been the main cause for rising water consumption, Sunshine Coast Water manager for planning and sustainability Michael Lukin said.

Click to read more ...

BILLIONS of litres of drinking water will pour through Victoria’s power stations after the state government dumped plans to use recycled water. Despite 12 years of drought and water shortages, the recycling project has been shelved in an announcement that coincided with rising water bills. The government has also abandoned plans to divert recycled water to the Yarra River, which would have freed up more drinking supplies. Releasing a $6 million business case report on the projects, Water Minister Tim Holding said they were too expensive.

Click to read more ...

Updated on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 11:24AM by stevem

Updated on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 11:27AM by stevem

NSW Water Minister Phil Costa said the new rules end five years of tough drought restrictions, after careful consideration of storage levels and additional water sources, like recycling and desalination. “Our dam levels have been on the rise over the past year and we have 20 recycling schemes across greater Sydney now recycling about 25 billion litres of water per year,” Mr Costa said in a statement. “These few simple rules reinforce the importance of using water responsibly and minimising waste.”

Click to read more ...

Updated on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 08:46AM by stevem

Updated on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 12:15PM by stevem

The State Government has announced SEQ Water director Mary Boydell will take over as the new Commissioner for the restructured Queensland Water Commission (QWC) next month. There will be one commissioner instead of three, and some responsibilities will be transferred to Government departments. Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson has told Parliament Ms Boydell is well qualified. “As a director of SEQ Water and chairperson of the Rural Industries Research Development Corporation, along with the experience from numerous other government and corporate bodies, including the Gladstone Area Water Board, Ms Boydell has a broad range of expertise,” he said. “In saying that, acknowledgment needs to be given to outgoing [Water] Commissioner Ms Elizabeth Nosworthy, who has made a magnificent contribution.”

Click to read more ...

There has been a very lively debate in the Qld State parliament (4 Jun 2009) on the proposed amendments to the Water and Another Act Amendment Bill and on the performance of the QLD Water Commission.. These extracts from Hansard show that Traveston and the Mary Valley are still open to lively debate. Mr Messenger: ‘Why is the Premier so reactive? What did she do when she was a child? Did she go to school and grab canteens from all the other schoolchildren, dip them into the toilet to fill them up and maybe put little fluoride tablets in their canteens? Did they give her $10 worth of pocket money and she spent $20?’ This is what we have. We have a Premier who has mismanagement in her DNA. She is reliving some sort of childhood fantasy.” Mr MESSENGER: ‘All the evaporation we will put it on an alluvial plain, we will let it leak out and we will move cemeteries and main roads‘“absolute poppycock. It is absolute craziness that they have gone ahead with this. The member for Gympie said it was going to cost $1.7 billion or $1.5 billion “the government is going backwards in its price. I predict that it will probably cost $2 billion or $3 billion if this government actually goes ahead and displays its normal mismanagement”

Click to read more ...

The Queensland Opposition says expensive water projects in the south-east have failed to deliver and left the State Government struggling financially. State Parliament has passed new laws changing the structure of the Queensland Water Commission (QWC). There will be one commissioner instead of three and some responsibilities will be transferred to government departments. The State Government says the changes will save $7 million over four years, on top of $15 million cut from the QWC public relations budget. In debate in Parliament last night on the QWC changes, Opposition spokesman Jeff Seeney told the House that the Tugun desalination plant on the Gold Coast has been plagued by problems.

Click to read more ...