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.

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The Queensland president of the Australian Water Association (AWA) says the State Government has plenty of water supply options for the south-east. The AWA’s annual Queensland regional conference was held at Coolum, on the Sunshine Coast, at the weekend. Issues discussed included the management, treatment and regulation of water. Last week, Premier Anna Bligh said the construction of two desalination plants would have to be brought forward because the Traveston Crossing dam, near Gympie, had been vetoed. But the AWA’s John Graham says desalination is one of a number of options. “There are plenty of options - there’s recycled water, there’s stormwater recycling, there’s surface water, there’s also desalination but there’s also consumption,” he said. “Certainly changing people’s patterns, that is an important factor.

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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.

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Premier Anna Bligh should use the money she has “saved” on the $1.8 billion Traveston Dam project to buy every household in South-East Queensland a rainwater tank, say the Greens. South-East Queensland added around 240,000 rainwater tanks over the past three years and there are about 450,000 ratepayers in Brisbane alone. Australian Greens lead Senate candidate for Queensland, Larissa Waters, said the Premier must move more aggressively on cutting the demand for water stored in dams.

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Updated on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 08:02AM by stevem

Updated on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 08:20AM by stevem

THE Sunshine Coast environmental scientist whose technology is about to revolutionise the way water can be delivered to the region said yesterday that there was no role for desalination. Justin Holbrook has received a $4.8 million federal climate change adaptation grant to help fund a pilot rainwater harvesting and reuse project that will make the new Coolum Ridges development 90% water self-sufficient.

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Updated on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 12:39PM by stevem

Capturing rain water and storing it under Brisbane’s suburban streets could be the answer to South-East Queensland’s water security, doing away with the need for large-scale dams such as Traveston Crossing, experts say. Scientists hope a storm water harvesting trial on Brisbane’s northside will help them work out how to capture some of the 500 billion litres of rain water - equivalent to 500,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools - which falls over Greater Brisbane each year but simply runs into creeks and rivers. They argue all new residential estates should be built with the capability to store and harvest rain water supplies underground or in smaller, local dams. Adjunct Professor Ted Gardner is a principal scientist with the CSIRO and one of a handful of scientists who formed the Urban Water Security Research Alliance with $50 million in research funds handed out by former premier Peter Beattie in 2007. Fourteen research projects are now underway.

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THE threat of a stormy and wet summer has pushed the $395 million project to double the capacity of the Hinze Dam on the Gold Coast to crisis point. Project managers must decide whether to gamble on proceeding with critical work building the exposed clay core of the dam wall, or wait until the wet season finishes next year. Before workers can start raising the dam wall by 15m, they have to strip away rocks to expose the clay core base.

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DROUGHT has dragged the water-guzzling Cubbie Station to the brink of collapse, with administrators poised to take over the nation’s biggest cotton producer. The National Australia Bank is seeking the urgent repayment of a $320 million mortgage over the 93,000ha southern Queensland property, which can store enough water to fill Sydney Harbour. Cubbie Group chairman Keith De Lacy - a former Queensland Labor treasurer - refused to say yesterday if voluntary administrators would be appointed this week. But he told The Australian on Monday that none of the five bidders in a firesale of the property had offered enough to cover the massive bank debt, and said the bank “wants to get its money back”.

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NEW support for a major alternative to the Traveston Crossing dam has been rejected by the Queensland Infrastructure Department but supporters of the plan say the department is living in the past. The so-called “McMah Plan”, devised by Imbil grazier Ron McMah, involves significantly raising Borumba Dam, massively increasing its storage capacity, combined with the water grid, to provide alternative water storage. Anti-dam activists have also proposed raising Wivenhoe and/or Somerset dams, a plan rejected by the Infrastructure Department on the basis that the whole idea of Traveston Crossing is to gather water from an alternative catchment.

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Updated on Friday, October 16, 2009 at 12:53PM by stevem

Updated on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 08:25AM by stevem

Updated on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 08:26AM by stevem

Today, a coalition of concerned groups issues a direct challenge to Minister Hinchcliffe regarding his claims that the proposed Traveston Crossing dam is the most cost effective option for South East Queensland’s water security, “SEQ can be climate proofed , for a mere $10M” , said Narelle Mcarthy Sunshine Coast Environment Council manager. “We challenge Mr Hincliffe to explain why he is pursuing a multi billion dollar option when the Government’s own Queensland Water Commission has identified a vastly cheaper options that provides much more water.” The option proposed was outlined in a QWC report titled ‘PROVISION OF CONTINGENCY STORAGE IN WIVENHOE & SOMERSET DAMS’ 2007 and involves raising the height of Wivenhoe dam 2m, a measure that would also contribute to the safety of the dam. The report states that this option :provides a significant increase in storage, 228,000ML, for a relatively small capital cost (i.e. compared to a greenfield site) and could be achieved relatively simply.”

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