Water restrictions lifted for Sydney
stevem
in Dam Alternatives, Desalination, Environmental, Water Restrictions, Water Wasteage
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June 21, 2009
Sydneysiders can again use sprinklers and watering systems, with rising dam levels prompting the NSW government to lift tough water restrictions.
The government’s new Water Wise rules will take effect from midnight (AEST) on Sunday, allowing Sydney, Illawarra and Blue Mountains residents to use hand-held hoses, sprinklers and watering systems on any day before 10am (AEST) and after 4pm.
The only exemption from the allocated times allows children to play under the sprinkler on hot days.
Under the new rules, hand-held hoses must be fitted with a trigger nozzle when watering or washing vehicles.
There is an automatic exclusion for nurseries, market gardeners, landscapers, garden contractors, bowling greens, cricket wickets, golf tees and croquet, hockey, tennis and racing surfaces.
Hosing of hard surfaces is only allowed for emergency and construction activities or for health and safety purposes.
The new long-term rules replace Level Three restrictions, which banned sprinklers and watering systems and only allowed hand-held watering at specific times on Wednesdays and Sundays.
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.”
Greens MP John Kaye said the new rules were just an attempt to justify the controversial desalination plant at Kurnell.
“The next time Warragamba levels begin to fall, the NSW government will need to reverse its message and ask households to re-plant their gardens again,” Dr Kaye said in a statement.
“Sooner or later gardeners will lose patience with the on-again-off-again message coming from Sydney Water.”
Fines of $220 for individuals and $550 for businesses apply for breaches of the Water Wise Rules.
Story
stevem
SE Qld dams over 75pc capacity
Posted Tue Jun 23, 2009
SEQ Water says up to 29mm of rain fell over the catchments in the past 24 hours.
The combined level of south-east Queensland’s three major dams has passed 75 per cent for the first time in more than seven years.
SEQ Water says up to 29 millimetres of rain fell over the catchments in the past 24 hours.
The three dams - Somerset and Wivenhoe, west of Brisbane, and North Pine, north of Brisbane, are expected to experience inflows over the next five to six days.
North Pine Dam remains full, prompting SEQ Water to open the gates to release water from it for the third time in the past two months.
stevem
Councils urge cross-border water sharing
By Emma Pollard and Fidelis Rego
25 Jun 2009
The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) says it wants authorities to consider allowing regional towns to share water across state boundaries during drought.
Mayors agreed to the idea at the annual ALGA national conference in Canberra this week.
Steve Jones, the Mayor of the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, put forward the motion and says it is time authorities realised water shortages do not end at state borders.
“Because it doesn’t matter what we do in life - we must have water,” he said.
“We can’t overemphasise enough that we need to look at all possible alternatives to make water available to those who need it in this country.”
Councillor Jones also says people living in Brisbane and Sydney might get complacent about water conservation because local dams are getting full.
“What I think we need is a government-assisted, voluntary scheme to help people collect water wherever we can, because not only is water being wasted but in some cases it’s a nuisance in the form of run-off, so let’s put it to good use,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) says it will ask the Federal Government to extend a key infrastructure funding program.
LGAQ’s spokesman Greg Hallam says councils want the $800 million Regional Community Infrastructure Program extended.
“We’ll be pushing very strongly for that to be continued, although we do fully appreciate councils have to implement better asset management systems and better reporting systems so there’s reliable data going back to the Federal Government,” he said.
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