More Water Woes in Australia

South East Queensland is dry and getting dryer. People in the city of Brisbane are beginning to face up to the prospect of their city’s water supply running out in 2008 and tempers are beginning to fray.

Following years of record-breaking dry weather and compounded by population growth bringing ever more demand for water, Brisbane’s reservoirs have fallen to 23.11 percent of capacity and are approaching critically low levels.

Shadow Infrastructure Minister, Fiona Simpson, said that the current infrastructure projects such as the desalination plant and pipelines had been started too late and there were valid concerns they would not be up and running fully in time to avert the real disaster.

Queensland Coalition Leader Jeff Seeney said:

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to work out who is telling the truth about the state of South East Queensland’s water supply

“I was dumbfounded yesterday to hear that there are no contingency plans being considered for the worst case scenario of South East Queensland running out of water.

“It was a lack of planning and action from the Labor Government that has put us in this situation to begin with, and now we hear that Labor hasn’t planned for the worst case scenario.”

According to Brisbane’s Courier Mail Newspaper, Southeast Queensland mayors are on the brink of revolt and have demanded that emergency rationing guidelines be prepared to stop the region running dry. They believe the Queensland government is gambling that rains will come rather than face taking very tough decisions now in case they don’t.

“The whole of southeast Queensland is in very deep danger. There should be a Plan B,” Logan Mayor Graham Able said.

Boonah Shire Mayor John Brent warned dam evaporation rates would accelerate as levels fell further so “the end comes more quickly”

Without major rain it is unlikely the Brisbane area will have more than 12 per cent capacity in its major dams by this time next year. Some power stations would then have to shut down.

On November 1 last year, Brisbane introduced Level 4 water restrictions, to slow down the rate at which reservoirs were emptying. Level 4 water restrictions include mandatory bans on outdoor hosing and sprinklers, efficiency measures for pool owners using town water and restrictions for business, industry and government agencies.