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January 23, 2007
Brisbane is now a very large and thirsty city built on a very small river catchment. It is argued that the heat generated by the city combined with the cooling effects of the Wivenhoe dam has caused the storms to change track8, leaving Brisbane’s major dams in a rain shadow. According to this story in the Courier-Mail, the water crisis in South East Queensland is deepening:
Although the southeast has received about 40mm of rain since Christmas, none of the rain created significant inflows into the Wivenhoe, North Pine and Somerset dams, which are at 23 per cent of capacity and falling about 1 per cent every three weeks. By June, it is possible the dams will be down to 17 per cent of capacity.
Brisbane is running out of water, and with insufficient rainfall, Brisbane and environs will be without sufficient water in 2 to 3 years. If current conditions continue, Brisbane will run out of water by early 2008. As Ian Mackay argues it's lack of rain, not just population pressure, that's the primary cause of the water crisis. As he says the problem for SE Queensland is that the water crisis comes from an almost total reliance on dams for water supply. More and bigger “dams equals more water” is the ethos. Yet without good run-off rain, a dam is just an expensive wall. Though the proposed water grid takes steps towards integration of the water cycle, it has minimal water recycling and rainwater harvesting. Recycled water is inevitable for south-east Queensland.
I notice that the Beattie Government is still pushing ahead with the controversial dam at Traveston Crossing near Gympie, west of the Sunshine Coast. I understand that the Traveston project will cost of about $1.7 billion, and that this represents almost a quarter of the Beattie Government's $8 billion water plan. It is a huge financial and political investment. I discern a bit of a noose around the neck of state Labor on this. Virtually no one outside Queensland supports the proposed dam, with many inside the state also opposed.
Water does need to be treated as a commodity and pricing policies should replace water restrictions over the long-term as a rational and efficient way of addressing the issue of water scarcity. Currently there is a market for water irrigation, whilst urban water is controlled through restrictions. That means households, which account for 8-10% of total annual water consumption, comply with water restrictions,whilst industry is not being held to account in the same way.
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Who cares what other people think it's Queenslands problem, and if the dams needed put it in why should it matter how much it costs!