By Jeremy Sollars
The Southern Downs Regional Council says it has this week successfully conducted a “full scale trial” of the new emergency water carting infrastructure for Stanthorpe, as new water restrictions of 80 litres per person per day draw nearer.
In a statement released today, Thursday 12 December, a council spokeswoman said once Stanthorpe’s Storm King Dam fully empties and the carting of emergency water via road tanker from Warwick’s Connolly Dam starts, the whole region will move to the ‘emergency water restrictions level’ of 80 litres per person per day, down from the current level of 100 litres.
With Storm King Dam expected to run dry by the end of January at the latest, the Queensland Government will meet the cost of carting water from Connolly Dam at an estimated $800,000 a month until significant rainfall is received in the Storm King Dam catchment.
The new infrastructure includes standpipes near the intersection of Rosenthal Road and Connolly Dam Road – just off the New England Highway south of Warwick – where road tankers will be filled, and new holding tanks at Storm King Dam to receive the water.
In today’s statement the council said the trial “tested the schedule that water carting vehicles would run to, the route that vehicles would use, as well as testing the infrastructure to the full capacity”, the council spokeswoman said.
Mayor Tracy Dobie today said that the trial “was conducted with the utmost attention to detail”.
“Today’s trial could not have gone better and I am incredibly proud of all involved for the dedication and innovation they have shown throughout all stages of planning, construction, and execution,” Cr Dobie said.
“The water carting contractors demonstrated an exceptional attention to detail and we couldn’t be more impressed with their performance.
“The success to this trial means that we are now fully ready to commence water carting when the need arises.
“This successful trial is another major milestone for Southern Downs Regional Council, which is on track to coordinate the largest water carting project that has ever been undertaken within Queensland.”
The council statement said 14 different water carting vehicles, doing 42 trips, successfully deposited 1.3 megalitres of water into the waiting tanks at Storm King Dam as part of the trial.
“Once carting commences, water will flow through the new pipeline to the Mt Marlay Water Treatment Plant where it will be treated by SDRC staff to initially create a blend of water between Connolly Dam water supply and Storm King Dam water supply until the levels in Storm King Dam are too low and full water carting commences,” the council spokeswoman said.
“As the treated water will be coming from a different source, it is expected that there may be a variation in colour or taste.
“The carted water will have a new taste, this is normal.
“Once water carting commences in earnest the Southern Downs will move to Emergency Water Restrictions.
“These restrictions consist of 80L per person per day.
“SDRC encourages anyone with questions about the Emergency Water Infrastructure or Emergency Water Restrictions to contact Council on 1300 697 372.”
