Release of water rule on table

THE Toowoomba Regional Council will soon re-negotiate the terms of its Wivenhoe pipeline, which could include how much town water it releases into the Brisbane River every year.

The council finished releasing more than 2500 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of potable water from Cressbrook Dam last month, as part of an annual obligation placed on it by the State Government.

The riparian release of 2500 megalitres, the overall volume of which varied depending on dam levels, was meant to help support the ecosystem existing along the creek as it flowed east and into the Brisbane River system.

But TRC water and waste general manager Damian Platts noted that farming operations drew upon water in those ecosystems, and that the council received no compensation from the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy for the loss of town water.

The council won’t release any more water in 2019, since the direction wasn’t mandatory if dam levels dropped below 35 per cent.

Releasing water would also be impossible once the TRC inevitably started using the pipeline to pump water from Wivenhoe.

Water and waste chair Cr Nancy Sommerfield said farmers who used the releases were likely to become vocal this year.

“(Riparian releases) would be something for the State Government to sustain,” she said.

“Obviously once they realise there are no more releases coming, there may be some people who become vocal.

“We are in the process of renegotiating the Wivenhoe pipeline contract and that will also be part of that.”

A DNRME spokesman said the maximum daily outflow from Cressbrook was 65ML.

“As required these water releases are for downstream environmental flows and water users,” he said.

“Regarding Wivenhoe pipeline and future riparian releases this is a matter for Toowoomba Regional Council and SEQwater.”