Leak raises big questions

THREE coinciding options are on the table that will try to provide Townsville with “long term water security”.

The different solutions depend on which level of government or which political party is speaking, which feasibility study is being quoted and, of course, when the next election date is looming. In this article, we revisit the three options with new questions arising from recently leaked information.

WFTAG has researched 11 infrastructure proposals and reported our findings to the Water Security Taskforce in April 2017.

Fifteen months later, following further research and consultation with engineering, hydrology and ecology consultants, our preferred option remains unchanged; that both stages of the new pipeline, fed by the Haughton Main Channel and Burdekin River, should proceed.

WFTAG endorses this duplicate pipeline but preferred it was a continuous un- staged project. Stage 2 will extend the pipeline line from the smaller Haughton Pump Station to the powerful Tom Fenwick Pump Station near Clare on the Burdekin River. A possible third stage could eventually see a gravity fed supply, plus hydro, from the raised Burdekin Dam wall and or from Hells Gates, if the business cases stack up.

To recap: Townsville was awarded the Federal Government’s first City Deal in December 2016. The State allocated a $ 225 million grant over four years in June 2017 for stage 1 of the duplicate route Haughton pipeline and key contracts have recently been awarded. The two- staged project was recommended in the Interim Report by the Federal Government’s Water Security Taskforce.

Though Ross Dam now has almost a three- year supply, completion is being fast- tracked by the Townsville City Council, requiring a $ 130 million loan to meet their December 2019 deadline. In the lead up to the last election, the Mayor stated there was no water problem and claimed the opposition candidate’s plan to spend $ 169 million ( now $ 225 million) for the pipeline would bankrupt the council.

Stage 1 will provide 10 to 15 years of water security to meet demand when Ross Dam drops below 15 per cent.

The variation will depend partly on whether future councils decide to impose Level 3 restrictions before turning the pumps on.

A dam at Hells Gates, first proposed in 1938 by engineer Dr John Bradfield, has had several feasibility studies, with no progress.

During Brisbane’s drought Premier Peter Beattie wanted this supply piped south. Townsville Enterprise is working on the latest study. In the Bulletin article “Hells Bells” ( 18/ 7) some stats were listed. TEL has confirmed with WFTAG that this information is not official, as their report is not yet complete.

Should the leaked stats early the same day on Senator Matt Canavan’s online comment, raise concerns? The Federal Minister for Northern Australia went on to say the report was complete and cited only positive outcomes.

WFTAG is not anti- HG Dam. We are pro full water security. This is possible through the staged pipeline fed by the Lower Burdekin Dam.

The storage from the Burdekin Dam catchment has plentiful water for irrigation and our urban needs for decades to come. We cannot use what we cannot treat and a new plant is required to process the full volume that stage 1 will be able to pump.

Townsville already has three dammed supplies. We have the first City ( not regional) Deal which should, through pledged intergovernmental collaboration, co- fund our top priority.

A concurrent federal feasibility study, also for potential agriculture and hydro benefits, is examining raising the BFD by 2m. Again it is important to note we cannot use any additional supply without a new treatment plant.

New questions arise. They include: Has the state, as one of the three signatories for the Townsville City Deal, been privy to the official HG report findings? Have farmers in the Upper Burdekin, whose land would be inundated by a new dam been briefed? What might happen to property valuations around HG? How might the leaked info impact on future tenders and contracts? What is the outcome of the latest EIS? What would be the time frame and cost for design and construction? How might private and overseas investor interests be alerted before official findings are released? With unofficial snippets of the report for HG leaked, might farmers and other stakeholders in the Lower Burdekin area assume HG is the preferred long- term solution? Will the Burdekin Dam wall raising report also be leaked?

Might the leaked information overshadow the final Taskforce Report in September? Might the suggestion by the Federal Minister for Northern Australia that HG is viable, rubber stamp the council’s preference to delay stage 2 of the Haughton pipeline indefinitely? Statements in the 2017 City Deal Annual Progress Report echo this agenda. Might the leaks cruel our chances of successfully lobbying the Federal Government to match the state’s grant so stage 2 proceeds end to end?

The most vocal advocate for a dam at HG has often made his view known about the urban- regional distinction.

Mr Katter said he also didn’t think Hells Gates could be a source of water security in the short term. In a Bulletin article ( 19/ 7) he was quoted saying: “My understanding is it would be $ 790 million to get water to Townsville, you’ll never be able to pay that in a million years.”

Whatever the recommendations, Hells Gates would be a multi- billion dollar loan for a project perhaps 20 years into the future. Townsville’s well- researched solution can be fully funded now through a $ 500 million intergovernmental grant and operational within five years. That would be a City Deal worth voting for.