Water is our city’s No. 1 issue

WATER tends to be the No. 1 area of concern for Townsville residents but discussion about it has certainly ramped up in the past couple of weeks as a federal election edges closer.

The Townsville Water Security Taskforce’s report should be released before the end of the month and it’s understood it will recommend that stage two of the Haughton Pipeline project be done at the same time as stage one.

The findings of that report will be strongly backed by the local water action group, the Bulletin, the council, Townsville Enterprise and the Labor and Liberal candidates for Herbert.

The continuation of studies into the Hells Gates dam project is important and pushing for the funding from the currently shelved Townsville Eastern Access Rail Corridor appears to have been an attempt at securing funding for the dam outside of the election cycle.

Funding had already been taken from that pot to fund the Port of Townsville’s channel- widening project, which made sense given the connectivity of the two plans and the fact the widening was shovel- ready. But the suggestion of shifting the balance to a long- term project outside of the city understandably hasn’t sat well with either the Townsville Mayor or MP Cathy O’Toole.

There is a distinct difference in opinion about the order of priority of these projects and how they should be funded and the leaders in this community need to come to an agreement if we are to get traction with the federal politicians.

One thing the city’s residents can agree on is that Townsville City Council’s water transition package is a massive and welcome undertaking.

The bold $ 10 million plan, funded by the State Government, aims to reduce consumption by 20 per cent.

The rollout of the package is later than expected and will undoubtedly be challenging logistically, but if done well, could be a significant step in making us more efficient with water, which is a key piece in the water security puzzle.