CITY UNITED ON TOP PRIORITY:
AFTER completing an extensive investigation into water security solutions for Townsville, local businessman Brad Webb says the time for talk is over.
As independent chair of the Townsville Water Security Taskforce, Mr Webb worked with representatives from the Townsville City Council and the State and Federal governments to whittle down more than 30 years of studies and reports to find the best water solution for the city.
Over 18 months Mr Webb examined a range of proposals including a gravity- fed pipe from the Burdekin Falls Dam and the Hells Gates Dam.
In his final report handed down this week, the taskforce recommended the construction of a new Haughton Pipeline to connect the Burdekin River to the back of the Ross River Dam, which would deliver 50 years of water security.
Stage 1 of the pipeline dupli- cation is well underway after the State Government committed $ 225 million to the project last year.
Speaking exclusively to the Bulletin, Mr Webb revealed how he came to be involved in the taskforce and why he thinks Stage 2 will transform his hometown.
WHY BRAD WEBB? Mr Webb said he knew taking on the role as independent chair of the taskforce would be a “huge challenge”.
“We’ve been years and years without water. Basically I’ve had a gutful and I’ve got plenty to say about water,” he said.
“The mayor rang me and said would I run a committee, and then the State Government had a chat with me about would I do it, and then the Federal Government asked me and I thought to myself ‘ gee this is going to be a tough role.’”
Mr Webb said he wanted to find a “fair, reasonable and achievable” solution to boost investor confidence and pull the community out of its water restrictions- induced malaise.
“The thing with water in our area is when it’s raining enough to fill up Ross River Dam, we don’t have a problem for two years,” he said.
“But drought after drought has proved we’re in a situation now where we’ve got to get to the bottom of this.
“We can’t have every drought the whole city dies, the trees die and the whole place is ‘ Brownsville’.”
A NEW PIPELINE The taskforce commissioned engineers to look at every Townsville water related report and summarise them.
“There were years of studies, we looked at all our options, analysed it and discussed solutions,” Mr Webb said.
“We found Townsville had ample water in our priority and standard allocation from the Burdekin Dam, which we pay for.
“So I realised we really didn’t have a water shortage, we had a transport and energy shortage. We had all this water in the Burdekin but how did we get it here?”
An interim report released by the taskforce in 2017 recommended the duplication of the Haughton Pipeline from the Ross River Dam to the Haughton Channel so Townsville could pump water as required. “We were really grateful to the State Government for giving us the $ 225 million for Stage 1, and I think that was a catalyst at getting the process going,” Mr Webb said.
“We chose a bigger pipe size, which drove the capacity through the roof.”
But Mr Webb said pumping from the Haughton Channel was not suitable long term.
“The channel needed maintenance, widening and all sort of ongoing works,” he said. “I saw that as a risk. “A big city pumping water out the end of an irrigation ditch in 2018 is just unacceptable.” Mr Webb said the immediate capital cost saving and long term benefits of building Stage 2 made it the obvious solution for the final report.
“From the studies we decided the best way to go was for Townsville to have its own independent supply delivered to the back of the Ross River at Toonpan right from the Burdekin River at Clare in one go,” he said.
“We put one pipeline in, one pump station and then we’re going to solar power the pumps to run it, which would give us a good, low- cost opera- tion, low maintenance, low operating costs and a 50- year fix.’’ WHY FEDERAL HELP? Mr Webb said Townsville presented a “unique” water problem that warranted assistance from both levels of government.
“Securing a water supply was never completed in conjunction with the construction of the Burdekin Falls Dam, which I think it should have been.
“Effectively we’ve got the water there in the Burdekin Dam and everyone forgot about connecting us properly.”
Mr Webb said he didn’t blame any current government for the situation but hoped all sides could see the necessity of fixing the problem.
“I think it’s fair that the Federal Government help us provide the final part of an adequate, long- term solution,” he said.
“The reason we’re in this position is because the last effort was not done properly. The people of this city deserve their own fully independent water system.” Mr Webb said the pipeline was an “essential service” that should have been built a long time ago.