Mayor’s push to keep tap flowing
CAIRNS could face dire water restrictions by 2027 as the region’s growth outstrips supply – and Cairns Regional Council is after a big-ticket item in the federal budget to remedy a looming crisis.
The council wants $215m for its Cairns Water Security Stage 1 project which will involve water infrastructure on the Mulgrave River to deliver water into the main network, saying Copperlode Dam and Behana Creek will fail to meet future needs.
Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said residents were frugal with water, consuming an average 400 litres per person daily compared with Townsville’s 700 litres.
“We are very efficient in our use of water and when restrictions are called for, people do it,” he said. “Now, we can try and bring demand back further, but we need to start looking further ahead.
“Copperlode dam was our main storage; it is not a big dam it is about 38,000ML – we consume about 27,000ML a year. We can get from one wet season to the next, but if a wet season fails and we go into a low, we will have troubles.
“The dam in Townsville is about four times the capacity of Copperlode … in the past we’ve never had to worry about it, the mentality of everyone is ‘it’ll rain next year, it always does’ – but one day it may not.”
Ross River Dam holds 233,187ML and Copperlode, built in 1976, holds 38,400ML.
The secondary water source for Cairns, Behana Creek, established in 1955, does not have bulk water storage.
Cairns, as the fastest growing regional area in Queensland, has a population of 168,449 and annual growth of 1.11 per cent compared with Townsville with 195,430 people.
Cr Manning said water security was made a high priority by Infrastructure Australia in a report last February.
“There are aspects of our water storage treatment and supply that need to be looked at because we are now heading toward 170,000 people with forecasts of 215,000 by the middle of the decade, we’ll be in a risk period,” he said.
The Mulgrave River project would run from 2024 to 2026 with new infrastructure to create intake points and pipes to the treatment plant.
“It would take us forward quite a distance,” Cr Manning said.
Asked if there was a measure of future water demands, he said: “$215m is one way to measure it.”
“Most of our big spends have been for enhancement works like Cairns Performing Arts Centre, Munro Martin Parklands, the Esplanade, the gallery precinct,” he said.
“For a big job, we look to the state and federal government. We need some help, and if we don’t get help we will have to do it ourselves and there will be a flow-on cost to the ratepayers of Cairns, so ratepayers should be putting a little bit of pressure on.”
Cr Manning said a water shortage by 2027 would mean severe and frequent restrictions, potential capping of population growth, damage to the region as a destination and loss of business confidence. The project would support 630 jobs and contribute $159m to the economy and it would be located next to the Mount Peter urban development area.