PIPELINE IN PLAY
Council considers pumping from Wivenhoe
DECLINING water levels in the region’s dams have prompted the Toowoomba Regional Council to consider pumping water up the range via a controversial $187 million pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam. If approved by the council, it will be the first time the pipeline has been used since it was built in 2010. Briefings will start this week, though water could be “required” by March.
AS THE Toowoomba region enters a fifth consecutive year of drought, plans are being drawn up to utilise a controversial $187 million pipeline for the first time to pump water up the range from Wivenhoe Dam.
The move was prompted as figures show the region’s three dams have hit a combined 36 per cent full.
Use of the 38 kilometre pipeline, which has drawn community criticism since it was built in 2010, is part of a crisisaverting proposal now being considered by the Toowoomba Regional Council amid declining water levels.
The Toowoomba Regional Council’s website says pumping will be “required” as soon as March if summer rains do not provide sufficient water.
“We are having briefings this week about timelines to turn it on but it will have to go before a council meeting next month,” Toowoomba Regional Councillor Nancy Sommerfield said.
“When Lake Cressbrook Dam reaches less than 40 per cent that’s when it is more viable... because of the weight of the water.”
The council has been paying SEQ Water for access to the pipeline for the past nine years, despite never having to use it, and is still paying off a $60 million loan taken out to build it.
Should the plan be approved by the council, ratepayers will foot the bill for the cost of sending the water up the hill.
The pipeline’s construction was originally fast-tracked by the State Government nine years ago amid fears the Garden City would run out of water, though the pipeline was not required to be used in that time. Under the current arrangement, the TRC can pump 10,000ml a year from Wivenhoe Dam in case of a water shortage emergency.
In a statement to The Chronicle yesterday, Cr Mike Williams said there would be no changes to water charges this financial year if the plan went ahead.
“Council will look to manage any additional costs through normal budget processes to limit effects on the community wherever possible,” he said.