COUNCIL WANTS TO BUY SUPPLY

Plan to improve water security through irrigators’ unused allocations

IRRIGATORS with excess water allocations will be able to sell it to the Toowoomba Regional Council, as part of a plan to improve water security in several drought-affected communities.

The council this week launched an expressions of interest campaign for farmers with unused water supplies.

Any approved water purchased would go to support communities heavily affected by the drought, such as Clifton and Cambooya.

TRC water and waste chair Cr Nancy Sommerfield said while the region’s bulk water supply was stable, the council was still trucking to several townships, at a cost to the ratepayer.

“Council would use the allocation to maintain roads, construction dust suppression, maintain open spaces, and recreational facilities while reducing reliance on the council’s potable groundwater bores,” she said.

tom.gillespie@thechronicle.com.au

THE Toowoomba Regional Council has offered to buy excess water allocations from irrigators, amid concerns for the region’s water security.

The council announced an expressions of interest period was now open for farmers to sell unused water to reduce the impacts on communities affected by drought.

It comes as the TRC continues to cart water to towns like Clifton and Cambooya, which started in 2019 following issues with local aquifers.

TRC water and waste chair Cr Nancy Sommerfield said the council pushed through the EOI quickly as one way of easing pressure.

“The important thing is we get water for places where we are carting water, like at Clifton,” she said.

“The Toowoomba bulk water supply is fine, but the regional townships that aren’t connected are on heavy restrictions.

“Trucking water is your last option, you don’t want to do it for a long time.

“If you’ve got a place quite close (that could sell), you could pop a pipe in possibly.”

The plan to purchase excess irrigation water was introduced as a concept by water and waste CEO Damian Platts in November.

Water bought would be primarily used to water green spaces and on council road projects, but could also be treated for potable use.

Cr Sommerfield said the financial implication for the council would be unclear until it received responses to the EOI, with any purchases to be part of the April budget review.

But she said the aim would be ensuring the council could balance the value of the water to the community with its worth to the irrigator.

“We have to work out the best value verses the cost of trucking,” she said.

“It will be quite a complex process, but once it’s been decided, it will go to a council vote and a budget review.”

Cr Sommerfield also said the council wanted several drought-stricken communities connected to the upcoming pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam to Warwick proposed by the State Government.

“We would want to make sure those communities were connected,” she said.

Water holders have until 2pm on February 4 to respond to the EOI, by heading to tr.qld.gov.au/tenders.