Council officers will meet Wednesday, January 16 to determine the next stage for Tenterfield’s town water users, with a move to tighter restrictions likely.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Chief executive Terry Dodds said the decision is much more involved that most people think, with more to consider than just how much water is remaining in the dam.
“It also depends on the weather forecast, which is terrible; the quality of the water at lower depths in regards to silt and sediment, which is terrible; the ability of our 80-year-old filtration plant to clean the more dirty water reliably; the extra cost associated with filtering water from the lower dam level; the current demand on the water supply (which is 1.2 to 1.3 megalitres a day); and the quality and quantity of water coming out of the refurbished bore at Shirley Park.”
READ ALSO:
Mr Dodds said the bore hasn’t been used since the last drought but, anticipating the need for more water, the pump on the bore has been replaced and the bore is now functional. Tests on the quantity and quality of bore water it can produce will determine how much it can contribute to the town water supply.
In the past it has been necessary to make a ‘shandy’ of bore and dam water to pass through the filtration plant. There’s a possibility that the bore water may be too salty to use but Mr Dodds said this is unlikely, and it will have more to do with other factors, especially quantity and consistency.
At Wednesday’s meeting it will be determined whether the town should move to level 3 restrictions (no fixed hoses or sprinklers, evening handheld hosing restricted to two hours per day and approved garden watering systems to one hour per day, filling of pools banned and hard surfaces washed with buckets only) or straight to level 4 (down to one hour a day for watering systems, no washing of hard surfaces).
Washing of motor vehicles is banned under both levels, and many public and commercial uses move from restricted sprinklers to restricted handheld hosing.
Mr Dodds said there’s no predicting how long the restrictions could be in place.
“We could receive lots of rain in two weeks’ time and it will be all over, but even the good from the little rain we received before Christmas has gone and the grass is dead.”
Jennings town water users have been placed on ‘high’ water restrictions by Southern Downs Regional Council, who manages their supply. They are allowed only handheld hosing or bucket watering of gardens for an hour in the evening, on alternate days depending on their street number.
