The draft South East Queensland Water Strategy offers a responsible Water Supply Guarantee to meet the future economic, social and environmental needs of the fastest growing region in Australia.

QWC Chair Elizabeth Nosworthy said the ground-breaking strategy offers the first holistic approach to long-term planning for the region’s urban, rural, power and industry water supply needs.

“Most importantly it makes the community an integral part of the equation by seeking their input into the final plan and the setting of long-term water-saving targets,” Ms Nosworthy said.

“This is the first time in the region’s history that a strategy has been developed to provide certainty over water supply in SEQ, even if there is another severe drought. If implemented this plan will ensure that residents will never have to bucket water their gardens again and face the possibility of Medium level (Target 185 to 200 litres per person per day) water restrictions no more than once every 25 years on average under severe drought conditions.

“It is the culmination of the most detailed examination of SEQ’s water needs ever undertaken and offers a responsible way forward that preserves our enviable lifestyle.”

Ms Nosworthy described the draft Strategy as a critical component of the State Government’s planning to keep one step ahead of growth.

“It means SEQ will emerge from the cauldron of the drought with a best practice strategy to sustainably manage our water supply and demand.”

To develop the most comprehensive water strategy ever devised in Australia, the QWC established a hydrological model integrating more than 20 supply sources (dams, groundwater, desalination and Purified Recycled Water (PRW) to undertake analysis of 10,000 years of synthetically-generated streamflow data. The effects of climate change have been factored into long-term water planning, with a mid-range estimate of a 10% reduction in supplies from dams and weirs. This estimate will be regularly updated as further research becomes available.

The Strategy also takes into account the population boom, with latest State Government estimates forecasting the number of people living in South East Queensland could more than double from 2.8 million to 6 million by 2056. The Strategy also develops a framework for up to 42,000 megalitres per annum (ML/a) to be supplied to rural producers.

The QWC is seeking public input until July 31, to be considered before the strategy is finalised with the State Government and the Council of Mayors (SEQ).

“As a community we need to make fundamental decisions now to take control of water security for future generations,” Ms Nosworthy said.

“This is a blueprint which should result in the community using 24% less water even when the drought is over because water efficiency will be embedded across all areas of our society. With a community of world champion water savers, now it’s time to take the valuable lessons we have learned and put them in place for the long term.

“This strategy is based on realistic targets that only a few years ago would have been considered impossible.

“We have now all made water saving part of our daily life and we need to keep being smart about water use – even when our dams are full,” she said.

DEMAND

Residents will be set an average daily water usage target of 230 litres per person. This will allow an increase on present usage under the current Extreme restrictions (Target 140) while still achieving a 24% reduction on pre-drought usage, which was more than 300 litres per person per day. If residents maintain usage discipline around Target 230, this will mean that in the future, even in times of severe drought, harsh measures such as the present Extreme Level 6 restrictions will not be needed again.

“Target 230 repays the faith shown by the community. During the drought residents proved beyond any doubt they could be trusted to manage their water use and meet and exceed savings targets.”

Residents have already found many innovative ways to save water and will now be consulted about Permanent water conservation measures under Target 230. There will be no return to the water wasting ways of the past such as watering during the heat of the day and hosing down driveways.

Businesses will be striving for best practice water use and maintaining permanent water efficiency measures.

Power stations will use recycled water where it is available in place of SEQ Grid water.

SUPPLY

The draft Strategy assessed a range of conservative supply and demand forecasts, to identify when additional sources of water will be required in SEQ, after the current $9 billion infrastructure program is complete.

The draft Strategy forecasts that additional supply infrastructure will not be required until 2028, except as part of a response to a drought as severe as the current drought.

The forecasts also rely on the community maintaining its focus on water savings post drought and meeting Target 230 and business striving for best practice water use.

“This is where the community plays a vital part. How much extra infrastructure is required directly depends on how much water people use around the house and how successfully businesses achieve best practice water use,” Ms Nosworthy said.

“A major feature of long-term future water supply will be a move to more diversified sources of supply, importantly including climate resilient supplies.”

The draft Strategy identifies a gradual push towards desalinated and purified recycled water providing up to 30% of the region’s supply from climate resilient sources by 2056. Dams and weirs at present provide 95% of SEQ’s drinking water.

With Target 230 in place, computer modelling predicts 97,000 – 308,000 ML/a of additional water will be needed by 2056, of which 69,000 – 203,000 ML/a will need to come from “climate resilient” sources.

The draft Strategy recommends investigations into expanding purified recycled water (PRW) schemes to supplement the region’s dams.

The draft Strategy also identifies six possible sites to be evaluated for possible desalination plants. All sites are unpopulated and owned by either the State Government or local councils.

The draft Strategy can be viewed and comments made at www.qwc.qld.gov.au.