When I moved to Townsville in 1971 the Ross River dam was under construction and our population was 90,000....It was a 25 year project which would cater for the city's expansion...I am not sure which government instigated it...I think it may have been in Joh's time.
45 years later under successive state Labor Governments we now find ourselves running out of water with our dam now 14% with water being pumped 28 km over the mountains from the Hawton Channels which is feed from the Burdiken Dam at a cost to the rate payers of $27,000 per day.
There have been feasibility study after feasibility study done with all talk and no action.
The Federal Government has placed $2 billion on the table to construct a new dam at "Hell's Gates" some 110km west of Townsville which can be gravity feed and is 340m above sea level.
The useless state Labor Government has to meet the other 50% but to date nothing has been budgeted for while Townsville runs out of water.
Geez, I hope the heavens open up during the wet season here otherwise we are in deep $hit.
I guess if our dam does become full with a wet season, this useless State Labor Government will shelve the project for another 2 years when we will be in trouble again.
We have a useless Federal Labor MP here who won her seat by default.....We have 3 state Labor MPs who are as useful as t**ts on a bull and sit on their hands and do nothing, and we have full Labor City Council with a Mayor whom I do have time for but her hands are tied behind her back.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.a...l/news-story/4556645ea5f334cdc527b2f799baa3e9
That dam wall
Shari Tagliabue, Townsville Bulletin
December 3, 2016 12:00am
Subscriber only
If you drink a lot of milk, would you sell your cow?
Queensland used to own its supplies of power and water, but political leaders couldn’t resist the lure of a cash injection to the balance sheet.
Was it a good idea? With critical assets SunWater and Ergon Energy sold off, we are now at the mercy of monopoly businesses for our essential assets, with no competition and little recourse for those wanting an alternative option.
Dams full in the southeast, but as we don’t have the luxury of regular rainfall, the only source of water to top up our rapidly emptying dam has to be pumped from the Burdekin at a great daily expense.
And yet, where are the solutions? It’s not like this is a sudden, unforeseen crisis, waterproofing the region has been an issue for decades. It’s been discussed for decades.
What exactly is the holdup, especially now that there is a Federal fund ready and waiting to futureproof our water supply?
Minister Assisting the Premier on North Queensland, Coralee O’Rourke, asked residents to be patient this week, saying that at the moment, ‘There’s not anything off the table, there’s a lot of different options we need to be looking at.”
Haven’t they already been looked at?
Haven’t consultants, engineers, and interested parties conducted feasibility studies and costings for a dam at Hell’s Gate and/or raising the wall of Ross Dam already, on multiple occasions?
Shouldn’t it simply be a case of, ‘This is by far the best and most cost-effective option for now and the future, let’s get started.”
Ms O’Rourke also said, ‘SunWater does have a deed of agreement that will supply water to the city,” but should we be comforted or conflicted? Does that mean they have to supply water or they expect to supply water? Could this explain the glacial pace of progress?
Ms O’Rourke also said that building a dam is not going to happen in a day, “so it’s good to know we’ve got water security solutions in place.”
UM, NO WE HAVEN’T. We’ve got an expensive short term solution that is occurring because no-one seems able to commit to the best long-term solution, despite each option having been raised, discussed, costed and consulted in the past.
There is a $2 billion water infrastructure fund ready and waiting, and according to a spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, the federal government will provide up to half the contribution for construction of water infrastructure, while the State Government has to fund at least 50 per cent. She then delivered this bombshell, ‘At this stage the Queensland Government has not budgeted anything.’
Is this the reason for the delaying tactics? There’s no money so just try to distract the masses until there might be?
Pumping water from the Burdekin Dam cost $27,000 per day. A gravity-fed dam is imperative, or would that upset our energy provider?
If you had a business in a crisis, management would move quickly to find the most effective solution. In this case, the immediate answer appears to lie with the workers, not the bosses. We’re told to conserve water, and there are inspectors monitoring for breaches, but ultimately this essential service is a political responsibility, not a residential one.
We pay for our water, it is up to the State government to ensure it is provided.
We’ve been doing our part for years now, it’s about time they started doing theirs.
45 years later under successive state Labor Governments we now find ourselves running out of water with our dam now 14% with water being pumped 28 km over the mountains from the Hawton Channels which is feed from the Burdiken Dam at a cost to the rate payers of $27,000 per day.
There have been feasibility study after feasibility study done with all talk and no action.
The Federal Government has placed $2 billion on the table to construct a new dam at "Hell's Gates" some 110km west of Townsville which can be gravity feed and is 340m above sea level.
The useless state Labor Government has to meet the other 50% but to date nothing has been budgeted for while Townsville runs out of water.
Geez, I hope the heavens open up during the wet season here otherwise we are in deep $hit.
I guess if our dam does become full with a wet season, this useless State Labor Government will shelve the project for another 2 years when we will be in trouble again.
We have a useless Federal Labor MP here who won her seat by default.....We have 3 state Labor MPs who are as useful as t**ts on a bull and sit on their hands and do nothing, and we have full Labor City Council with a Mayor whom I do have time for but her hands are tied behind her back.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.a...l/news-story/4556645ea5f334cdc527b2f799baa3e9
That dam wall
Shari Tagliabue, Townsville Bulletin
December 3, 2016 12:00am
Subscriber only
If you drink a lot of milk, would you sell your cow?
Queensland used to own its supplies of power and water, but political leaders couldn’t resist the lure of a cash injection to the balance sheet.
Was it a good idea? With critical assets SunWater and Ergon Energy sold off, we are now at the mercy of monopoly businesses for our essential assets, with no competition and little recourse for those wanting an alternative option.
Dams full in the southeast, but as we don’t have the luxury of regular rainfall, the only source of water to top up our rapidly emptying dam has to be pumped from the Burdekin at a great daily expense.
And yet, where are the solutions? It’s not like this is a sudden, unforeseen crisis, waterproofing the region has been an issue for decades. It’s been discussed for decades.
What exactly is the holdup, especially now that there is a Federal fund ready and waiting to futureproof our water supply?
Minister Assisting the Premier on North Queensland, Coralee O’Rourke, asked residents to be patient this week, saying that at the moment, ‘There’s not anything off the table, there’s a lot of different options we need to be looking at.”
Haven’t they already been looked at?
Haven’t consultants, engineers, and interested parties conducted feasibility studies and costings for a dam at Hell’s Gate and/or raising the wall of Ross Dam already, on multiple occasions?
Shouldn’t it simply be a case of, ‘This is by far the best and most cost-effective option for now and the future, let’s get started.”
Ms O’Rourke also said, ‘SunWater does have a deed of agreement that will supply water to the city,” but should we be comforted or conflicted? Does that mean they have to supply water or they expect to supply water? Could this explain the glacial pace of progress?
Ms O’Rourke also said that building a dam is not going to happen in a day, “so it’s good to know we’ve got water security solutions in place.”
UM, NO WE HAVEN’T. We’ve got an expensive short term solution that is occurring because no-one seems able to commit to the best long-term solution, despite each option having been raised, discussed, costed and consulted in the past.
There is a $2 billion water infrastructure fund ready and waiting, and according to a spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, the federal government will provide up to half the contribution for construction of water infrastructure, while the State Government has to fund at least 50 per cent. She then delivered this bombshell, ‘At this stage the Queensland Government has not budgeted anything.’
Is this the reason for the delaying tactics? There’s no money so just try to distract the masses until there might be?
Pumping water from the Burdekin Dam cost $27,000 per day. A gravity-fed dam is imperative, or would that upset our energy provider?
If you had a business in a crisis, management would move quickly to find the most effective solution. In this case, the immediate answer appears to lie with the workers, not the bosses. We’re told to conserve water, and there are inspectors monitoring for breaches, but ultimately this essential service is a political responsibility, not a residential one.
We pay for our water, it is up to the State government to ensure it is provided.
We’ve been doing our part for years now, it’s about time they started doing theirs.
You obviously underestimate the intelligence of members to make their own evaluations and investigations.
