With South-East Queensland dams slipping to around 55 per cent capacity, the public is being urged to consider their water use.
Minister for Water, Glenn Butcher said while the Bureau of Meteorology was predicting a wetter than average summer, the unpredictability of where rainfall would occur meant it was up to everyone to conserve water at every opportunity.
“For the majority of South-East Queensland, the Bureau is forecasting a 60 per cent chance of above-median rainfall for November to January,” Mr Butcher said.
“However, despite a similar wet season forecast last year, insufficient rainfall in the Wivenhoe catchment resulted in ‘green drought’ conditions continuing this year,” he said.
Mr Butcher said South-East Queensland’s major storage dam, Wivenhoe Dam, provided more than half the region’s water supply and, despite the recent rain, the preceding dry conditions meant there had been minimal run-off.
“Seqwater has ramped up output from the Gold Coast Desalination Plant to supplement urban water supply and the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme has been providing water to industrial customers,” he said.
“We need everyone to play their part and continue being vigilant when it comes to being waterwise.”
The Minister said medium-level water restrictions would be enforced by water retailers when the water grid dropped below 50 per cent.
He said these would focus on curbing outdoor use — in gardens and washing cars — while households would be asked to limit water use to 140 litres per person per day.
Chief Executive Officer of Seqwater, Neil Brennan said the current combined dam levels were about three per cent less than the same time last year.
“Making sure we have enough water for today and into the future will be a combination of using our existing infrastructure to its full potential and continuing to use water wisely,” Mr Brennan said.
