An extra $15 million will be spent to increase Rookwood Weir s maximum medium priority yield by 10,000ML, but Capricornia MP Michelle Landry said she would still fight for the originally-conceived high yield amount. The state and federal governments announced today that Sunwater and the companies involved in constructing the weir decided to raise its crest height by 0.7m, bringing the medium priority yield figure to 86,000ML. The governments will pay for the extra work with $7.5 million each, bringing the total cost of the project to $367 million. Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry. Ms Landry said the State Government had finally seen sense and committed to spending more money on Rookwood Weir.
Water grid falls to lowest level after summer since Millennium Drought
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South-east Queenslanders are being urged to use less water as the region’s dams hit their lowest levels after summer since the devastating Millennium Drought.
The south-east Queensland water grid was sitting at 56.7 per cent on Thursday.
One of Wivenhoe Dam’s outflow gates in January.
Credit:Tony Moore
Authorities were due to consider the full restart of the controversial Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme after predictions of a wetter-than-usual summer did not eventuate.
Wivenhoe Dam, south-east Queensland’s biggest water storage unit and the main supply of water for Brisbane and Ipswich, was at a dismal 36.3 per cent, its lowest level in more than a decade.
Water grid falls to lowest level after summer since Millennium Drought theage.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theage.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Subscriber only Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett has used his first day back in state parliament to bring Paradise Dam back into the limelight. The local member submitted a Question on Notice asking Water Minister Glen Butcher to commit to repairing, replacing, or restoring Paradise Dam to its full capacity as a matter of urgency. Mr Bennett said Burnett growers needed certainty. Sunwater s own forecasts predict Paradise Dam s capacity could be as critically low as 8 per cent by June 2021 without significant rainfall, he said. This will leave growers in the Burnett with no means of irrigating sugarcane, macadamias, mangoes and avocados and small crops.
Water prices crippling despite freeze promise: grower dailymercury.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymercury.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.