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A former Queensland mayor has called for the south-eastâs controversial recycled water scheme to be fired up amid declining levels of drinking water in the regionâs dams.
Faced with the âMillennium Droughtâ, former Toowoomba mayor Di Thorley championed an Australia-first project in 2006 to pump treated sewage into Toowoombaâs drinking supply.
Former Toowoomba mayor Di Thorley in 2007.
Credit:Glenn Hunt
But the plan was kiboshed after a referendum in which the community overwhelmingly voted ânoâ, with 61 per cent of voters rejecting the proposal.
Terms such as âPoowoombaâ were bandied about and the no campaign included a group called Citizens Against Drinking Sewage.
Despite recent rainfall Wide Bay Burnett is still currently drought-declared and without any major inflows soon, one regional dam is looking dire. As the storage level of Boondooma Dam is below 268.7m (approximately 70,000 megalitres or 34 per cent capacity), a Sunwater spokesperson said Stage 1 Critical Supply Arrangements are in place and releases for medium priority allocations have ceased. The current water level for Boondooma is 29.27 per cent. If conditions allow, some medium priority customers can continue to access water from water holes, the spokesperson said. Water can also be accessed from sand beds, providing the appropriate permits are in place from the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water.