LETTER TO ED: SOLVED - Newsport reader suggests solution to Douglas Shire water disgrace lays 35km from Craiglie

WATER DISGRACE

Contributor Article

Email
Last updated:
A Newsport reader has implored Douglas Shire Council to show extreme urgency to fix the local water situation. Picture: Supplied

Dear Editor,

It was an interesting and informative afternoon at the recent Douglas Shire Council water update for local tourism operators at the Sea Temple last Monday.

The representative from TPDD ran the meeting and after the presentations from the CEO of DSC and their engineer a series of questions were submitted by the guests present.

The CEO of Douglas shire gave a comprehensive presentation as did the engineer who was doing his best as with others to work on the serious water issues facing the Shire. It was sad to see not one of the present or hopeful candidates for either the Mayor or Councillor positions attend to at least show support for the tourism industry.

After answering questions submitted prior to the event there was one question that was left off the list of submissions by the Shire. The engineer present mentioned in his summation of the Douglas Shire's water situation that we had no traditional water storage facilities, such as a dam to access.

Yet, the question that was left off the list is the very question I have been raising for a number of years, to be met by laughter in the local Council chambers.

Why can’t we run a pipeline from Quaid Dam? 

Virtually every other Shire or town in Australia who has water issues have a pipeline supplying water from the nearest dam?

The Queensland Government boasts of its desire to construct pipelines to vulnerable and water deprived communities.

A recent article in the Australian Pipe liner involved the pipeline from near Rockhampton to Mount Morgan - “The first pipes have been laid for the Mount Morgan water supply pipeline project, set to deliver long-term water security for Mount Morgan - the story began. “Our Government is committed to water security in regional Queensland."

Is all that is stopping the use of Quaid’s dam (simply) political? Is 40 years of rejecting and penalising the architect of Quaid’s Road and Quaid’s Dam, also known as The Mitchell River Catchment an almost forgotten green agenda?

Can’t the State Labor Government move on, grow up and think about the Shire's needs over some ancient political agenda?

It appears to have no problem excavating a pushbike track through the forests between Cairns and Port Douglas at a cost of between $40-50M dollars.

The Mitchell River catchment has a water allowance of 65,000ML/Y that is 65,000,000,000 litres just sitting there doing nothing while the Douglas Shire 35km away, struggles with virtually, none.

Yet, both the CEO and the engineers that were bought in to help us had absolutely no knowledge of the huge dam within our reach.

The only comment when the CEO was informed of its existence was: 'Oh yeah, that’s in Mareeba Shire'. So all surface water derived from the Mitchell River is controlled by the QLD State Government, pipelines are constantly being laid throughout neighbouring Council areas to help in-need towns and Shires - I think we are now in a state of desperate need.

The Douglas Shire to future growth our water would need approximately 15 ML/Day. That would mean the Shire would never have water restrictions again in both the dry and wet seasons.

That adds up to around 5,500ML/year allocation per year leaving 59,500ML/Y for others to one day use. This would allow the facilities at Rex creek to recover over time and any long-term solutions constructed, not temporary attempts to prop up a failing system.

Instead of spending $200M + on infrastructure that is clearly vulnerable and may never be capable of supplying the needs of the Shire again, especially as it grows, a pipeline should be an extremely urgent priority, wouldn’t now be the time to future proof the Shire with a pipeline from Quaid’s dam?

The water situation will never improve if we continue to put all our eggs in a very vulnerable basket.

Even in perfect condition the Rex Creek inflow can’t supply enough water during the dry season which just happens to correspond with our tourist season and will always struggle with debris and turbidity in the wet season. That is the nature of creeks, especially our one that was so severely compromised with the many landslides created by Jasper.

We need an alternative that after construction doesn’t cost many millions to keep running and maintain such as a permanent de-salination unit, nor tapping into aquafers to extract millions of litres out of the ground.

If I remember correctly 20-25 years ago the Douglas Shire had a drought for a few years, those on aquafer feed bores up Spring Creek area ran out of water and so did the trees all around the hills in Mowbray, turning brown and dying.

To drag large amounts of water out of the ground can alter water tables that can have severe ongoing effects, especially to vulnerable rainforests.

The solution is sitting idle 35km to our west, a gravity feed pipeline to the tanks at Craigie and a new purpose-built filtration plant would future proof the Shire and aid in the recovery of Rex Creek, all we need now is someone to listen and act, not procrastinate for the next 10 years.

Regards,

Cayman Villas Resort
Port Douglas
Bryce Tozer
Resident Manager

 

  • A reminder the views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and author only and do not reflect those of the editor or Newsport staff.

Support public interest journalism

Help us to continue covering local stories that matter. Please consider supporting below.

Got a news tip?

Send a news tip or submit a letter to the Newsport Editor here.

Comments

Comments are the opinions of readers and do not represent the views of Newsport, its staff or affiliates. Reader comments are moderated before publication to promote valuable, civil, and healthy community debate. Visit our comment guidelines if your comment has not been approved for publication.