Sue Brooks' Blog

Sue Brooks February 18th, 2009

Andrew McNamara – Water Plan.

On reading the plan I must acknowledge firstly that it is good to see our Local Member, Andrew McNamara, raising the issue of our long term water supply. I would however hope that he pays equal attention to the need to discuss population size.

The plan focuses on removing the Barrage on the Mary River, piping water between existing and new storages and creating new off stream storages. The costings are in the order of $300million.

My initial reaction is that removing the barrage is an excellent win for the river but does not compensate for the building of the proposed Traveston Dam. Any wall built to block a river will have negative impacts on that river as does pumping water out of a fresh water supply or from ground water.

Building offstream storages is a good idea and better than building a dam or barrage but the size of the storages required is very large and I am interested in where exactly they would go. They have to be lined and they too will be subject to great evaporation losses. Would more but smaller sized storages be preferred?

Not taking water from Fraser Island is an excellent aspect of the plan but desalination is not an option for our Great Sandy Strait as our waters are already hyper saline. In other words we have a rising salt level in our ocean which is not a good thing.

There are neither references nor acknowledgements so the plan is at this stage a set of personal ideas and it is worthy of discussion. I commend Andrew for having a keen interest in our ongoing needs and sincerely hope that our community take the time to read the plan and provide comment. It is a discussion that we ‘have to have’. Recycling and piping water instead of open channels are excellent and ‘must have’ ideas.

But no matter how much storage is supplied and how many pumps we have pumping from rivers and from ground water, what do we do if it simply does not rain? If we are still planning to take as much or more water from the environment than we do now, we are still demanding a lot from a resource that may not have much more to give us. I cannot see the wisdom in piping water over very long distances. One kilolitre of water = 1 ton I am told. Lenthalls Dam cannot supply enough water to meet future population projections for Hervey Bay so I don’t agree with taking water from there and piping it far away.

Population growth is the key. We simply cannot keep growing our population especially in places with a limited water supply. The earth will sooner rather than later run out of resources for us all. Better to build good sized communities that can rely on a sustainable economy that provides job security for everyone forever and that has an adequate water supply close by to sustain it..  This would include everyone collecting water in water tanks also.

Creating sustainable cities (maybe with a pop of between 75-100 thousand) that assist and reward farmers to grow our food, supports innovative and creative business and cultural pursuits and  retail and commercial sectors that can service the needs of its peoples, is my vision for the future. Construction and infrastructure services will be focussed on replacing and renovating existing infrastructure and adapting our buildings where needed. Employment won’t be subject to unending cycles of boom and bust. Innovation will be rewarded and tourists will want to visit because we will have vibrant cities and towns full of  happy people who care for and value our beautiful natural environment. The tourism dollar is largely earned by utilising our natural resources ie Whale Watching etc.

Andrew is looking to the future but is he looking far enough into the future? We need to plan for 50 years for 100 years for 500 years. We do know, now more than any time in our past, what impact we are having on our planet and short term planning has to stop now. The thinking that says ‘let tomorrow look after itself’ is destructive and erroneous. We are amazingly lucky to be living in the manner in which we do, but I care about how my children’s children will think of me in the years to come. I don’t want to be part of an era that spoiled a planet so that my descendants can’t enjoy its riches like I can.

• Environment & Sustainability
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