Talwood, Toobeah and Bungunya included in water restrictions

Medium level water restrictions in Bungunya, Talwood and Toobeah

Goondiwindi Regional Council today moved to introduce medium level water restrictions in the towns of Bungunya, Talwood and Toobeah. For the first time, the entire Goondiwindi region council area will now be on restricted water.

From 9 December 2019, all residents and businesses who use Council’s town water supply in Bungunya, Talwood and Toobeah must comply with Council’s medium level water restrictions. The restrictions will apply to all Council-supplied water in the region, whether potable or raw. This includes the Council-owned bore in Toobeah.

The new restrictions will bring the three western towns in line with the rest of the Goondiwindi region, which adopted medium level water restrictions at the beginning of the month. Water restrictions were introduced at a low level in parts of the Goondiwindi region in July of this year, before they were raised to the medium level in November.

Bungunya, Talwood and Toobeah were not initially placed on water restrictions with the rest of the region. This was due to the need for an assessment of the western towns’ storage ponds to calculate their available supply.

That assessment confirmed the need to introduce medium level water restrictions in the towns, Mayor Graeme Scheu said in Council’s ordinary meeting today.

“Today’s decision brings the towns in line with the new Drought Management Plan that Council adopted in October,” Cr Scheu said.

“The supply levels in Bungunya, Talwood and Toobeah are at the point which triggers restrictions to be put in place. The rest of the region went on medium restrictions at the start of the month and obviously we haven’t had any good rain since then.”

It is important for residents to note that the Toobeah bore water is also included in the water restrictions. This brings all Council-supplied bore water in line and should address the ongoing issues of the bore impacting town water pressure.

“High level water restrictions across the entire region are just going to have to be a reality if we don’t get good rain in our catchment zones before the end of the year,” the Mayor said.

The medium level restrictions will also require residents in Bungunya, Talwood and Toobeah to aim for Council’s current water consumption target of 250 litres per person, per day. These targets are already in place in the other towns in the council area.

“The whole region, along with our catchment areas, is in historic drought, really a record-breaking drought,” Cr Scheu said.

“We’ve been very fortunate in the past that we’ve never had to ration our water usage, but at this moment in time we can’t just keep using water however we like. Absolutely every drop counts at this point and we need to save as much as we can.”

Residents in the three western townships will receive a mail-out campaign to ensure all members of the community are fully informed of the new restrictions.

• View the full list of water restrictions on Council’s website:

https://www.grc.qld.gov.au/water-restrictions

For more information, please contact:
Councillor Graeme Scheu
Mayor
Goondiwindi Regional Council
Mobile: 0427 718 877
Email: mayor@grc.qld.gov.au