Council closes Perseverance Dam to the Public

Toowoomba Regional Council has closed Perseverance Dam to the public until further notice as a precautionary move due to elevated numbers of E.Coli bacteria.

Toowoomba Regional Council Water and Waste portfolio leader Cr Bill Cahill said Council officers were satisfied that the increased bacterial numbers were due to nutrients entering the dam and warmer temperatures rather than contamination of the dam water.

“Council will erect signage indicating the areas are closed to the public until further notice. Council is also notifying relevant stakeholders in the area of the closure.

“Reticulated water within the Perseverance Dam Park is sourced from the Cressbrook Dam and so is unaffected by the closure.

“The bacteria represent no risk to drinking water supplies as they are removed by the water treatment and disinfection process.

“Council monitors the three dams on a weekly basis for algae and numerous microbiological parameters including E.coli. We also test chemical parameters such as iron, manganese, alkalinity, hardness, ammonia, nitrate, colour, turbidity and phosphate.

“When a weekly test returns a result below the minimum recognised safety level for E.Coli, Council will increase its testing to daily.

“Daily monitoring will ensure affected areas can be re-opened as soon as possible after the first acceptable test result is returned.

“Council will undertake daily monitoring of these levels and will re-open affected areas as soon as measured levels are below the recognised safety standards.

“The treatment process is also monitored daily. When the water leaves the treatment plant we conduct tests in the distribution system in accordance with our Drinking Water Quality Management Plans.

“These plans line up with the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008.

“Even if we are not using a particular dam, but a test shows that levels are too high for primary contact (swimming) or secondary contact (boating) we inform Council’s Parks and Recreation Services branch about closing a facility to the public.

“These events can expect to become more regular as dam levels decrease due to the ongoing dry conditions.”

Cooby Dam remains closed to the public until further notice due to an outbreak of cyanobacteria (blue green algae).

Recreational activities are unaffected at Cressbrook Dam.

To view activities open or closed at the dams, please visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/damstatus