Water restrictions … your way

Staff from Gympie Regional Council’s Water Business Unit have teamed up with researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast for a Water Demand Management Trial for towns in the Gympie region on stage three water restrictions.

Amamoor, in the Mary Valley, relies on an unregulated source and has been flagged as a candidate for the trial which is geared towards water security. The trial aims at replacing the stage three water restrictions with individual property allocations of water that provide consumers with more flexibility of use within the restrictions.

Manager of Gympie Regional Council’s Water Business Unit, Stephen Jewell, said the working relationship with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) is vital to the successful implementation of the trial. “USC is very enthusiastic about being involved with the project and will bring an element of rigour to the research side of the trial, as well as excellent skills in delivering projects with a strong social base,” Mr Jewell said.

“As a council, we have a responsibility to ensure our services are the best they can be for our residents – not just from a water quality perspective but also from a sustainability point of view. “Unfortunately, water restrictions do not always achieve their desired objective, nor can their effectiveness be estimated. The impact of restrictions is only apparent in hindsight. “Amamoor is supplied by run-of-river and is very much susceptible to long dry spells. “Hence why we are investing time and resources on making sure the towns are supplied with quality and sustainably-sourced water,” Mr Jewell said.

The University of the Sunshine Coast’s efforts are being led by Dr Claudia Baldwin, Associate Professor of Regional and Urban Planning and Sustainability Research Centre.

Dr Baldwin is being assisted by Dr Vicki Uhlmann, researcher in community sustainability and Dr Helen Fairweather, senior lecturer in environmental engineering.

Council will undertake a period of community consultation before the 12-month trial begins. To support the consultation, Dr. Uhlmann will circulate a community survey to better understand perspectives about water use. The surveys will be distributed in early July to provide information before an initial community meeting in late July.

The meeting will explain how the trial will work and to seek volunteers to record their experiences during the trial. Dr Fairweather and a final year engineering student, Shaun Hayward, are developing a digital device that will allow the volunteer householders to see, in real-time, how their water is being used.

The progress of the trial will be posted on council’s website and information will be made available to the Amamoor community through a web portal, regular emails and/or SMS, and local community news updates.