Candidates grilled on Straddie water extraction

Questions about water extraction from North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) have been put to Redland City Council election candidates by Stradbroke Island Management Organisation (SIMO).

SIMO questions for Council election candidates

Dear Candidate

We want to inform our membership and the wider public of your policies on water security for the Redlands and water extraction from Minjerribah/North Stradbroke Island.

We have a number of questions. Please provide your answers by Tuesday 17 March or earlier.

If we don’t receive your response we will report “no response”.

Questions for candidates about water extraction

If you are elected (or re-elected), will you commit to endorsing the following: (YES/ NO answers please)

1. Building infrastructure so Redlands can be independent of water from Minjerribah. YES/NO
2. Reducing water extraction from Minjerribah now in order to allow the island’s aquifer to recover, particularly since recent rain has topped up mainland water supplies. YES/NO
3. Setting trigger levels for Minjerribah’s aquifer, below which extraction should cease because it would cause environmental harm. YES/NO
4. Completing robust science to determine what is a safe amount of water, if any, to export from Minjerribah. YES/NO
5. In a timely and fully transparent manner, making available to the community water management planning for Minjerribah and the science behind it. YES/NO
6. In deciding when water restrictions are imposed, factoring in the level and trend of Minjerribah’s aquifer. YES/NO

Would you like to comment further on water management on Minjerribah and the wider Redlands?

Background to water extraction from Minjerribah

Water extraction on Minjerribah began in 1996 and has continued ever since without a break. It began without a study to determine environmentally safe amounts to remove. This still remains the case today.

Currently the aquifer in the extraction area, has dropped to levels lower than those of the millennium drought.

Although many aspects of water extraction are controlled by Seqwater and the State Government, Redland City Council has a role to engage with these authorities to ensure the best outcomes for residents, and is directly responsible for water reticulation. It was Redland Shire Council that originally installed and managed water extraction from Minjerribah.

Water resilience in the Redlands needs to be future-proofed and made less reliant on supply from Minjerribah. If Minjerribah went off-line for any reason, there is a limited period that Lesley Harrison Dam (LHD, capacity around 20 ML/day) and the Eastern Pipeline Interconnector (EPI, capacity 22 ML/day) could supply Redlands’ current needs of 40 ML/day.

To build Redlands’ water security, the EPI capacity must be increased, and possibly also LHD capacity and Capalabah Water Treatment Plant. Reticulation systems may also need to be adjusted, for example in southern parts of the Redlands.

For more background on water extraction on Minjerribah, please refer to SIMO’s article on Redlands 2030:

Reduce water take from the Minjerribah aquifer

Or the SIMO brochure: focus on Minjerribah water

 

 

SIMO Secretary

Stradbroke Island Management Organisation (SIMO) is a community-based organisation on Minjerribah championing environmental, social and educational causes since 1978.

 

Published by Redlands2030 – 12 March 2020