Member for Scenic Rim is calling on the Government to review water allocations from Maroon Dam ahead of the expected connection of Beaudesert to the southeast Queensland water grid in late 2021.
He said that he had written to the Minister for Natural Resources, Anthony Lynham, requesting the Minister to consider whether more water could be made available for primary producers and irrigators.
“SEQWater has plans to connect Beaudesert to the southeast Queensland water grid by 2021 through the construction of a pipeline connecting Beaudesert to the wider grid at Cedar Grove. This should mean that less water is required from Maroon Dam for Beaudesert’s town water supply because water will be flowing into Beaudesert from the water grid.”
“In this time of severe drought, our farmers are looking for every bit of water they can get and so I’ve asked the Government to have a look at what can be done to help.”
Mr Krause said that with barely any rainfall in the past months and extremely dry conditions, he had spoken to a number of growers who were concerned that their water allocations would be fully utilised well in advance of 30 June 2019, when allocations are generally reset for another year.
“Having access to water, especially for our dairy farmers, means our farmers can keep on producing – and this has big flow-on effects for a whole range of businesses in Beaudesert and across the region. If connecting Beaudesert to the grid means there might be more water available for growers, we should be planning now for that and doing everything we can to help our farmers keep on going through the drought.”
Mr Krause said he understood that supply for towns like Beaudesert, Rathdowney and Kooralbyn had high priority, but also that connection of Beaudesert to the southeast Queensland water grid would reduce reliance on Maroon Dam for town supply and was pushing for a re-assessment of allocations on that basis.