The State Government will make an extra four billion litres of water available per year for Cairns' water supply under the draft Barron Resource Operations Plan (ROP) released today for public consultation.

(Kens Comment: In the early seventies I took the Mareeba Shire Council to court over dredging silt from the Barron Falls weir at Kuranda. I found out that a dam has a useby timeframe of 100 years due to siltation. I lost the case but its interesting that the town has to dredge the area around the town water pick up three times a year now and a few locals have said I should sue again but I'm just happy to laugh at the near sighted fools now.

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Natural Resources, Mines & Energy, Stephen Robertson
natu...@cabinet.qld.gov.au
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02/08/04

Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson said today the ROP would provide unprecedented security of supply for Cairns residents, agricultural water users and the environment; as well as providing sufficient water for future growth.

"The extra 4,000 megalitres (1 megalitre = 1 million litres) per year will increase Cairns' existing water entitlements to 66,800 megalitres a year.

"It will provide Cairns City Council with the certainty it needs to plan for future infrastructure and development to cater for population and industry growth," he said.

"Cairns' water supply draws upon approximately 25,000 megalitres a year and the city currently uses only about 40% of its authorised water entitlements," he said.

Mr Robertson said the draft ROP was a crucial step in implementing the Water Resource Plan (WRP) for the Barron catchment, covering the day-to-day management rules that will support water allocation and environmental flow objectives.

"The Barron water resource plan identified an additional 4,000 megalitres per year of unallocated water for use by unsupplemented irrigators upstream of Tinaroo Falls Dam.

"The rules for managing this extra water are currently being developed in consultation with the Upper Barron Water Advisory Group, and the finalised ROP will be amended to include them."

Mr Robertson said one of the key elements of the ROP were proposals to convert existing water entitlements in the Mareeba-Dimbulah Water Supply Scheme to tradeable water allocations.

"Tradeable water allocations will give water users more flexibility and security and allow for full water trading to commence within the Barron catchment."

"Under the rules proposed by the draft ROP, trading will be simplified from the pilot scheme established in 1999, and we expect to see a much more dynamic water market evolve as a result."

Mr Robertson said the draft ROP provided guidelines for detailed monitoring and reporting of performance and water use trends.

"The monitoring program will identify whether outcomes specified in the water resource plan are being achieved under the operations plan."

"Information on water use will be incorporated into the Minister's annual report on Water Resource (Barron) Plan 2002, which will be publicly available."

Mr Robertson urged stakeholders in the Barron catchment to have their say on the future management of water resources in their area.

"Stakeholders have until 29 October 2004 to comment on the draft ROP.

"Local input is critical to the long-term success of water planning for the Barron, and I particularly urge supplemented and unsupplemented water users in the area to consider the main points addressed in the plan and share their views."

Copies of the draft Plan are available from Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy offices in Walsh Street (Mareeba), Sheridan Street (Cairns) and George Street (Brisbane), as well as local council offices in Mareeba, Atherton and Cairns.

It is also available on the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy website at: http://www.nrme.qld.gov.au/wrp.barron.html.

MEDIA: PAUL LYNCH 3896 3689 or PENNY FOX 3896 3694