Riverland council caught out watering grassy area about to be flooded by rising river
A RIVERLAND council says it will continue to water grassed area, even though it is about to be inundated by the rising river.
A RIVERLAND council says it will continue to water a grassed area, even though it is about to be inundated by the rising river.
Sprinklers in a Renmark Paringa Council park continue to water newly-laid grass despite low level flooding in the area.
Up to 2000sq m of lawn were replaced as part of an environmental project at Bert Dix Park.
Renmark Paringa Council community services officer Stephanie Coughlin said although some areas were inundated with water, other areas still required watering to ensure they could properly established.
“(The) council will continue to water the lawn daily to ensure it establishes and the investment in the lawn turf is not wasted,” she said.
“Renmark Paringa Council was the first Council in South Australia to re-use wastewater to reduce its reliance on the River Murray and continues to invest in reducing its use of River Murray water.”
An SA Water spokeswoman said “Water Wise Measures” were in place all year-round in South Australia and provided guidelines for efficient water use.
“South Australian households and businesses are very conscious about water usage and post-drought have continued their efforts to save water and be smarter with its use,” she said.
National Irrigators Council chief executive Tom Chesson, who tweeted a photo of the sprinklers near Paringa on Tuesday, said while many locals would likely have a giggle about the council’s watering practices, no one wanted to see water being needlessly wasted.
Mr Chesson attended a meeting with South Australian irrigators on Monday, and said they were happy to be have a full water allocation to boost their production.
But Water Minister Ian Hunter said the National Irrigators Council, which did not support provisions in the Murray Darling Basin plan to return 3200GL of flows to the system, was focusing on Mr Chesson’s tweet and the minor issue of the council sprinklers to “divert attention from the real issues”.