Dam levels plummet as we wait on the rain

The South Burnett Regional Council has introduced level 3 water restrictions across the entire South Burnett.

Bjelke-Petersen Dam viewed from above. Picture: Heath Pukallus

AS OUR dams reach crisis levels, South Burnett Regional Council has put out a call to conserve water.

Level three water restrictions remain in place across the entire South Burnett, following a significant volume drop in surrounding dams.

"The Boondooma and Bjelke-Petersen Dams are at less than 50 per cent volume capacity. These are our main sources for town water supplies in the region so we need to ensure we conserve water wherever possible,” mayor Keith Campbell said.

Both dams are at less than 35 per cent volume capacity according to SunWater Dam Storage Forecast graphs and data.

SunWater tracks and predicts regional dam levels, based on the tracked and predicted inflow of water.

Boodooma dam has a current volume of 34.38% of how much water it was built to hold, with 70,198 ML of water in the dam.

Bjelke-Petersen Dam is at 18.22 per cent of how much water it was built to hold. That's only 24,577 ML of water in the dam.

One mega litre is equal to one million litres.

With both dams being at such low levels the council is pushing for higher levels of water conservation.

According to The South Burnett Regional Council Residential Water Restrictions document when at level three restrictions, each person should be using 160 litres (at the very most) of water per day in the South Burnett.

On level three water restrictions, sprinklers, soaker hoses, hosing or washing paved or concreted areas, and filling up pools or spas has been banned.

Topping up pools or spas is still permitted.

New turf needs approval from council.

Watering gardens and lawns is not permitted on Mondays. Houses with an odd numbered street address are given opportunity to water between 7.00 and 8.00am or 5.00 and 6.00pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Even numbered houses can water during the same times on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

The council has only enforced these restrictions because of how low our dams have dropped.

Nearly five months ago, on March 7, both dams held much more water.

Boondooma dam was at 44.68 per cent and Bjelke-Peteren Dam was at 21.37 per cent.

Since March The South Burnett has lost more than 25 million litres of water from these two dams.