$1.3m spent to boost water security at Inglewood, council ‘committed’ to essential infrastructure

As residents of one southern Queensland town prepare for a summer from hell, another prepares to future proof its water grid with a massive $1m+ upgrade.

More than $1m has been spent in the past year on the upgrades to Inglewood Water Treatment Plant as part of an effort to boost water security in southern Queensland.

Goondiwindi Regional Council said the move was to actively upgrade and improve the Inglewood water supply network, including the reservoir, to prioritise and maintain the “essential” infrastructure.

The project was expected to be completed and be operational next month, with a roof added to the reservoir which was “designed to prevent untreated water and wildlife from entering the reservoir”.

The southern Queensland town also received a new mixer equipped with a chlorination system earlier this year to improve the town's water treatment capabilities further, ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality water to the community.

Mayor of the Goondiwindi Region, the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg AM (Photo: Tertius Pickard)

“This new infrastructure complements the existing rising main, ensuring a continuous water supply for the town of Inglewood. These initiatives have come together to deliver the community with high quality and safe drinking water,” councillor Rick Kearney said.

The upgrades of the water systems was jointly funded between the regional council and the Australian Government, the latter who funded $420,000 which was provided through the Local Government Grants and Subsidies Program to “assist in maintaining and extending the life of existing infrastructure”.

Inglewood's reservoir upgrades cost $1.3m, but is expected to vastly futureproof the 'essential' resource for the community, while several other southern Queensland areas could go dry if urgent upgrades and projects aren't started.

Goondiwindi mayor Lawrence Springborg AM said Inglewood’s water supply “has had a significant overhaul”.

“Council remains committed to delivering maintenance and upgrades to essential infrastructure across the Region, with a particular focus on assets approaching the end of their operational life,” Mr Springborg said.

The move comes as water security is fast becoming a hot issue within Southern Queensland, in particular the Granite Belt and the Goondiwindi region.

In Stanthorpe, residents have been greatly concerned as a major project grinds to a halt and the question of water security in a region prone to bushfires and droughts has to be raised.

This, on top of a record smashing El Nino forecast, and lower than average rainfall, gives residents reason to be weary.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has overlooked the proponents of the Granite Belt's major water infrastructure project, Emu Swamp Dam.

Residents across the Granite Belt and southern Queensland are alarmed with ‘no guaranteed water security in sight’- even after 2019’s horrific droughts with left Stanthorpe without water for months. 

The Emu Swamp Dam project is seen as a shining beacon of hope for Stanthorpe, an escape from the days only a handful of years ago when they would cart water into the community – at a cost of $800,000 a month. 

Originally estimated at a total cost of $84m in 2019, the project has since seen two additional design proposals by different engineering companies.

A Granite Belt Water Limited spokesman said the community was fed up with the state government’s inability to fully commit to the project.

“In 2021 we advised the (state) government that the total cost of the project as it was designed, to provide water for Stanthorpe and for irrigation throughout the Granite Belt was going to cost approximately $240m,” the spokesman said.

“That was different to the detailed business case which suggested it was going to cost $84m, but once again the dam presented in the business case was different to the one presented to the government in 2021.

“(This was) because of processes the government put in place that wanted a different type of dam, now subsequently in 2023 the government’s processors have decided they want another different type of dam and the price just keeps going up.”

The Stanthorpe community will have the opportunity to participate in the public Southern Downs Regional Water Assessment facilitated by the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water later this year.

Once public consultation has concluded, the spokesman said the final approval of the dam project lies solely in the hands of the Palaszczuk government.