When $215m Cairns water security project will happen

Fierce lobbying by Cairns Regional Council and local MPs resulted in a win for the city with $215m for water security from federal and state governments – but the state water Minister warned there would be no more to come.

STATE Treasurer Cameron Dick had his moment in the Far North winter sunshine as he appeared at Barron River on Wednesday to spruik the $107.5m the government committed to water security in the State Budget on June 20 – but warned there would be no more to come.

State Water Minister Glenn Butcher, who appeared alongside Mr Dick, emphasised there would be no more from the state government – and that council still needed to present its detailed business case.

“You’ve got to be mindful, drinking water delivery is a council responsibility,” Mr Butcher said.

“They asked for $107.5m and that’s it, they’ve gotten what they asked for.”

He said a business case was expected in coming months.

“We’ve made it clear to them that this needs a detailed business case to show us exactly what this project is and exactly how much it’s going to cost,” Mr Butcher said.

Cairns Regional Council’s water security project involves sourcing water from the Mulgrave River because the 38,400 megalitre Copperlode Dam is not projected to meet the city’s needs beyond 2026.

Council initially said the project would cost $215m and sought half each from the state and federal governments.

But a preliminary business case released in March showed the cost would be $248m – meaning ratepayers would foot the bill for $33m.

State MP for Barron River Craig Crawford said council had put forward a solid case.

“It’s very easy to think that Cairns has an abundance of water, because plenty of it falls from the sky and plenty of it runs out to sea every single year – but what we’re talking about is the water that we catch, and how big the catchment is that then feeds into the water supply that we need for drinking,” Mr Crawford said.

“If we want to be able to grow our industries we have to be able to make sure that we have a sustainable water supply going forward into the future.”

Mayor Bob Manning said he had been very clear that the community should not have to foot the bill for more water.

“Our local state politicians have all been strong supporters of this project from the outset,” Cr Manning said.

“We look forward to seeing the Federal budget handed down in October with water security clearly mapped into the forwards estimates.”

He said work was expected to begin in 2024.

Originally published as When $215m Cairns water security project will happen