Beardmore Dam fills, water restrictions to ease in St George

“To see this coming has been a godsend, and we will make the most of it,” mayor Richard Marsh said as the Beardmore Dam continues to fill.

FURTHER relief from water restrictions is on the way for St George residents, after the local water supply has come back from the brink of drying up.

In only two weeks, St George's Beardmore Dam has gone from 10 per cent capacity to being almost full, and now the Balonne Shire Council is looking to further ease water restrictions around town.

Stepping down from the level five restrictions imposed earlier this year, Council has brought them down to level three, with the new rules coming into effect today.

Now, mayor Richard Marsh has said another reduction could be on the cards.

"Water is our lifeblood, and we have been suffering for quite a number of year with drought and a decreasing water supply," he said.

"To see this coming has been a godsend, and we will make the most of it.

"We are back to level three now, and are looking at when we might be able to go back to level one."

More than 59,000 megalitres have made it in to the E.J. Beardmore Dam since the beginning of February, and it hit 99.9 per cent over the weekend.

 

In pictures: Beardmore Dam spills over

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As of Monday morning, it was at 99.51 per cent capacity with water continuing to spill.

Dam operators, Sunwater, began releasing water on Saturday when the water level was at its highest, and a spokesman said the spill will continue in order to mitigate the inflows.

"After such a long dry spell, it is promising to see good rainfall and inflows into water storages across the region," he said

"The dam is still receiving inflows and reached full supply level about 10am on Saturday.

"In addition to normal operational or environmental releases, Sunwater releases water from Beardmore Dam when it reaches capacity.

"At this stage, there's no indication recent rainfall presents a flooding risk to downstream communities.

"However, Sunwater will continue to monitor rainfall over the catchment and inflows to the dam to assess if conditions may change."

Sunwater confirmed it is continuing to monitor dam inflows, and is updating the community via its social media, website, and app.

River level information is available on the Bureau of Meteorology website: bom.gov.au

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