Councillor addresses damning water levels following rainfall

Despite the recent wet wether, Toowoomba’s combined dam levels has only risen 0.2 per cent. Councillor Vonhoff adresses why.

‘DAMING’ LEVELS: Despite the recent wet wether, Toowoomba’s combined dam levels has only risen 0.2 per cent, due to most of the rainfall occuring in the southern parts of the region. Perseverance Dam, one of the three dams that feeds Toowoomba's water supply, photographed back in 2015. Photo: Kevin Farmer

DESPITE all the current wet weather, Toowoomba dams are not in much better shape capacity wise, with most rainfall landing too far south of the three catchment areas to make much of a difference.

Even after receiving a nice little top up of 190 millimetres over the past week, as of Thursday, March 24 the total combined dam storage for Cressbrook, Cooby and Perseverance dams sits at 31.3 per cent full.

Toowoomba Regional Council water and waste portfolio chair, councillor Rebecca Vonhoff, said the wet weather over the past couple weeks had certainly been welcomed but unfortunately hadn’t fallen in the right areas to have a significant impact on our dam levels.

“Since March 18 our combined dam storage has increased by about 0.2 per cent which roughly equates to about two weeks of water use by the Toowoomba Bulk Water Supply,” she said

Toowoomba Regional Council water and waste portfolio chair, councillor Rebecca Vonhoff. Photo: Bev Lacey

“Studies have indicated there are a lack of other higher yielding sites within our region for new dams and even if we were to increase the storage capacity of our existing dams by raising walls we would still be relying on rain falling in the right areas.

“To ensure destiny remains in our hands, it’s imperative we continue to look for new ideas and advocate to the State and Federal Governments for the long-term water security of the Toowoomba region.”

Councillor Vonhoff said discussions so far had been encouraging, with the State Government committing $3 million to undertake an in-depth water assessment to identify long-term water supplies earlier this year.

“While we haven’t had a lot of rain in our catchment areas there are reports of better rain in the southwest of the region,” she said.

The last time Toowoomba’s dam levels were above 50 per cent was early 2018.