Truckies keep droughtstricken town hydrated

WHILE many parts of the nation have been affected by floods, a drought-hit Central Queensland community has been relying on truckies to bring in fresh drinking water each day.

Residents in the Rockhampton town of Mount Morgan have been on strict level six water restrictions since March 2021. These restrictions were put into play after the dam fell below 10 per cent capacity.

Residents have had to rely on about 20 truckies to come into the town each day, carting water tankers from Gracemere. The tankers provide approximately 160 litres of water per person, per day.

Once the trucks deliver to the reservoir, the water is again disinfected to ensure its quality remains after the journey. It’s then distributed using the same water distribution system that has been supplying water to the Mount Morgan community.

The Queensland Government announced a $10.8 million funding boost on January 31, that will allow the Rockhampton Regional Council to continue keeping the town of Mount Morgan hydrated, while the area continues through drought.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Local Government Steven Miles said the funding would keep this essential service on the road while a pipeline from Gracemere to Mount Morgan was built.

“Council has been carting water to the Mount Morgan Treatment Plant, making about 20 water tanker deliveries a day and meeting costs of about $5.7 million to date,” explained Miles.

“The Palaszczuk Government is providing a Special Assistance Package of up to $10.8 million to council to cover the cost of water carting into next year, when the pipeline is expected to be completed.

Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Tony Williams added that council has started preliminary works on this permanent solution for the region’s water security.

“While we plan and build a new water pipeline from Gracemere to Mount Morgan, this new funding will help ensure we can continue to supply drinking water to the Mount Morgan community,” Williams said.

“This is essential for the people of Mount Morgan as works progress towards a permanent water supply.”

Member for Rockhampton Barry O’Rourke also welcomed the funding. “The Mount Morgan community deserves secure access to water supply. This funding and the construction of the pipeline ensures that,” O’Rourke said.

“It also means Rockhampton Regional Council won’t be required to continue funding the carting of water.”

The new funding will be available to Rockhampton Regional Council over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years.

In June 2022, the Queensland Government also announced a $40.4 million funding commitment towards the Mount Morgan water pipeline. The project is expected to take around two years to build.

Plans include the use of a more efficient alignment for the Mount Morgan Water Pipeline.

The new alignment will use the existing road reserve from the Poison Creek intersection up the Razorback Road and into Mount Morgan via Creek and Baree Street, up East Street extended, across the Dee River, into Black Street and then finishing at the South Reservoir.

“The alignment that was originally identified in the Business Case used the existing rail trail up the Razor- back, however a number of construction concerns were identified with this option,” explained Williams.

“Some of these concerns were that the pipeline would go through private properties, there would be significant environment overlays, major telecommunications infrastructure is already on that alignment, and constructing in service access roads would cause issues for accessibility, these are just a few of the concerns we had.

“Once these issues were identified, an alternative option was reviewed which has turned out to be a much better option for the construction of the pipeline.

“This new alignment is a more direct route and saves about 1.5 kilometres in pipeline and construction so it makes much more sense to go with this option.”

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