Water Supply and Wastewater Strategy

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The Regional Water Supply and Wastewater Strategy provides a clear framework to ensure long‑term water security for Western Downs communities.

It identifies supply limitations, treatment constraints, and operational risks across all schemes, and outlines the actions required to maintain reliability under projected demand growth of 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% per year.

The Strategy supports Council’s objectives to deliver reliable essential services, manage infrastructure responsibly, and plan for sustained economic development while also addressing short‑term pressures arising from major construction activity across the region.

The strategy outlines:

  • Projected demand growth under 0.5% (low), 1% (medium) and 1.5% (high) annual growth scenarios.
  • Scheme-specific risks and constraints.
  • Region-wide priority actions, triggers, and dependencies.
  • Long-term planning requirements to meet industry-driven growth, especially from the energy and renewables sectors.
  • Short‑term pressure from construction activity requiring temporary measures to maintain system reliability.

Council’s strategic objective is to:

  • Prioritise system reliability and drought resilience.
  • Advocate for long-term regional supply augmentation such as Nathan Dam.
  • Maximise the efficiency and capacity of existing groundwater and surface water sources.
  • Use demand management and permanent behavioural expectations to limit avoidable peak loads.
  • Plan staged investments well ahead of capacity constraints.
  • Avoid stranded assets by aligning capital upgrades with permanent population growth rather than short-term construction peaks.

Click here to access the full WDRC Water Supply and Wastewater Strategy(PDF, 9MB)

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