Mr WOOD - 2016-06-27
Following your response to water issues I raised during the Estimates Committee hearings, could you please give an update on the situation in relation to the aquifers in the Darwin rural area, and government’s response to those residents who are concerned they could run out of water by November? I have had a number of queries in relation to this over the weekend.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, following estimates I arranged for a briefing for you and the member for Nelson. The Darwin rural area has had concurrent poor Wet Seasons. Water Resources has 96 monitoring bores in the rural, which they assess at the end of each Wet Season to see how things are travelling. The monitoring is used to assess and report on the groundwater levels and the recharge responses, and to predict levels for the end of the Dry Season. The aquifers underlying the Darwin region have very limited storage capacity, which means they are impacted greatly by poor Wet Seasons.
The levels of the aquifers this year, at the end of the Wet Season, were lower than recorded any time in the last 10 years. Based on this, Water Resources feels that areas that are greatly vulnerable include Howard Springs, Girraween, McMinns Lagoon, Herbert, Lambells Lagoon and Berry Springs. When I received that report I asked the department to investigate the impact of this on people. The department came up with about seven-hundred-and-something bores – I do not have the exact figure here – out of 3500 bores in the rural area that have potential to experience problems by the end of October.
What we have done, and plan on doing in the future, is advertising – which we did last weekend – that highlights the areas that could be affected. People in those areas are being encouraged to contact Water Resources and get information specific to their individual bores. People need to get to know their bore, how it functions and how reliable it could be.
We are trying to educate people about the amount of water they are using. People living on five acres of tropical garden should be encouraged to cut down on their water usage. We are also monitoring the projected usage, and at the end of each month we will put ads in the paper to show the current level of the aquifer, the current usage, the estimated level at the end of October, and we will state that this is the lowest level the aquifer has been at over that period. People need to organise alternative water sources after they have seen resource management.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, following estimates I arranged for a briefing for you and the member for Nelson. The Darwin rural area has had concurrent poor Wet Seasons. Water Resources has 96 monitoring bores in the rural, which they assess at the end of each Wet Season to see how things are travelling. The monitoring is used to assess and report on the groundwater levels and the recharge responses, and to predict levels for the end of the Dry Season. The aquifers underlying the Darwin region have very limited storage capacity, which means they are impacted greatly by poor Wet Seasons.
The levels of the aquifers this year, at the end of the Wet Season, were lower than recorded any time in the last 10 years. Based on this, Water Resources feels that areas that are greatly vulnerable include Howard Springs, Girraween, McMinns Lagoon, Herbert, Lambells Lagoon and Berry Springs. When I received that report I asked the department to investigate the impact of this on people. The department came up with about seven-hundred-and-something bores – I do not have the exact figure here – out of 3500 bores in the rural area that have potential to experience problems by the end of October.
What we have done, and plan on doing in the future, is advertising – which we did last weekend – that highlights the areas that could be affected. People in those areas are being encouraged to contact Water Resources and get information specific to their individual bores. People need to get to know their bore, how it functions and how reliable it could be.
We are trying to educate people about the amount of water they are using. People living on five acres of tropical garden should be encouraged to cut down on their water usage. We are also monitoring the projected usage, and at the end of each month we will put ads in the paper to show the current level of the aquifer, the current usage, the estimated level at the end of October, and we will state that this is the lowest level the aquifer has been at over that period. People need to organise alternative water sources after they have seen resource management.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016