Hervey Bay Gossip

Thanks to the recent rain Hervey Bay residents can now do some outside cleaning from February 23 right through to March 2.

For the coming week residents will be able to used their hand-held hoses to clean houses, paved areas, cars, boats etc.

The wild weather of last week has resulted in some significant inflow into Lenthalls Dam and that has to be good news for us here in Hervey Bay.

 It’s now reported to be at least 77% full and you can see some great photos of those water levels here

The State Government has moved to outlaw the sinking of private bores in parts of Brisbane and Toowoomba from today. Bores that have already been sunk in those areas and are in use may be regulated by imposing level 5 restrictions on their owners.

You can read the full story here

Residents in the the Hervey Bay City Council water supply area are reminded that Level 3 water restrictions begin today.

You can get all the details on the Wide Bay Water site

And if you don’t think things are bad in this region then perhaps the news that Cooloola Shire has just been drought declared may change your mind.

Level three water restrictions will come into effect in the Hervey Bay City Council area from Friday.

Under the new restrictions the use of garden irrigation systems will be banned. The use of sprinklers and soaker hoses will also be banned along with the hosing of driveways and paved areas.

Hand-held hosing will be banned between the hours of 8am and 4pm except for washing vehicles and boats.

The current dry weather conditions and water levels are particularly worrying because winter is traditionally the dry season here in Hervey Bay while February is usually our wettest month.

HERVEY BAY RESIDENTS TAKING UP HOME WATERWISE REBATE SCHEME

The Beattie Government this week will pass the $20 million mark for rebates paid for water tanks, water-efficient appliances and fittings under the Home WaterWise Rebate Scheme.
The Home WaterWise Rebate Scheme is the largest rebate scheme in this state’s history in terms of the individual applications.
 
Around 14,000 cheques and 21,700 electronic funds transfer payments have been sent to people under the Home WaterWise Rebate Scheme.

Nearly 16,000 rebates for washing machines have been paid for washing machines, over 15,000 rebates for water tanks and over 2,800 for dual-flush toilet suites.

The Scheme is available for Hervey Bay residents.  “My office has assisted numerous Hervey Bay residents in accessing the rebate scheme, I believe we are all concerned about saving water.  The Home WaterWise Rebate Scheme provides encouragement to make our homes more water efficient.” Mr McNamara said.

The Home WaterWise Rebate Scheme offers rebates of up to $1000 for water tanks, $200 for 4-star or better water-rated washing machines and $150 for dual flush toilets.

Residents can obtain further information on the internet at www.nrw.qld.gov.au or by contacting the Government’s Water Hotline on 1800 243 585.

Is there worse to come?

ABC Wide Bay is reporting that Wide Bay Water is not ruling out tougher water restrictions for Hervey Bay at some stage in the coming weeks because demand for water has not decreased.

You can read the full story here

What is the Hervey Bay City Council going to do?

It seems that the current water restrictions that are in force in Hervey Bay and the surge in developments have been on minds of a number of local residents lately.

Last night one local resident asked me why the Council are allowing the major developments to go ahead when we are obviously short of water. Of course we’ve had droughts in the past, and this one may break sooner rather than later, but now we’re facing dire warnings of more droughts that will last longer.

So why is the council not cutting back on these developments?

Then today Fred Chick, who lives in one of the drier parts of Hervey Bay, left this comment on a very old post that most people won’t see.

A suggestion for the council. One way to save our water level dropping any more, would be to suspend building more new houses and stop giving approval for big resorts and high rise buildings. This suspension would ease the supply until the infrastructure catches up with progress.

Let’s hope the Hervey Bay City Council is listening Fred because if they aren’t we could be in serious trouble in the years ahead.

We’re into day 2 of water restrictions here in Hervey Bay and people are beginning to wonder about their gardens. What’s the best way to live within the restrictions - and any tougher ones that may follow - and still keep your garden flourishing?

To find the answer you may need to take a trip to Brisbane to visit the Botanical Gardens there. With absolutely no soil moisture left to a depth of at least 2 metres the Botanical Gardens are still managing to survive.

Not only are they surviving but they’re teaching a whole new set of guidelines for keeping gardens looking  reasonable in prolonged drought conditions.

You can read about it by following this link.

Save money and time

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Wide Bay Water has announced that from Friday 19 January 2007 the following restrictions will apply:

1. Hosting driveways and paved areas will be banned at all times
2. Garden sprinklers, irrigation systems and soaker hoses are banned between the hours of 5.30am and 8pm
3. Hand held hosing is banned between the hours of 8am and 4pm except for the washing of vehicles and boats with a working trigger nozzle

Bucket watering and washing is still allowed and residents are warned that breaches of the above restrictions carry penalties including fines up to $75,000 and/or restriction of supply.

It has been necessary to introduce these restrictions because the level in Lenthalls Dam, the source of the water for Hervey Bay,  is dropping.