As at November 2021
Isaac Regional Council is committed to maintaining, renewing and expanding its water infrastructure to meet the present and future needs of our communities in the Isaac region.
In partnership with government and industry, Council continues to invest significantly in this vital function as part of a focus on improving water infrastructure and service delivery.
Council acknowledges the region’s communities have experienced past issues in relation to water supply (security and quality), but is working hard to deliver long-term solutions, particularly in the area of drinking water quality.
The Clermont Water Quality Response Plan, released in July 2020, has been updated periodically since this time and remains current as of November 2021.
In 2019/20, Council spent over $1M on maintaining and improving the region’s water infrastructure. In 2020/21, over $2.5M was approved and additional funds were also proposed to be spent specifically on projects relating to the sustainability of the Clermont water supply network.
Council is committed to providing regular updates on the progress of the actions outlined in the Clermont Water Quality Response Plan. Regular updates on our progress will be made on Council’s website.
Each item outlined in the Clermont Water Quality Response Plan will be updated on the website so the Clermont community can regularly keep track of the progress.
Between 16 and 29 November 2018 Clermont was subject to a water discolouration incident associated with high turbidity influent water from Theresa Creek Dam (TCD). This was after a long dry period followed by a large inflow into the dam and the failure of an alum dosing pump whilst the plant was operating automatically after hours.
In February 2020, again following a period of dry weather followed by a high rainfall event and rapid filling of TCD, a discoloured water incident occurred associated with iron and manganese not being removed or stabilised through the treatment process. This resulted in very inconsistent water colour throughout the network. Even though we were able to adjust treatment processes and produce clear water from the Clermont Water Treatment Plant (WTP) on several occasions, the discolouration impacted some water customers up until early March 2020.
There should be no doubt about the quality of drinking water in any of our communities, and Council is putting strategies in place to prevent further incidents from occurring.
Council has committed to providing the community with regular updates on their website and providing an engagement opportunity for feedback.
Project Update
Work on the Sustainable Water Framework for Clermont(PDF, 690KB) is complete and the final document was considered and adopted by Isaac Regional Council on Tuesday, January 30, 2018.
Council endorsed the award of the tender in February to AECOM Australia Pty Ltd to help produce a strategic framework to improve Clermont’s ageing water supply infrastructure.
Outcomes
The framework is a study focused on providing water security and supporting future economic growth for Clermont.
It will provide a framework to ensure the reliable long-term performance of Council’s water supply to Clermont.
This will allow future projects and actions to be planned and implemented to ensure Clermont’s resilience to cope with long term drought, population increases and wet weather events.
The framework focussed on:
- Evaluating the technical, social, economic and environmental viability of potential new or augmented water infrastructure.
- Examining limitations and risks of identified options as well as actions to support growth catering for the continued development in the region’s mining, pastoral and agricultural industries.
- Approaches to achieve reliable and secure water supply over the next 20 years incorporating current and forecast demands.
The framework will enable Council to consider the most cost-effective decisions and responses to water issues in Clermont.
Funding
This framework was supported by funding from the Australian Government National Water Infrastructure Development Fund.
Council committed up to $225,000 that matched the grant funding, which enabled development of this essential report.
The Australian Government National Water Infrastructure Development Fund is an initiative of the Northern Australia and Agricultural competitiveness white papers.