• CWSS1 will take water from the Mulgrave River at Gordonvale. The water will be drawn from the river via a new intake, to be built near the Desmond Trannore Bridge (Bruce Highway). The intake will comprise approximately 9 river wells that will be located roughly 10 metres back from the southern riverbank; the exact location and number of wells will be confirmed as part of the final project design in late 2024.

The wells will draw water directly from the river, through the riverbank, filtering it through the sand and gravel as it moves to the intake. This type of intake is known as riverbank filtration and is designed to minimise environmental impacts.

Watch the short project explainer video to learn more https://youtu.be/njzlNjNuz4s

• Council will only draw water from the Mulgrave River as per its water licence, which is issued by the Queensland Government.

Council is committed to ensuring that flows are maintained in the Mulgrave River to protect the river system for the benefit of the communities, animals, and plants that rely on it.

• The Behana Creek component of the project involves improving the resilience of the existing Behana intake by protecting it from damage during flooding and other events.

Additionally, the new water treatment plant being built at Gordonvale is being designed to treat Council’s full water licence entitlement from the Behana intake and treat the water to a higher standard. There will be no change to Council’s current water licence for Behana.

The existing treatment plant at Behana Creek will no longer be used, with redundant equipment removed from the site.

Final project design will be confirmed in late 2024.

• Cairns' residential water use is similar to that of other Queensland regional areas and is significantly better than that of comparable tropical cities such as Townsville and Darwin.

This is demonstrated in the following table which shows the average annual residential water supplied (kL/property) for various regional centres and cities. (Data source: Bureau of Meteorology, February 2022, National performance report 2020–21: urban water utilities, part A).

* Average across following water service providers: Unitywater, Urban Utilities, Redland City Council, Logan City Council, City of Gold Coast

Cairns Regional Council is continuing to implement demand management initiatives to reduce water consumption across all sectors (residential, commercial, industrial and tourism). Council's demand management initiatives include Smart Water Meters, leak detection sweeps, bulk water meter audits and replacement, recycled water use, Council’s online Water Education Program, and permanent water conservation measures.

• Council has had an active Water Demand Management Strategy (DMS) for close to two decades, with demand management activities like Smart Water Meters, water education, leak detection improvements, and effective metering and pricing, delivering a 35% reduction in water usage per capita over the 17 years to 30 June 2023.

Council is planning to update the current DMS in 2024 and to roll out a new advertising campaign promoting water conservation, to further improve water usage.

• The CWSS1 project is less costly – economically and environmentally – than building a new dam, and can be constructed faster.

The CWSS1 project has a lighter environmental footprint than building a new dam. Council will only draw water from the river when allowed to under its water entitlement conditions, determined by the Queensland Government. Council is committed to ensuring that flows are maintained in the Mulgrave River to protect the river system for the benefit of the communities, animals and plants that rely on it.

The cost of CWSS1 is also a fraction of that of a new dam. For example, the upfront capital cost of proposed Nullinga Dam was estimated to be upwards of $1 billion and that did not include the infrastructure, such as mains pipelines and treatment plant, needed to integrate the project with the Cairns urban water supply network.

There are also long lead times involved in planning, constructing and filling dams, usually measured in decades not years. This is unviable for Cairns when there is a real risk of a drinking water shortfall by 2026.

• Rainwater tanks are a popular household water-saving option that can be used to replace mains water in some areas around the home. A licensed plumber can deliver rainwater tank solutions for applications in the laundry, toilet flushing, and the irrigation of small garden areas.

Unfortunately, rainwater tanks are not a solution for providing a safe and reliable supply of bulk drinking water to Cairns’ growing population. Cairns is a tropical city with highly seasonal rainfall. Over 60% of our total annual rainfall falls during the wet season in the first three months of the year. During the dry season, Cairns receives only 5% of our total annual rainfall, significantly limiting tank refill rates during this time. (Data source: Bureau of Meteorology, ‘Climate statistics for Australian locations’, Monthly climate statistics).

• Cairns Regional Council has always aimed to deliver infrastructure as and when it is needed. Paying for infrastructure ahead of when it is required means you are spending community funds before you really need to. That’s not prudent financial or capital management. 2026 is the date we have been working to and we are well advanced in project design and planning.