Downs region, and the council has developed a sophisticated, forward-looking approach to meet this need. Cook highlights the complex landscape driving their water management strategy. “We’re in an area where there’s huge industry growth with the coal seam gas industry,” he explains.“We’ve seen the introduction of wind farms and solar farms, so there’s a lot going on,” he adds, emphasizing the importance of the council to be on top of infrastructure requirements. Cook adds, “we’ve put a lot of work into our road network and we’ve put a lot of work into our water infrastructure specifically to make sure that we’ve been able to cater for the growth in the region right now.” The Dalby water project, planned since 2014, exemplifies the council’s proactive approach to planning.“We identified that with population growth we would at some stage be really struggling to meet our water needs,” says Cook. ”Dalby gets most of its water from the bore water supply. Originally, they were in the Condamine Alluviums, which are shallow and easily treated. The deeper you go, the harder it is to treat and more expensive to treat. We’ve also got a supply in the river, which is from the Condamine River. When it’s full, there’s no dramas, but it’s not as reliable as we’d need it for a town supply for the 14,000 people in Dalby,” Cook explains. “Prior planning identified that 2024 was about when we needed to start this project and as it turned out, that’s come to fruition,” he adds. A pivotal moment in the council’s water infrastructure journey came with a groundbreaking technological achievement. “We built the first municipal DeSAL plant in Australia to treat a town supply,” Cook states proudly. They’ve since expanded the technology to other urban areas in the region, with the latest phase treating the Great Artesian Basin. The project’s strategic considerations are comprehensive. When the existing water treatment plant was flooded in January 2011, the council saw an opportunity for strategic relocation. “We’ve had 25 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 06, ISSUE 12 WESTERN DOWNS REGIONAL COUNCIL
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