In Estimates hearings on 8 December 2020, I asked a question about the water supply allocation for the Emu Swamp Dam.
You can read the answer below or in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard).
Mr BERKMAN: I have a question in relation to the proposed Emu Swamp Dam for private irrigation on the Granite Belt. I direct the question to the director-general first. I understand that the proponents need 3,900 megalitres of water allocations under the Border Rivers Water Plan to be viable and that they seek over 1,350 megalitres from the urban water reserve even though the current iteration of the proposed dam will not be at the required standard for holding town water. Is the department considering allocating part of the urban water reserve to the Emu Swamp Dam?
Mr Carroll: I thank the member for the question. I might ask the deputy director-general to answer the question.
Ms Dobe: Thank you for the question. We are considering and working with the proponent of the dam on all the different allocations that might be able to go towards the allocations in that dam. That includes water that is held in reserve and water that they will have to purchase from the market. The urban reserve is a lease arrangement. We are working through that at the moment. We are working very closely with the Southern Downs Regional Council on that as well.
Mr BERKMAN: The urban water reserve is in play as a potential component of the allocations that they will require?
Ms Dobe: All of the reserves are currently being looked at, but we are very conscious of the importance of urban water supply, particularly as we are currently carting water to the community of Stanthorpe. We are looking at what are the long-term water supply options for the urban community and how those town water reserves would fit into that mix.