By Dominique Tassell
Leslie Dam sure is a sight to see, with locals guaranteed to be up basking in the high levels every time this newspaper goes on their weekly “dam watch” trip.
At the moment, Leslie Dam is sitting at 80.49 per cent, having gone up steadily from 75 per cent over the weekend.
With the rain pouring down outside as I write this, it’s expected that the dam levels will continue to rise this week.
Leslie Dam hit 70 per cent last week, and 60 per cent the week before, with locals now crossing their fingers that we might see the dam join the others in the region at full capacity.
Connolly Dam, which also supplies Warwick, is 100 per cent full. As is Stanthorpe’s sole urban water supply, Storm King Dam.
Storm King Dam reached full capacity for the first time in years in late March 2021.
Glenlyon Dam spilled over last week.
In Wallangarra, recent rainfall has restored the water level in both the Beehive Dam and The Soak to full capacity.
Council is reportedly still in discussion with Toowoomba Regional Council and Seqwater to supply water to Warwick via a new pipeline – a project led by the Queensland government, though locals have questioned why Council is investing in a dam that was at such a low level during the drought and currently sits at 39.8 per cent at the time of print.
Some have commented that perhaps a dam should be built in the northern end of the region.
The Emu Swamp Dam, set for the Granite Belt, has also recently commenced a “pause” stage of the project. As reported in this newspaper last week, this may be due to the breakdown of negotiations between the project and affected landholders after Granite Belt Irrigation Project asked landholders to sell their entire properties, to be used as “environmental offset”.
GBIP did not respond to this newspaper’s questions in time to be included in this week’s edition of the paper.
