If only
Granite Belts water CEO L Taylor mentions, in a well-balanced article in Stanthorpe Today 9/12/21:
“Based on the dam’s storage of 12,000 ML, the dam (Emu Swamp) would have filled 8.7 times, which is effectively 27 years’ worth of water if the entire annual water allocation of 3,900 ML was used”.
Reading between the lines what Mr Taylor is really saying, the dam is too small to effectively store that amount of water, and that the dam would have to hold 105,300 ML.
The size of Emu Swamp cannot be increased. It is also general knowledge that there are sites in the district that can hold that amount of water and more.
Incidentally the 2011 flood would have filled the imaginary Emu Swamp dam about nine times but as it holds so little it would have been well and truly empty by 2021, the same would apply to the massive flood of 1976 – enough water went down the river to have filled Emu Swamp possible 17 times, the amount of water that goes downstream is irrelevant, it is the amount that can be stored that is crucial.
Nobody imagines because Storm King dam overflowed 8.7 times its volume that we have 27 years of water or do they!
Previous councils looked at raising the wall of Storm King dam or building a new dam behind the sawmill, if only just one of these options were acted on Stanthorpe would have a secure water supply for decades.
It would be an interesting exercise to see how many dollars various councils have spent/wasted on the Emu Swamp site.
I feel tax payers’ dollars would have been better spent on raising the wall on Storm King dam.
John Salata, Glen Aplin
Commending Leanne Manwaring
This is to commend Leanne Manwaring from Warwick’s Curves gym for the article last week where she shared her story with such honesty and open-heartedness.
Through the tragic loss of her son and then the pain of divorce she had a great burden of grief to carry.
The article quoted her as saying: “I was overweight, depressed, and not doing very well at life although most people who knew me did not know that.”
This will resonate with many people.
Good on you, Leanne, for showing how regular, moderate exercise in a happy and inclusive environment can improve our mental health and help us all face the dramas that life dishes out.
B. W. Willmer, Emu Vale
