PAUL ARNOLD: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, URBAN UTILITIES
Dec 9, 2022 | Annual Leaders Survey 2022
Twelve months ago, in November 2021, South East Queensland was in the voluntary conservation stage of active drought response, with the drinking water capacity of the South East Queensland Water Grid sitting at a worryingly low 55%.
Just three months later, our region was stricken by days of record-breaking rainfall, which broke riverbanks, flooded houses and infrastructure, and tragically claimed lives. It also saw soil and debris flow into Seqwater’s Mt Crosby Water Treatment Plants, which temporarily forced them offline, once again putting our drinking water supplies at risk.
Our increasingly variable climate, together with demands of a rapidly growing population, highlight the importance of having a diverse mix of water sources to meet the needs of water users well into the future, whatever the weather.
As Queensland’s largest water utility, Urban Utilities is planning well ahead to ensure water security for our region and we’re keen to help everyone – particularly residents and businesses within our service territory – understand what this involves.
In August this year, we were proud to launch our water leadership plan, titled Our Water Way, which details the future we’re shaping, the challenges we’re all facing, and the steps we’re taking to fulfil our valued role of enhancing the liveability of our communities.
As part of our plan, we’re taking a diversified approach to creating water for the future. This includes increasing our water reuse for industry, agriculture and irrigation, which will ease pressure on our precious drinking water supplies. We’re also progressively managing, re-using and recycling water closer to where it’s used and collected. This is an integral part of our plan to reshape the water cycle from the linear ‘catchment-to-sea model’ of water use, to a circular model that manages water far more sustainably.
And with Brisbane to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games, we’re already exploring opportunities to design and build innovative and sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure for key Olympic and Paralympic precincts that will form part of our network.
Our ‘all options’ approach also embraces rainfall-independent supplies, like purified recycled water and desalination. Our region already has access to climate-independent infrastructure built during the Millennium Drought – namely the Gold Coast Desalination Plant and the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme – and it makes sense to use this to support the region’s water security.
Importantly, our plan works in concert with Seqwater’s Water Security Program for the region, and we will continue to work closely with them – as well as our shareholders and peak industry bodies – to care for the water we have today while creating the water we need for the future.