Our Water Future: Supply
Cairns Regional Council is the registered water service provider to approximately 160,000 people, committed to ensuring an adequate and safe supply of water to communties from the Daintree in the north to Bartle Frere in the south.
Northern Supply Systems
Mossman and Port Douglas are supplied with water gravitated from Rex Creek to the Mossman Water Treatment Plant. Treated water is then gravitated to storage reservoirs in each area.
Water gravitated from Little Falls Creek supplies Whyanbeel and surrounding townships. Treatment takes place at Whyanbeel Water Treatment Plant which was commissioned in 2004.
The Daintree and surrounding farming communities are supplied with water from Intake Creek which is gravitated to the Daintree Water Treatment Plant. Following treatment water is stored in a clear water reservoir with distribution across the scheme via gravity.
Dagmar Heights water supply scheme was constructed in 1996 to service a rural residential subdivision. Infrastructure consists of 2 bores and a small reservoir.
Cairns
The majority of Cairns' water comes from Copperlode Falls Dam, an intake at Crystal Cascades and Behana Creek.
Copperlode Falls Dam (Lake Morris)
Lake Morris is the major water supply reservoir for the City of Cairns. The Lake was formed in 1976 by the construction of Copperlode Falls Dam. The Lake catchment is predominantly the Freshwater Creek Valley. The catchment area is approximately 44 square kilometres and when full has a surface area of 332 hectares.
Lake Morris is designated as a reserve for water supply and as such the Lake area is under control of the Cairns Regional Council.
Crystal Cascades Water Intake
Crystal Cascades intake is located downstream of Lake Morris on Freshwater Creek. Water from the intake is collected and piped by gravity to the Freshwater Creek Water Treatment Plant at Tunnel Hill. The treatment plant consists of a direct filtration process followed by chlorination.
The Freshwater Creek system can supply an average 82 megalitres per day to the Cairns community.
Behana Creek Water Intake
The Behana Creek catchment is situated in pristine Wet Tropics rainforest. Behana water is extracted directly from a small weir on the Creek under license from the Department of Natural Resources and Water (NRW) with a nominal annual entitlement of 16,060 ML per year. An environmental flow schedule applies to the extraction of water from the Creek.
During the dry season (September to December) flows in the Behana Creek can reduce significantly. Daily allowable intake of water during low flow reduces to less than 20ML per day, but can technically reduce to 0 ML per day in extreme conditions.
Infrastructure constraints also currently limit the ability to extract water from Behana Creek to approximately 34 ML per day.
Southern Rural Supply Systems
Small supply systems provide for residents south of Aloomba and the Mulgrave Valley. These systems range from bores to creek supplies. Treatment includes mechanical filtration and disinfection with chlorine.
Water Supply Projects
Cairns Regional Council is committed to providing an adequate and high quality water supply for our community. With significant population growth anticipated in Cairns in the coming years, preparing now for a healthy future water supply is vital. By reducing per capita demand it may be possible to extend the time needed to establish new water supplies.
Some major projects include:
Mulgrave River Aquifer
Cairns Regional Council has endorsed the Mulgrave River Aquifer as a potential future water supply source for Cairns, following an extensive investigation into the engineering and environmental feasibility. The intent is develop Stage 1 of the Mulgrave River Aquifer with a view to develop Stage 2 of the Aquifer subject to environmental impact assessment.
If Stage 2 of the Aquifer is not considered environmentally sustainable or approvals not being secured based on the operational performance of Stage 1, actions will be undertaken to develop the Barron River Water Supply Scheme as a water supply source.
The next step for Cairns Regional Council Water & Waste is further investigation into source feasibility, attainment of required regulatory approvals, design and construction of Stage 1 of the Mulgrave River Aquifer Scheme.
Rural Projects
Fishery Falls and Bartle Frere do not have existing reservoirs, water supply is provided directly from intakes above the townships. Bellenden Ker has a high level reservoir that services only a small portion of the community. A new reservoir in each area is required to ensure water supplies are available to meet future demands. The tender for construction of the reservoirs closed in May 2009 and the anticipated start date for construction is August 2009.
For more information on water supply projects in the Cairns Regional Council area, click here.
