Desalinisation plant plea for Cape Barren’s water woes
December 13, 2023
By Rachel Williams
An emergency three-week 500,000 litre water drop to Cape Barren Island will come to an end on Friday with residents saying they are desperately close to running out of water.
While the State Government says the island’s 88 residents currently have “sufficient water storage for its immediate needs”, Cape Barren Island Aboriginal Association General Manager Denise Gardner says the situation was precarious.
“We met with representatives of DPAC and Aboriginal Affairs on Friday and they broke the news that the water truck and tank coming in every day for the last three weeks will come to an end this week,” Ms Gardner said.
“Five weeks ago we knew we were in big trouble and it is really serious now - we really need some rain. I am scared to go and look at my tank to see what’s left.”
Prolonged dry conditions on the island have contributed to the low water levels in the island’s reservoirs.
The State Government received a direct request for assistance on November 17, 2023 and has funded the effort to send daily supplies from a TasWater holding dam on Flinders Island in a water cartage truck on a barge to Cape Barren.
Ms Gardner praised the efforts from the State Government, TasWater and Flinders Council for their assistance, saying the deliveries would have cost a lot of money, and they were “lucky to get what they got”.
But a long-term plan was desperately needed as the height of summer approaches, she said.
“We need a desalinisation plant to be honest and we are in the middle of getting that information and we would need the State Government to come to the party on that,” Ms Gardner said.
“The dams on the island are pretty much empty – as they have been filling up the water it’s being used so it’s not rising and with the heat from the sun it is evaporating as well.
“The rain we have been getting is just a whisper – blink and it is gone.”
The water deliveries have been put into one of the island’s two dams but there is not enough supply to allow for the water treatment plant to operate, rendering the water unconsumable.
TasWater has mobilised its emergency stock of bottled water to Cape Barren Island for supply to the residents, with 6000 litres of bottled drinking water being distributed to residents.
Flinders Mayor Rachel Summers said she hadn’t been informed of the cessation of water delivery this Friday.
“It is part of our municipality and we will do what we can but we can’t finance an ongoing barge,” Councillor Summers said.
“We have set aside $30,000 for the Cape Barren community this year so we can see what is important to them and if a desalinisation plant is what they need we can put it in our priority projects plan and we can advocate for that from a political perspective.”
Ms Gardner said the last rain provided 45mm at the Eastern end of the island where there is stock kept, but the main residential area only received 1mm.
“God forbid there would be a fire but thankfully our truck does take salt water which is a bit of a godsend,” Ms Gardner said.
A government spokesman said the decision to stop transporting water was informed by a combination of monitoring daily water usage and the volume of water within the storage system.
“The Government is working with the Cape Barren Island Aboriginal Association to ensure a sustainable water supply system is in place as soon as possible,” the spokesman said.
Cape Barren Island was declared as Aboriginal Land and returned to the Aboriginal people of Tasmania in 2005.