St George residents encouraged to self-monitor water use

An updated policy for the St George water supply has effectively removed the timed restrictions for residential users. This allows residents to self-monitor their usage within different restriction levels.

Mayor Samantha O’Toole said the move was to simplify the process and to encourage the community to be more conscious of their water usage.

“We’ve implemented small changes to the St George Water Supply Policy (previously the St George Water Restrictions Policy) that will give residents the opportunity to keep a closer eye on their own water use. The resource belongs to the community, and this gives them power to govern how they use it.”

A key change is the removal of summer and winter season restrictions, meaning usage limits are based on water availability rather than season. Each rateable residential lot will receive an annual allocation of river water and users will need to monitor and use their allocation accordingly. The proposed change is very similar to how our current allocation for bore water operates in St George.

Mayor O’Toole said, “We’ve also added level 0 to the water restriction levels and have included figures for each level that clearly show the targeted limits for each household or connection.  This means every household can better understand their own usage of our water supply”.

When water restriction levels for St George sit between levels three and six, Council will monitor the community’s use on an ad hoc basis and infringements will be issued in the same way as has previously happened.  Fines will remain at the same levels and for the same breaches.

“We hope that these few changes to our policy for water supply in St George encourage a change in the way our community thinks about water use into the future,” Mayor O’Toole said.

Council is proceeding to this change to residential and rural residential properties during the 2022-23 year with a view to further implement changes for commercial and industrial properties in the future. 

ENDS

For more information:
Josh Euler
Corporate Communications Manager 
T:  0423 786 672
E:  josh.euler@balonne.qld.gov.au