Water restrictions return to Australia’s Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is an area in the south east corner of Queensland popular for its nightlife and surf beaches.

It has been plagued with peaks and troughs of water supply in recent years, with long-term restrictions lifted last February as a flood mitigation measure in an effort to persuade the public and industry to use more water to reduce the risk of reservoirs becoming over-full.

In February the Hinze Dam, a major source of water for the area, over flowed leading to the lifting of restrictions.

At the time the authorities said restrictions would be brought back when the reservoir fell back to 95% full – which occurred on October 13.

The restrictions returned on October 26.

Under the water restrictions, members of the public are assigned time slots when they are allowed wash cars, boats and houses, water gardens or top up pools.

There was no relaxation of restrictions for businesses, which have been obliged to continue to comply with water efficiency and other permanent water conservation measures.

Ironically, the Gold Coast region is renowned for its network of canals and inland waterways but even this has failed to protect it from the droughts which have affected large parts of Australia.

Under restrictions, Gold Coast residents can:

Hosing of paths and driveways are not permitted and restrictions on filling or topping up of pools remain unchanged.

Sam Bond