Consultation and simulation help create a strategy and plan for water security

Fraser Coast Water Supply Security Strategy

For any jurisdiction, water availability is the limiting factor of growth. Water security solutions need to balance the needs and expectations of communities with the cost in providing those systems. The better we engage with communities to uncover those expectations, the better and more focused our technical solution will be.

The Fraser Coast Regional Council chose our team to work with to produce the Fraser Coast Water Supply Security Strategy. This strategy would determine infrastructure and non-infrastructure opportunities to secure the region’s water supply for the future.

This involved an extensive community consultation process to determine expectations around water delivery and the acceptable frequency and level of any water restrictions. We used this framework to inform economic and technical solutions, which could deliver on those expectations.

To guide our recommendations, we used a water balance model created with the Operations Simulator, OPSIM, to consider levels of service, demand, infrastructure costs, and environmental impacts. The recommended solution involves building a ‘water grid’ connecting Hervey Bay and Maryborough water supplies (by 2026). Another significant recommendation is to build a desalination plant to come online by 2036. A secure water supply is vital for the social and economic prosperity of all communities within the Fraser Coast region. The outcome of this project enables Council to put in place planning and funding for the next 30 years.