Media release – TasWater, 30 November 2021
Greater Hobart placed on stage 1 water restrictions
The greater Hobart area will be placed on stage 1 water restrictions from 14 December 2021 to help maintain supply to the city and its immediate surrounding areas over the summer holiday period.
TasWater Asset Management Services General Manager, Matt Derbyshire said the impact of months of heavy rain on water quality, along with essential maintenance, has resulted in the need to enter into stage 1 water restrictions.
“These restrictions are based on advice from our engineers, scientists and field operators who monitor our systems across the state,” he said. “Their aim is to protect drinking water supplies which have become more difficult to treat following recent heavy rainfall causing sediment and debris to run into our rivers.”
Stage 1 water restrictions require only small changes to how people use water, but even small changes can have a significant impact on the amount of water available in the system.
“Many factors were considered before implementing restrictions for the Hobart area, including the increased demand on the water supply during the summer period and the continued impacts of La Niña weather conditions, leading to a predicted wetter than average summer,” Mr Derbyshire said. “We are expecting continued wet weather over the coming months, which will continue to impact on the water treatment process.
“Implementing these restrictions will help us ensure water is available when residents, visitors and businesses turn on their taps.” Stage 1 restrictions aim to reduce non-essential water use by 20 per cent by encouraging more conscious use of water at home, outside, and at work.
“We thank the community for their anticipated cooperation to reduce water use and encourage all Tasmanians to consider their water use, as it is a precious and finite resource,” Mr Derbyshire said. “TasWater is working on water surety improvements for the greater Hobart drinking water supply to increase the capacity of the system into the future, including the Bryn Estyn Water Treatment Plant upgrade.”
“We encourage Hobart locals to spread the word on water conservation and its importance to people visiting the area.” The greater Hobart area includes all suburbs within the City of Hobart, along with Glenorchy, Brighton, New Norfolk, Kingston, Sorell, Kempton, Colebrook and surrounding suburbs.
See map for more details:
What do stage 1 water restrictions mean?
Stage 1 restrictions are intended to enforce sensible water use and prevent inefficient water practices by reducing non-essential use of water by about 20 per cent.
Residential, public and commercial gardens and lawns
Garden and lawn watering is allowed on any day during the following times:
Manual watering systems can only be used between the hours of 6am and 8am, and between the hours of 8pm and 10pm.
Automatic watering systems can only be used between the hours of midnight and 4am.
Handheld hoses with a trigger nozzle, buckets or watering cans may be used at any time.
Sporting grounds
Watering of sports grounds is allowed on any day during the following times:
Manual watering systems can only be used between the hours of 6am and 8am and between the hours of 8pm and 10pm.
Automatic watering systems can only be used between the hours of midnight and 4am.
Handheld hoses with a trigger nozzle, buckets or watering cans may be used at any time.
Paving, concrete and other hard surfaces
Spot cleaning for safety, health, animal welfare or emergency reasons with a hose fitted with a trigger nozzle or with high pressure cleaning equipment is permitted.
For construction, using water for dust or pollutant suppression, or earth compaction by means of a hose fitted with a flow cut-off device or a vehicle fitted with sprinklers is permitted.
Hosing for general cleaning of hard surfaces such as paths, driveways and paved areas is not permitted at any time. Washing vehicles
A bucket, high pressure cleaning device or commercial car wash can be used at any time for vehicle washing.
A handheld hose fitted with a trigger nozzle can only be used for pre-rinsing and rinsing at home.
Residential or commercial pools and spas
Topping up of pools and spas only using a hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, a bucket, watering can or auto-device.
Emptying and refilling existing pools and spas, and filling new pools and spas:
Up to 2,000 litres: may only be refilled, or filled for the first time, using a hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, a bucket or automatic water top-up device.
More than 2,000 litres: may only be refilled, or filled for the first time when the property owner has an approved Exemption – swimming pool or spa filling from TasWater.
Media release – Guy Barnett, Minister for Primary Industries and Water, 30 November 2021
Irrigation taps into wise use of water
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to the wise use of water, including when it comes to irrigation projects.
Tasmanian Irrigation plays a vital role in our plan to secure Tasmania’s future, by future proofing agriculture against drought and climate change, while also supporting our agricultural businesses to grow and be more efficient.
Tasmanian Irrigation has a dedicated Environment Team which monitor environmental compliance and in 2020/21 reported no discernible impacts from Tasmanian Irrigation operations and no incidents of environmental harm.
Rather than draining our rivers, Tasmanian Irrigation in fact regularly increases water flow rates in Tasmanian rivers during dry periods.
Fundamentally, Tasmanian Irrigation is about using water better, developing schemes which store water in winter when it is abundant, and releasing it during summer when it is scarce.
Tasmanian farmers know that water is liquid gold and we are sustainably delivering it to more farmers than ever before, with an increase in the number of irrigators serviced in 2020-21 to 951, up from 854 in 2019-20.
This is an 11 per cent increase and means that hundreds of farmers across the state are able to expand the area planted to high-value crops, increase rotations, boost yields, and diversify into new enterprises, such as wine grapes, leafy-green vegetables and berries.
This is directly creating more investment and more jobs in regional areas all over Tasmania.
Despite the global pandemic, demand remains high for Tasmania’s high quality produce both locally, across the country and internationally and this Government is committed to doing everything we can to help farmers sustainably produce more.
At its core, Tasmanian Irrigation supports and facilitates Tasmanian farmers and businesses owners, so it is little surprise that the business has spent more than $28 million with Tasmanian businesses in 2020-21, more than 93 per cent of all Tasmanian Irrigation purchases.
But there is more to do, which is why the Tasmanian Budget 2021-22 is investing more than $30 million to continue delivering our nation-leading irrigation projects across our state, while also protecting environmental values and river health.
When completed, Pipeline to Prosperity is expected to provide more than 78,000 megalitres of water, create up to 2,600 full-time jobs, trigger an additional $150 million in on-farm private investment and inject an estimated $114 million each year into the sector, and economy more broadly.
This Tasmanian Liberal Government recognises that water is the key to secure the future of our agricultural industries and vital for the environment and river health.
Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Environment spokesperson, 1 December 2021
Hobart Water Restrictions More Than Heavy Rains
In TasWater’s Government Business Enterprise hearings today, the Greens discovered Stage 1 water restrictions for the Hobart area have been driven by factors beyond the recent heavy rainfall. It is clear from TasWater’s comments that Tasmania desperately needs careful, coordinated and sustainable management of river catchments.
Heavy rainfalls have without doubt added pressure to Hobart’s drinking water system, however TasWater identified a range of existing environmental and usage factors that affect drinking water supply. Nutrient pollution from fish farm hatcheries in the upper Derwent River, and agricultural operations, directly impact upon the rate at which water can made safe for drinking.
TasWater may wish to point the finger at heavy rainfall as the cause of water restrictions, but the impact of extreme weather events would be dramatically reduced if the Government made the health of rivers and catchment management a top priority.
The GBE hearing also heard the increasing demand for water over summer was a key consideration behind residential restrictions. A significant portion of this demand will come from TasWater providing drinking water to farmers for irrigation.
Water restrictions have been placed on Hobart residential customers from 14th December, but there has been no limit proposed for drinking water supplied to farmers for irrigation in the south-east.
Drinking water is supposed to be the highest supply priority, and the core business of TasWater.
Even after the heaviest October rainfall since 1943, TasWater’s restrictions show how tenuous drinking water supply security can be in Tasmanian catchments, and how it is directly linked to healthy Tasmanian rivers.
Minister Barnett’s repeated denial of the need for an environment first, urban and rural, integrated approach to water management is short-sighted and dangerous.
Tasmanian report showing waterways deteriorating was kept secret, department did not want a ‘bombshell’, documents show
by Ellen Coulter, ABC
A major report showing a deterioration in Tasmanian rivers was not publicly released after the department directed staff to make it an internal document, following acknowledgements some stakeholders might have found it ‘difficult to accept’ and the department did not want a ‘bombshell’.
The report drew on more than 20 years of monitoring data from 85 sites on Tasmanian rivers, and showed 46 per cent of those sites had declined in recent years, with many severely or significantly impaired.
The independently reviewed report linked agricultural land use and water extraction to poor river condition.
Titled Temporal and Spatial Patterns in River Health across Tasmania, and the Influence of Environmental Factors, the report was never publicly released. Instead, it was obtained by the Tasmanian Greens under Right to Information (RTI) laws, with all the recommendations redacted.
Now, new RTI documents obtained by the Greens show the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment (DPIPWE) had planned to publicly release the report, and staff worked on a communications strategy, until the department requested it be marked an internal document.
Read the full story here.
